• Blaming China’s women for high ‘bride prices’ is not how to promote marriage
• EU suspends WTO dispute with China over alleged economic coercion of Lithuania
• Senior US and Chinese commerce officials poised to meet and tackle business communities’ concerns
• Has surprising US economic growth strengthened Washington’s hand in negotiations with China?
• Hong Kong is becoming less of an international city | China
• Why China is wary of opening up Afghanistan’s new road to Xinjiang
• China approves 115 video games for January, the most in 18 months, in supportive sign after December market rout
• Chinese Premier Li Qiang steps up prep for maiden work report that could seek to restore private-sector confidence
• Mainland Chinese journalist Wang Zhian banned from Taiwan after mocking disabled DPP candidate
• Apply Hong Kong rules on Shenzhen side of shared innovation hub, adviser to Chinese policymakers says
• China is absorbing Hong Kong, as geography follows politics
• Football superstar Ronaldo’s China trip marred by fan anger at postponed matches, live-streaming, commercial disputes, intrusive behaviour
• Why is India unnerved about the visit of a Chinese research ship in its backyard?
• China is facing more overseas security risks in year of elections, report says
• ‘No affair means he has no charm’: outdated sexist advice from China marriage counsellor sparks online backlash
• US tipped to press China on Houthi Red Sea attacks in talks in Thailand
• China-friendly Laos faces pressure to prioritise Asean’s interests on South China Sea, Myanmar
• [World] China reveals British national sentenced to jail in 2022 for spying
• China’s gold imports surge to record high as appetite increases, middle class seek wealth security
• Chinese biotech firms led by WuXi Biologics sink in Hong Kong as proposed US bill cites complicity with PLA
• China urged to grow legal talent for global fight against terrorism, corruption and cyberscams
• China influencer who takes box of rice to food tasting outlet accused of being greedy, taking advantage
• [World] China warns citizens against 'exotic beauty' traps of foreign spies
• Tuvalu goes to the polls in election watched by China and Taiwan
• Hong Kong to attract top stars like Taylor Swift, Chinese scientists create ‘dream bullet’: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week
• 3 Chinese workers sue Singapore remittance firm for US$48,000 after mainland police freeze money
• Famous China influencer tells millions of fans she wants to adopt abandoned baby girl she saw on news report as sister for 3 boys
• South China Sea: how ideological differences between Philippines and China could heat up tensions in disputed waters
• US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top China diplomat Wang Yi to discuss Middle East: report
• Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron hail 60 years of China-France diplomatic relations
• China’s Communist Party vows to take on ‘new and old challenges’ in People’s Daily article based on Xi Jinping’s speech
• Music student from China convicted of harassing person over democracy leaflet

Blaming China’s women for high ‘bride prices’ is not how to promote marriage

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3249687/blaming-chinas-women-high-bride-prices-not-how-promote-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed

In one of the most brutal murders disclosed by the Shenzhen legal authorities last year, 19-year-old Xiaomin lost her life over just 55,000 yuan (US$7,600). She was stabbed to death by her ex-fiancé Ah Jin in a dispute involving the Chinese custom of a betrothal gift, or “bride price”.

The two were engaged and Ah Jin paid Xiaomin’s mother the money, promising to get married once Xiaomin reached the legal marrying age of 20. But, after spending time with each other’s families, the young couple started bickering and soon broke up.

Ah Jin asked for the money back, but was turned down. Infuriated, he bought a knife and confronted Xiaomin at work.

It is not the first time conflict has arisen over the caili, a sum of money paid by the groom-to-be to the bride’s family to secure the marriage. In fact, there has been so much controversy and so many disputes over this tradition that the Supreme Court recently issued guidelines on future rulings, to be implemented from February 1.

The guidelines make clear that asking for money or property in the name of marriage is forbidden. In general, in cases where the two parties were married but got divorced, caili should not be given back, but it is more likely to be returned if the couple were just engaged and living together.

It also included a list of what’s not considered caili, such as birthday presents.

Prior to the court guidelines, the Chinese government had repeatedly taken aim at exorbitant bride prices, to keep marriages affordable, especially as the country is facing a rapid population decline.

Last year, local governments across China cracked down on what they called “ugly marriage traditions”. One city had kicked off a campaign to look for “the most beautiful mother-in-law” who didn’t ask for too much money, and another had single women sign a letter promising not to marry for money.

But these measures mainly target the women. Furthermore, since the root of the problem was created by the government, it’s unfair to pressure women and their families to put a stop to it.

The origin of caili can be traced to China’s one-child policy. Under the policy, many families aborted girls in their preference to have sons. When the time comes for them to get married, there is a huge surplus of men, especially in rural areas. In a January report, the National Bureau of Statistics said that, by the end of 2023, there were 30 million more men than women, with a gender ratio of 104.49 males per 100 females.

Reluctance to marry, have kids continued in 2022 amid China’s population woes

The gender imbalance means the bride’s family can ask for higher prices, often tens of thousands of yuan. According to a 2021 survey from the Securities Times, the national average amount of caili was 69,000 yuan in 2020, over twice the annual income of 32,200 yuan. A few provinces even went over 100,000 yuan, with Zhejiang in the lead at 183,000 yuan.

Well-educated families today increasingly snub the custom. In the cities, the bride price is more likely to be seen as a remnant of patriarchy, in which women are regarded as property to be “sold” to another family. In public opinion, women are labelled “greedy” for demanding caili. But when money-related conflicts arise, they are also the party that is more likely to lose out.

Some people argue that women should see caili as a way to fight for financial security: if marriage is unfair to women, why not ask for more money to compensate for their loss?

This argument overlooks the fact that the money usually does not go to the woman. With or without a bride price, the woman has no power over who she marries, and after marriage is expected to perform the “wifely duties” of taking care of the household and having children.

Already, Chinese women are not guaranteed their basic rights. Last month, Zhou Xiaoyu, a woman in Zhejiang, lost a lawsuit against her village for her rightful claim of land, just because she’s married. The village elders saw her as part of her husband’s family, and voted against giving her compensation for the land in the village, even though she had never moved out.

In marriage, it’s also difficult for women to have children take their last name, receive help with childcare, or even receive their rightful share in a divorce.

Unless these gender inequalities are addressed, any superficial gesture to stop caili in the hope of encouraging marriage only scratches the surface.

EU suspends WTO dispute with China over alleged economic coercion of Lithuania

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3249980/eu-suspends-wto-dispute-china-over-alleged-economic-coercion-lithuania?utm_source=rss_feed

The European Union has suspended a World Trade Organization dispute with China over alleged economic coercion of Lithuania.

The long-running dispute emerged after the tiny Baltic nation hosted a controversially named Taiwanese office in its capital city Vilnius.

Subsequently, Lithuanian companies found the country had been wiped from China’s customs system.

The country’s exports to China were almost eviscerated, with Brussels saying it had evidence of a refusal to clear Lithuanian goods at customs and a rejection of applications from Lithuania.

It also claimed to have evidence of China pressuring companies operating from other EU member states to remove Lithuanian inputs from their supply chains when exporting to the country.

A note circulated to WTO members on Friday said the EU, which represents its 27 member states at the Geneva body, wanted to “immediately suspend its proceedings, in accordance with Article 12.12 of the understanding”.

More to follow

Senior US and Chinese commerce officials poised to meet and tackle business communities’ concerns

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3249983/senior-us-and-chinese-commerce-officials-poised-meet-and-tackle-business-communities-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed

High-ranking commerce officials from China and the United States are expected to hold talks in Washington in the coming months, with a focus on tackling concerns from both countries’ business communities, a US trade official said on Friday.

The in-person meeting would be the first of the US-China commercial issues working group – a consultation mechanism of government officials and private sector representatives seeking solutions to trade and investment disputes. The group launched last August upon US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo’s visits to China.

Held at the vice-ministerial level, the dialogue would entail the business community playing a significant part, according to Marisa Lago, US undersecretary of commerce for international trade, lead delegate of the American side.

Lago outlined her role and observations during an online event on Friday hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

“The focus is very much on addressing concrete issues that affect our business communities,” she explained.

“It’s not a negotiation forum, but a channel where the issues that we have each heard from our business communities can be discussed, and we’re looking for really specific actionable outcomes where the government can help address.”

America’s goal at the meeting would be to achieve greater predictability in the bilateral commercial relationship, Lago said.

The hope is to relieve US companies’ concerns over “intellectual property theft, unsustainable subsidies and unfair so-called security raids” while operating in China.

Time to compromise? Has US economic growth strengthened its hand with China?

“It is so important to keep the line of communication with China open because that reduces the risk of misunderstanding and it also allows us to explore areas of cooperation,” she added.

The talks are slated for the first quarter of 2024, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce in November, following a meeting between Raimondo and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, on the sidelines of a summit in San Francisco between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Xi-Biden meeting was the leaders’ first face-to-face encounter in a year, and it delivered modest deals on military communication, drug controls and artificial intelligence, hitting a pause on what had been deteriorating bilateral ties.

Apart from navigating trade disputes that have been in place since the Donald Trump administration, the world’s two largest economies in recent years have ramped up their competition in advanced technologies.

US House panel renews push to punish trade fraud by Chinese companies

The Biden administration has imposed sweeping export bans on the sale of advanced semiconductors to entities within China, while restricting US venture capital and private equity investments in semiconductor, quantum computing and AI systems firms in the country.

The US has described its approach as one of a “small yard, high fence”, saying it seeks to protect American national security rather than restrict China’s development.

Beijing has repeatedly protested against Washington’s curbs.

In retaliation, it has ordered export restrictions on critical raw materials, including gallium and germanium that are used to make semiconductors and electronics, as well as graphite products widely used for making batteries for electric vehicles.

Has surprising US economic growth strengthened Washington’s hand in negotiations with China?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3249961/has-surprising-us-economic-growth-strengthened-washingtons-hand-negotiations-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Stronger-than-expected economic growth in the United States and China’s contrasting slow recovery could push Beijing to “be more willing to compromise” in its trade and economic negotiations with Washington, though talks are ultimately “driven by politics”, according to analysts.

The US economy expanded at an annualised rate of 3.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, the Department of Commerce said on Thursday, just over a week after China confirmed its economy grew by 5.2 per cent, year on year, in 2023.

Mainland China, though, is faced with challenges at home and abroad, and the current economic situation may mean China would “be more willing to compromise”, but not on major political issues such as Taiwan and South China Sea, according to Dexter Roberts, director of China affairs with the University of Montana’s Mansfield Centre.

After President Xi Jinping visited the US in November, both countries resumed cooperation on issues including curbing the spread of fentanyl, as well as military-to-military communication.

The two sides have also held meetings of financial and economic working groups, which were launched in September after a visit to Beijing by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, with the aim of fostering regular communication.

But Liang Yan, professor and chair of economics at Willamette University in the US state of Oregon, said negotiations have little to do with economic strength, including interest rate differentials, capital outflows and trade.

“With lower inflation, it’s even more unlikely that they’re going to ratchet down on their tariff rates,” she added.

“It’s really politics that drive these negotiations.”

‘Growth nothing to write home about’: 7 takeaways from China’s economic data

Alfredo Montufar-Helu, head of the China Centre for Economics and Business at The Conference Board, said that the US is concerned with improving market access and China’s business environment for US firms; addressing unfair trade practices such as state subsidies; and reducing the trade deficit.

China is, he added, interested in reducing trade sanctions, preventing further tightening of tech restriction and removing Chinese entities from the US blacklist.

“Beijing does not want to reinforce or bolster the already deeply entrenched market scepticism and antipathy towards it, as it seeks to steer the country towards a steady recovery,” said Brian Wong, a fellow with the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World.

“[And US President Joe] Biden has every reason to want to avoid getting embroiled in further military-kinetic conflicts, given the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.”

Yellen is expected to return to China this year, but her involvement may not bear fruit, analysts said, as both countries tend to preserve the status quo in their relations during an election year.

“Yellen has been marginalised in the Biden administration for a long time … she can’t add concrete value to the bilateral relationship,” said Lu Xiang, an expert on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with the US presidential election set to take place in November.

“Now, as the current [US] government enters ‘garbage time’, it’s even harder to expect her to play a significant role.”

But on Friday, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said that China intends to push ahead with talks that build on November’s meeting between Xi and Biden in San Francisco.

“The two sides should strengthen dialogue and communication, striving to assist businesses in addressing a variety of challenges they face in practical economic and trade cooperation, and to tap into the potential of such collaboration,” Wang said.

American companies have expressed “their greatest concern” about the US-China relationship, and the risk of business issues is becoming politicised, he added.

“We are earnestly committed to addressing the problems that enterprises need to be solved,” he added.

Lu at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences added that China’s economic growth is not lagging compared with other key world economies, and that a moderately high rate would likely be the “new normal”.

On Wednesday, China’s central bank moved to calm fears over a stock market rout and worries about its economic prospects by lowering the reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks by 50 basis points, effective February 5.

“China’s economic struggles could dent global growth, but the US … is unlikely to be massively affected,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society.

Last year, amid ongoing decoupling, China’s exports to the US fell by 8.1 per cent, year on year, but Han Shen Lin, a finance professor at New York University Shanghai, raised the possibility of “a worrisome scenario”.

“[Lagging] consumption will force China to pivot to excessive exports to trade its way to economic growth,” he said. “Any flood of Chinese goods into the US will certainly trigger protectionist reactions in this sensitive US-election period.”

Hong Kong is becoming less of an international city | China

https://www.economist.com/china/2024/01/25/hong-kong-is-becoming-less-of-an-international-city

Vegan restaurants do not usually serve beef. But 2084, a plant-based joint in Hong Kong’s New Territories, hopes doing so will help it attract more customers this year. “All the expats are gone,” says Naz Farah, the owner. “Now a lot of mainland Chinese are coming and they don’t like vegan food.” Across the road a once-popular Western takeaway has already closed. A bustling Chinese restaurant stands in its stead.

The demography of Hong Kong (with a population of 7.5m) is changing as the city tries to reverse a brain drain that has seen around 200,000 workers leave in recent years. In 2023 the government lifted strict pandemic controls and announced a slew of new visa schemes. But this “trawl for talent”, as the city’s chief executive, John Lee, calls it, has netted a rather homogenous catch. The city granted just 8,000 visas to Westerners between January and November 2023. Ten times as many went to people from mainland China.

Westerners appear less interested in Hong Kong as a place to live. Many left because of covid-19. But they also complained of China’s tightening grip on the territory. Those who still desire to move there for work have struggled to find jobs owing to the city’s slow economic recovery and changing language requirements. “Every job I applied for required Mandarin, especially in law,” says a woman who trained as a lawyer in Britain, but moved to the city to work as a financial analyst. “Now all the business and corporate work is Beijing-focused. Singapore is really the hub for international work in Asia.”

People from the mainland see things differently. To them Hong Kong offers more freedoms and still has an international feel. When his wife became pregnant, Barry He, a trader in Beijing, successfully applied for a Top Talent Pass visa, which aims to entice high earners and graduates of the world’s best universities. “I think this scheme will give me an opportunity to see the international job market,” he says, adding that he hopes his child will also benefit from a better education. Of the 60,000 Top Talent visas approved between January and November last year, 95% went to people from the mainland.

Previous waves of Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong came mostly from the southern part of the country. They often spoke Cantonese and integrated quickly. But the latest influx comes from all over the mainland, says Eric Fong of the University of Hong Kong. “Integration, if it occurs, may take longer than in the past.” Hong Kongers, protective of their distinct identity, are not always the most welcoming bunch. When a group of mainland children was spotted squatting on a train platform last year (as is customary in parts of China), locals poked fun at them on social media.

But the environment is changing. Mandarin is increasingly the language of choice in boardrooms and in the street. Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network, a leading international-school chain, plans to offer the mainland curriculum by 2026. And in more troubling ways Hong Kong is looking more Chinese. A national-security law imposed on the city by the government in Beijing has dismantled local democratic institutions. Some residents think that the authorities are actively trying to replace more liberal residents with mainlanders.

Some of these changes cut at the heart of what makes Hong Kong attractive not just to foreigners, but to mainland Chinese. The territory’s appeal is that it is not just another Chinese city. But as the government in Beijing draws it closer, that image is fading. For expats like Ms Farah, it may already be too late. “There’s no connection, no community left,” she says. “I always used to say I would never leave Hong Kong. But now I’m losing hope.” ■

Subscribers can sign up to Drum Tower, our new weekly newsletter, to understand what the world makes of China—and what China makes of the world.

---

Why China is wary of opening up Afghanistan’s new road to Xinjiang

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249931/why-china-wary-opening-afghanistans-new-road-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed

The Taliban has completed its first road link between Afghanistan and China, but analysts expect Beijing to be cautious about giving its war-torn neighbour full access to its land border because of security concerns over terrorists and separatist militants.

At this stage, China has no customs facilities in the area – where Afghanistan meets the autonomous Chinese region of Xinjiang – and has said nothing to suggest it intends to add a formal crossing point.

Currently, only Chinese border guards patrol the Wakhjir Pass at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor, where the road is understood to be located.

The project – priced at more than 3.7 million afghanis (US$5.07 million) – was conceived by the US-backed former government as a way to attract Chinese investment in the country’s untapped mining resources.

Construction began in May 2021 on the 50km (31-mile) Little Pamir Road in Badakhshan province but was soon suspended. Three months later, the Taliban retook control of the country.

The 5 metre-wide road was completed around January 15, according to Mohammad Ayub Khalid, the Taliban governor of Badakhshan, in an interview with the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency. Asphalting would start “in the near future”, he said.

While Khalid gave no details of the road’s location, local travel agency manager Azim Ziahee said it reached the Chinese border via the Wakhjir Pass at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor – a barely accessible strip of land in the Pamir mountain range.

The former government had hopes that the road would link up with China’s vast network and boost commerce, imports and exports as well as cross-border transit.

To the Taliban, it could pave the way for a more ambitious strategic corridor, connecting Afghanistan not only with China but also, in a wider reach, with Pakistan and central Asia’s Tajikistan.

According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the plan was raised by acting foreign minister Amir Khan Mutaqi and other senior officials from the regime, on the sidelines of a forum in Tibet in October, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

But while the road was “symbolic” for the Taliban, it was of little economic interest to Beijing, observers said.

Terror threat to Chinese in Afghanistan ‘is challenge to our own’, Taliban vows

Zhu Yongbiao, a professor with the school of politics and international relations at Lanzhou University, said the project was more about the Taliban showing its neighbours that it could govern the country.

“The road itself is largely devoid of practical access and economic value,” he said, adding that Afghanistan did not have the capacity to build highways in the high-altitude Wakhan Corridor.

Zhu said China had no customs facilities in the area, had only frontier border guards deployed along the Wakhjir Pass, and was unlikely to step in with an investment. “It is not only too costly, [the road] will not bring any economic value in the short term.”

China considers the Wakhjir Pass to be a major counterterrorism front line between Afghanistan’s militants and Xinjiang, with its predominantly Muslim Uygur population.

‘Vested interests’: why China is backing Taliban regime in Afghanistan

“China must have its security considerations. This road is not economically worthwhile, but it must have security risks,” Zhu said.

China has taken a cautious approach to the Taliban since the US military’s 2021 withdrawal from Kabul. Like the rest of the world, Beijing does not formally recognise the regime but is deeply worried about terrorism spilling into Xinjiang.

According to a UN Security Council report published in May 2020, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) – a separatist group founded by militant Uygurs – had around 500 fighters in northern Afghanistan, mostly in Badakhshan province.

Beijing, which blames ETIM for a spate of violent attacks in Xinjiang, has repeatedly urged the Taliban to make more progress in combating terrorism, while also pledging to improve trade ties with Afghanistan.

Last year Beijing hosted several senior Taliban officials, including acting commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi, who attended the belt and road forum in October that marked a decade of the massive infrastructure initiative.

In a sign of Beijing’s willingness to further engage with the Taliban, China posted an ambassador in Kabul in September – the first foreign envoy to be stationed in Afghanistan since the August 2021.

In a reciprocal move, the Taliban’s ambassador to China arrived in Beijing in December.

Abdul Basit, an associate fellow of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said China would face mounting pressure from local militants if it opened up access through the Wakhan Corridor.

“The areas adjoining the Wakhan Corridor also have the presence of militant groups … [China] will be confronted by the presence of ETIM in the Wakhan Corridor,” he said.

---

China approves 115 video games for January, the most in 18 months, in supportive sign after December market rout

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3249921/china-approves-115-video-games-january-most-18-months-supportive-sign-after-december-market-rout?utm_source=rss_feed

China approved 115 new video game titles in the first month of 2024, the largest batch of approvals in 18 months, in a supportive gesture to the industry.

The surge in the number of approvals came after the recent retraction of a regulatory proposal that has weighed on the industry since causing a rout in gaming stocks such as Tencent Holdings and NetEase. Shortly after the proposal was published, China approved 105 titles for sale in the country in its December batch, the first time it approved more than 100 games at once since July 2022.

Among this month’s approvals is a mobile game Tencent developed in collaboration with the American sport league National Basketball Association (NBA), which has a dedicated following in China, according to the list published on Friday by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA). Re Xue Mei Zhi Lan, which translates roughly as Hot-Blooded NBA, appears similar to NBA Infinite, which Tencent developed for overseas markets.

Chinese regulators retract gaming rule proposal after stock market turmoil

Other major local developers who had games approved this month include Lilith Games, Shenzhen Zhongqingbaowang Network Technology, and 37 Interactive Entertainment.

The accelerated pace for granting more video game licences in the last two months comes as Beijing looks to shore up confidence in the sector. Last month’s draft regulation, which included a cap on user spending in games and a ban on “excessive” rewards to lure in users, was followed by a plunge in stock values, wiping out as much as US$63 billion in value from Tencent and NetEase alone at one point.

Chinese listed gaming firms listed in Shanghai, Hong Kong or the US have collectively lost about US$80 billion in value since the draft was published.

After the market tumult, a key official involved in overseeing the country’s video gaming market was removed, the Post reported earlier. The NPPA took the proposed regulation off its website on Tuesday.

The NPPA had initially justified the proposal as an effort to promote the “healthy development” of the gaming sector. The regulator said it would heed public opinion in revisions.

A total of 1,076 titles received licences in 2023 for release to the world’s largest video games market, double the 512 titles approved the previous year, when the industry was recovering from an eight-month licensing freeze. Beijing has since eased up on its crackdowns on technology firms as it looks to bolster economic growth amid a slow post-Covid recovery.

Video game consultancy Niko Partners expects the Chinese gaming market to continue to grow this year on a combination of factors, including new game launches driven by the normalisation of approvals and the integration of artificial intelligence.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang steps up prep for maiden work report that could seek to restore private-sector confidence

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3249957/chinese-premier-li-qiang-steps-prep-maiden-work-report-could-seek-restore-private-sector-confidence?utm_source=rss_feed

Premier Li Qiang could further promote the significance of the private sector during his maiden government work report in March, analysts said after China’s No 2 official stepped up preparations for the highly anticipated address by urging steely confidence, as well as a clear-eyed understanding of the risks and complexities that lie ahead.

Li is set to address the annual legislative session of the National People’s Congress in early March, and he will review the government’s accomplishments over the last year while giving general guidance on the social and economic policy direction for 2024.

It will also include a suite of targets for China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation and fiscal deficit ratio.

The world’s second-largest economy is widely expected to again aim to achieve GDP growth of around 5 per cent for this year, after having posted 5.2 per cent year-on-year growth in 2023.

During a symposium on Wednesday to solicit opinions on the drafting of the annual work report, Li and Executive Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang heard policy recommendations from minor political parties and the semi-official All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

The suggestions covered macroeconomic management, scientific and technological innovation, the nurturing of emerging industries, reinvigorating market dynamism and promoting green development.

2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and Li said it will be a crucial year for expeditiously delivering the goals and tasks set out in the 14th five-year plan for 2021-25.

Li also pledged better policy consistency, including between fiscal and monetary measures, and increased efforts to level the playing field for all businesses while speeding up the construction of a nationwide unified market.

‘Growth nothing to write home about’: 7 takeaways from China’s economic data

Building a nationwide unified market was touched on at the tone-setting central economic work conference in December, with Chinese leaders counting on the tool to grease the wheels of domestic demand, convince foreign investors to remain in China and counter US decoupling attempts.

The much-anticipated work report will shed light on how Li and his cabinet plan to execute Beijing’s economic strategies to help combat a domestic downturn and stave off formidable headwinds from abroad.

Despite the higher-than-expected 5.2 per cent economic expansion last year, China’s economic recovery remains patchy, with the property sector remaining depressed, developers and local governments saddled with crushing debt, and feeble confidence among the private sector and foreign firms.

Protracted trade tensions with the United States, rising frictions with the European Union, ongoing Western technological containment and de-risking also compound the external landscape facing China.

Li had earlier solicited ideas from Central University of Finance and Economics president Ma Haitao, Baidu founder Robin Li and other economists and entrepreneurs at a separate meeting on Tuesday.

Li Daokui, director of Tsinghua University’s Academic Centre for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking, also attended the meeting on Wednesday, although the official readout from the state-backed Xinhua did not provide details.

The Tsinghua University academic is one of the most vociferous voices calling for elevating the political status of China’s private economy to enjoy the same treatment as that of the state sector.

“This can be a hint that Li Qiang may accord further significance [to the private sector], since the Xinhua readout also mentioned invigorating market dynamism, which is, in a nutshell, about restoring the confidence of the private economy,” said Zhu Tian, a professor of economics at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

Private investment in China contracted by 0.4 per cent, year on year, in 2023, contrasting the 6.4 per cent annual growth in state-sector investments.

In July, Beijing sent its strongest message ever to China’s private sector, with a 31-point action plan aimed at shoring up the ailing sector that underpins economic growth, jobs and technological innovation, but it seemingly failed to revive sentiment.

Premier Li has also met with a number of foreign leaders since the start of the year, including visits to Switzerland and Ireland and an effusive speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

He used the occasions to play up China’s economic prospects and called on international investors to keep faith in China.

Last year, China’s inflow of foreign investments fell by 8 per cent, year on year, to 1.13 trillion yuan (US$159 billion).

On Thursday, Li also received a 200-strong Japanese business delegation in Beijing that included executives and representatives from the Japan Business Federation, Japan-China Economic Association and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Li hailed economic and trade ties as a ballast for restoring amicable ties between China and Japan.

He also appealed for concerted efforts to extract the potential from economic relations and to stabilise industrial and supply chains.

“China welcomes more investments, will adhere to the opening-up policy, slash the negative list, lift access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, and guarantee fair treatment for foreign enterprises,” Li told the delegation on Thursday.

“We will strive to create a market-oriented, internationalised business environment.”

Mainland Chinese journalist Wang Zhian banned from Taiwan after mocking disabled DPP candidate

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3249954/mainland-chinese-journalist-wang-zhian-banned-taiwan-after-mocking-disabled-dpp-candidate?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwanese authorities have blocked the entry of an influential mainland reporter after he made an offensive joke about a disabled legislative candidate from the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party during a talk show appearance in Taipei.

The move has sparked heated debate in Taiwan and beyond. While most on the island have been supportive of the five-year entry ban against former Chinese state media reporter Wang Zhian, some have criticised the DPP for silencing its critics.

Taipei’s announcement of the ban – its first against a reporter from mainland China – came two days after Wang appeared on a Taiwanese political talk show during his 14-day visit to the island to create election-related content for his YouTube channel, which has more than 1 million subscribers.

Wang, who has been banned from mainland Chinese social media, is based in Tokyo.

Beijing sees ‘hope and opportunity’ in DPP’s weak Taiwan election result

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency said on Wednesday that the ban was imposed because Wang entered Taiwan on a tourist visa, but his participation in the show did not correspond with the purpose of the trip.

For years, Taiwanese authorities turned a blind eye to mainland Chinese reporters, especially independent ones, who travelled to the island for news coverage. Wang also visited the island in October and took part in Taiwanese television and online programmes, without any consequences after the trip.

Wang was invited to be a guest on The Night Night Show with Hello, which aired on Monday. During the appearance, Wang, who is well known as outspoken, said the ruling DPP had used disabled people to gain support during pro-election rallies.

“I think the Taiwan elections are like shows … It’s not like a political campaign stage, it’s like a concert venue … There are singers … and also those who wheel out disabled people [to the stage] to arouse sympathy,” Wang said.

“When the music started, the disabled person immediately said he supported the Democratic Progressive Party,” he said while appearing to imitate the voice of Taiwanese lawyer and DPP legislative candidate Chen Chun-han, who has spinal muscular atrophy.

On January 11, two days before the island’s presidential and legislative elections, Chen attended a DPP rally where he sat in a wheelchair and called on people to support the party.

DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao on Tuesday “condemned” Wang’s comments, saying his “ridiculing” of campaigners was “malicious”.

Chen said on Wednesday that Wang “has a great lack of empathy for people with disabilities”.

“He seems to think that people with disabilities should not run for election and can only be used as tools,” Chen said.

On Wednesday, Wang said on X, formerly Twitter, that he would apologise to Chen “if he feels offended”.

“But this is not inconsistent with my condemnation of the DPP for using people with disabilities as electoral tools,” he added. He also insisted that the talk show was about “the art of offending” and required a “free environment”.

Wang’s comments drew criticism from other political parties. Politicians from the Kuomintang, the island’s main opposition party, and the Taiwan People’s Party also expressed support for Chen while opposing Wang’s remarks.

But the decision to ban Wang prompted some commenters to accuse the DPP of overreacting and selective enforcement.

One commenter on the online discussion platform PTT said: “The party really cannot tolerate people opposing the party. I am talking about the Green Communist Party here.” The DPP is associated with the colour green in Taiwanese politics.

Mainland China reporters on short-term stay ‘can only observe’ Taiwan elections

Wang, 55, worked for state broadcaster CCTV from 1998 to 2015. Starting in 2017, he became well-known in mainland China for Hard Talk with Wang, his investigative talk programme for The Beijing News.

In June 2019, Wang’s Chinese social media accounts were suddenly deleted for reasons that are still unclear. Wang speculated during a podcast last year that the ban was either related to his influence or because he offended mainland China’s “interest groups” with his investigative reporting.

Wang flew to Japan in 2020 to continue his career as a journalist. His YouTube videos touch on a wide range of social and political issues in China.

He has become more critical and outspoken about mainland China’s politics, including its media environment.

During his appearance on the Taiwanese talk show, the host presented Wang with a copy of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. Wang then took out a book that looked somewhat similar, titled Wang Zhian: The Governance of China, which he said would be available on Amazon soon.

Apply Hong Kong rules on Shenzhen side of shared innovation hub, adviser to Chinese policymakers says

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3249965/apply-hong-kong-rules-shenzhen-side-shared-innovation-hub-adviser-chinese-policymakers-says?utm_source=rss_feed

An innovation hub that straddles Hong Kong’s border with Shenzhen should be run according to rules adopted in the financial hub, an adviser to Chinese policymakers has said, arguing that only “radical reforms” at the Lok Ma Chau Loop can serve the country’s development needs in face of the West’s economic sanctions.

Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen campus and board director of the Guangzhou Institute of the Greater Bay Area, made the call on Friday at a seminar focusing on the hub of top laboratories and research institutes.

While the State Council has proposed adopting some Hong Kong systems, including those for taxation and arbitration, on the Shenzhen side of the zone, the political scientist said the country needed to be bolder in the face of increasing economic hostility from the West.

“I personally feel that the development of the Loop project needs a more radical plan,” Zheng said in a pre-recorded speech.

The academic has widely been viewed as an economic adviser to the Chinese leadership since appearing at a symposium on economic and social work chaired by President Xi Jinping in 2020. He is also a member in the Chief Executive’s Policy Group formed last May.

Zheng also told the forum that while Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha, the three existing and much larger areas designed to promote cross-border economic integration in the Greater Bay Area, were “rather competitive”, their effect so far “is still quite far from what we expected”.

“Reforms bit by bit can no longer meet the needs of the development of the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Greater Bay Area, and cannot meet the development needs of our country,” he said.

The bay area is Beijing’s plan to turn 11 southern cities into an economic powerhouse to rival areas such as Silicon Valley.

Zheng said the Loop offered Shenzhen and Hong Kong a chance to kick start “radical reforms”, and as a first step he advised, Hong Kong’s internationally aligned rules and standards should be more extensively applied over the border.

“The problems of Hong Kong in recent years have mostly been political, and its rules and standards are not having any problems,” he said. “The Lok Ma Chau Loop should align itself with Hong Kong rules.”

Hong Kong, Shenzhen border zone blueprint hopes to offer best of both worlds

He also proposed that in addition to innovation industries such as artificial intelligence, the new zone must incorporate the financial sector, because it was one of Hong Kong’s strengths that no mainland city could replace.

A plan for the Loop released by the State Council last year mentioned applications of technologies for the financial sector including a “supercomputing cluster”, but did not explicitly says that traditional finance services such as banking and wealth management should be included.

Part of the loop zone is currently occupied by makeshift quarantine and medical facilities built during the Covid-19 pandemic, although authorities are planning to empty the plot for development.

The first three buildings, including a residential block for researchers, are set to be completed later this year and among the first companies to move in will be drug giant AstraZeneca.

China is absorbing Hong Kong, as geography follows politics

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/hong-kong-china-integration-development/2023-11-15T15:09:00.211Z

HONG KONG — The Sham Chun River and adjoining wetlands, which separate Hong Kong from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, have throughout modern history served as a physical marker of the differences between the two territories and their distinct systems.

Millions swam across the river from Communist-ruled China to British Hong Kong in the 1960s, escaping famine and persecution in the hope of a better life.

As China’s economy liberalized decades later, skyscrapers and five-star hotels rose up in Shenzhen, looming over Hong Kong’s rugged and still-agrarian New Territories outside its central business district.

Even after the 1997 handover, when Britain ceded control to China, barbed wires and fences stood as a reminder that these were very different places, each with its own politics, courts of law, immigration policy, police force and way of life.

The river still flows, broad and slow, but the boundary it represented is dissolving. Two mammoth multibillion-dollar development projects backed by the Hong Kong and Chinese governments — including one that will straddle the banks of the river — will change the look, feel and economic pulse of Hong Kong, with one goal in mind: integration with mainland China.

Over the next decade, new rail links, bridges, logistics facilities, schools, office buildings and residential towers will transform Hong Kong’s outer fringes and remake the quiet towns and wetlands of the New Territories into an extension of Shenzhen, a Chinese technology hub. The property arm of a Chinese state-owned conglomerate, China Resources Group, has established a joint venture with a Hong Kong company to build residential units in what is being called the Northern Metropolis — signaling Beijing’s support.

The overall project will cover nearly 75,000 acres, almost 90 times the size of New York’s Central Park. Some $13 billion has already been put aside from government reserves for development, though the total cost will be many multiples more.

At the same time, the Hong Kong government is pursuing a grand land reclamation scheme known as the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands, a $75 billion project in the ocean waters off the city that will see the creation of three new islands. The project will result in nearly 2,500 acres of new territory for a business district, with apartment complexes that can accommodate 550,000 people. The islands will be connected to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai to the west of Hong Kong and by new transport links to Shenzhen in the north.

The projects will bring Hong Kong fully into the “Greater Bay Area” — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of linking nine Chinese coastal cities with Hong Kong and Macao, the former Portuguese colony, as a rival to Silicon Valley. The plans, introduced back in 2017, marked a “change in paradigm” for Hong Kong, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London, but they have been pushed harder and faster more recently in line with the broader crackdown.

Witness against Hong Kong media mogul was mistreated, Post examination finds

Hong Kong was promised control over its own domestic affairs until 2047. But Beijing has over the past three years moved swiftly to remake the territory’s once-autonomous institutions and subsume Hong Kong’s identity, using a draconian security law to neutralize the city’s boisterous politics and crush mass protests over the loss of democratic rights. Schools are incorporating patriotic education, as on the mainland; the syllabus will include study of Hong Kong’s role in the Greater Bay Area. The legislature has been drained of opposition figures and the streets, once full of protesters, have been pacified.

Now, development is becoming a corollary to political control.

“The reality is that the gap [between Hong Kong and China] is getting smaller and smaller,” Tsang said.

Developing Hong Kong’s New Territories

The Northern Metropolis development project is unprecedented in Hong Kong’s history, in both scale — it is 35 times bigger than the last development project in that area — and financing.

According to government proposals, the 75,000 acres earmarked for development will be divided into four zones catering to specific industries, such as information technology and logistics.

Full plans for each zone will be finalized this year, according to a blueprint, but work has already started on one major project — a tech park at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, a small piece of land by the Sham Chun River that used to belong to Shenzhen but could only be accessed from Hong Kong, and became part of its territory in 2017.

The government also plans to build half a million new residential units in the Northern Metropolis to accommodate 2.5 million people — about a third of Hong Kong’s current population.

Taken together, the plans could shift the territory’s economic center of gravity to the north.

The Hong Kong Development Bureau said housing scarcity and the potential for spurring economic growth — more than politics — underscore the need for both the Northern Metropolis development and the island reclamation projects.

“The Northern Metropolis is an ideal platform for Hong Kong to forge closer economic cooperation with Shenzhen and the rest of the Greater Bay Area, capitalizing on the rapid economic development of the region,” the bureau said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Residents in the lush, rural enclaves scattered across Hong Kong’s northern fringe have started bracing for change. For decades, even as Hong Kong and southern China saw rapid development, these parts remained relatively untouched. The landscape — wetlands, fish and shrimp ponds fashioned out of mangrove swamp — has largely been preserved, offering a rare look at what life in this region was like before modernization in the 1980s. Village homes have been handed down through generations.

“Our families were pioneers who cultivated these lands,” said Kwok Chi-wai, 69, a lifelong resident of the Ha Wan village in Lok Ma Chau, adjacent to where the tech park will be built. Kwok remembers raising ducks, grass carp and mullet fish with his siblings as a child, and still cares for the trees he planted here with his father.

Authorities told Kwok that villagers, most of whom don’t own their land, could be relocated as early as next year, but he has received no specifics.

“We want our places here to not be taken away, so we can continue to stay and live here,” Kwok said. “But there’s nothing we can do.”

Physical integration

The effort to physically integrate Hong Kong with mainland China predates the two planned megaprojects, and even Beijing’s effort to suppress Hong Kong in the wake of the 2019 mass protests.

In late 2018, a 34-mile bridge-and-tunnel system — the world’s longest sea crossing — opened to the public, connecting Hong Kong with Macao and to Zhuhai in southern China.

The cost of building it swelled to some $20 billion — for a project that was seen by some as unneeded and as little more than a physical manifestation of the mainland’s encroachment on the city.

Cars drive on different sides of the road in mainland China and Hong Kong, and license rules differ between them. But authorities want to overcome these hurdles and increase traffic on the bridge. Mainland Chinese authorities allowed private vehicles from Hong Kong to start using the bridge last year, a move heralded as promoting further integration. The bridge is now open to tour groups from mainland China, and it hosted a half-marathon from Hong Kong in November.

The bridge followed the opening of the West Kowloon Station, connecting Hong Kong to China’s high-speed rail system. Its establishment introduced an unprecedented “co-location” agreement: Though physically in Hong Kong, half of the station was designated as mainland Chinese territory, with Chinese police and immigration officials allowed to operate there — a first for Hong Kong.

The ending of covid restrictions has seen increased utilization of the railway. The number of Chinese cities connected to Hong Kong by high-speed rail has grown to 73, and the number of passengers last year surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to data from Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation. By the end of 2023, more than 20 million passengers had ridden on the cross-border rail, many of them mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong.

The “co-location” agreement at the high-speed rail station could also be extended to the new Northern Metropolis projects, analysts say, increasing the official presence of Chinese security agents and police on Hong Kong’s territory.

Rising from the sea

The artificial islands reclamation project was first floated in 2014. Under the current chief executive, the project was renamed the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands, and will involve the creation of three new islands with residential units, a new business district, sports facilities, open public space, arts facilities and more.

It took Hong Kong 170 years — its entire history as a colony — to secure through land reclamation from the sea about 17,300 acres of additional land across the territory to expand its ports and urban and residential areas, and for its international airport at Chek Lap Kok. Reclaiming the land needed for this new project in just 10 years will be a substantial undertaking, analysts say.

Though they are closer to Hong Kong’s existing islands than mainland China, the Development Bureau plans to connect the artificial islands to the Northern Metropolis, and characterizes the project as a way “to foster the integrated development between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.”

The Hong Kong government says it will complete a feasibility study on roads and rail links that will connect to the new islands by 2024, that it will start reclamation work in 2025 and that it expects the first batch of residential units to be available by 2033.

Environmentalists have raised alarm at the plans, which they argue will damage the ecology of the area, including corals, marine life, microorganisms and species such as the rare Chinese white dolphin.

“When natural resources are lost, they are lost forever,” said Chan Hall-sion, a senior campaigner for Greenpeace in Hong Kong. “Reclamation is irreversible, and brings irreversible impacts to an ecosystem, as it is the home to many wildlife.”

In its responses to The Post, the Development Bureau said the area designated for the planned artificial islands close to the existing Kau Yi Chau islands is “ecologically less sensitive” and that the government is striving to minimize the impact on the environment. Environmental impact assessments will be done for both projects, the bureau added, and will be released for public scrutiny.

Yet the deteriorating political environment in Hong Kong has meant that even criticizing the government’s plans carries risk. The Liber Research Community, a nongovernmental organization focused on Hong Kong’s land and development policy, has been at the forefront of independent research on both projects, pointing out deficiencies and information gaps in the government’s plans. Last year, the group published slides from an April 2023 briefing from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the financial adviser to the Hong Kong government on both projects, stating that the Hong Kong government’s reserves “may not be sufficient” to fund both development of the Northern Metropolis and the Kau Yi Chau islands at the same time.

Ta Kung Pao, a newspaper controlled by China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong, accused the Liber group of vilifying the government and “trying to create panic.”

Hong Kong prisons work to compel loyalty to China among young activists

Polling in Hong Kong has found deep skepticism among the population about pursuing the projects, with only 6 percent of residents saying they are behind simultaneous construction of both projects, according to a survey conducted by Greenpeace and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute.

Public opinion is, however, an aside. “These are obviously integration projects,” said Brian Wong of the Liber Research Community, “so they are inevitable.”

About this story

Story by Shibani Mahtani and Theodora Yu. Photos by Ian Teh. Design and development by Irfan Uraizee. Graphics by Lauren Tierney. Story editing by Peter Finn. Project editing by Reem Akkad. Research by Cate Brown. Photo editing by Jennifer Samuel. Design editing by Joseph Moore. Graphics editing by Samuel Granados. Copy editing by Vanessa Larson.

Renderings provided by the Hong Kong Development Bureau.

Panoramic photo annotations sourced from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project.

Football superstar Ronaldo’s China trip marred by fan anger at postponed matches, live-streaming, commercial disputes, intrusive behaviour

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3249917/football-superstar-ronaldos-china-trip-marred-fan-anger-postponed-matches-live-streaming-commercial?utm_source=rss_feed

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s eighth tour of China has descended into rancour and farce both for the Portuguese legend and his legion of Chinese fans.

A combination of fan frustration at postponed matches and Ronaldo’s annoyance at local internet celebrities exploiting his presence to boost their online profiles has created a toxic atmosphere, reported China Newsweek.

The player’s Saudi Arabian club, Al Nassr, were set to take on Chinese Super League teams Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang Pro on January 24 and 28 in Shenzhen in southeastern China.

But just two days after the team’s arrival in the city on January 21, the matches were officially announced as “deferred” due to Ronaldo’s “health”.

At a press conference on January 23, the star apologised to his Chinese fans.

“For me, today is a sad day. I want to say sorry to the Chinese fans. In football, some things you cannot control. I love this country, I love to be here, I love to be with you guys and I want to play for you,” the superstar said.

However, Ronaldo’s apology failed to satisfy his army of mainland admirers.

Some even interpreted Ronaldo’s engagement with his phone during the press conference as showing a lack of sincere regret.

The player himself also appears to have been disheartened by the visit.

On January 22, Ronaldo and his Al Nassr teammates attended a welcome dinner packed with internet celebrities who had secured tickets from the organisers.

Throughout the dinner, the Portuguese star was bombarded with requests for photos, signatures and requests to take part in live-streaming events.

Videos shared online by internet celebrities not only showcased their attempts to capture photos with Ronaldo but also documented his every single move.

Some influencers even subtly promoted their brands during interactions with Al Nassr’s management.

The rancour over live-streaming, promotional rights, commercial interests, and the chaotic nature of the trip in general have led to a mix of reactions on mainland social media.

Some fans, aggrieved over the missed opportunity to watch the superstar, expressed their anger.

One angry online observer said: “If you’re not playing or participating in any events, then why did you come at all? Were you never planning to fulfil the contract?”

However, some supported the football icon: “It’s really strange, expecting Ronaldo to sell products on a live-stream. Who’s ever seen such a thing?” said another person.

Others criticised the organisers.

A third person said: “Clearly, the terms of the contract were not negotiated properly. Do you think someone like Ronaldo, if not injured, would be afraid to play a friendly match with Chinese teams, or was he just here in Shenzhen for a vacation?”

Why is India unnerved about the visit of a Chinese research ship in its backyard?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249939/why-india-unnerved-about-visit-chinese-research-ship-its-backyard?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese research vessel has been given permission to make a port call in the Maldives. The stop, which authorities said was for resupplying purposes, is likely to heighten tensions in the region, particularly with India.

What is the port call for?

The Maldives government announced on Tuesday that the Xiang Yang Hong 3, which had earlier been turned down by Sri Lanka, was given permission for the port call. It is expected to dock at Male Sea Port on February 5.

The permission was limited to “rotation of personnel and replenishment” purposes only, and the vessel is not allowed to carry out any research in Maldivian waters, according to the island nation’s foreign ministry.

India’s navy will monitor the ship’s entire journey in the region “to ensure that it does not carry out any exploration activity in the Maldivian exclusive economic zone”, the Hindustan Times reported.

India has labelled the Xiang Yang Hong 3 a “Chinese spy ship” and expressed its concerns over its “surveillance activity” to Sri Lanka and the Maldives last year.

Maldives orders Indian troops to leave as row escalates after tourism boycott

What is the Xiang Yang Hong 3 and what does it do?

Commissioned in 2016, the Xiang Yang Hong 3 is operated by China’s Ministry of National Resources. With an operational range of 15,000 nautical miles (27,780km), the Xiang Yang Hong 3 can remain at sea for up to 60 days.

The ship is equipped with advanced ocean research facilities and has played a key role in China’s oceanic research, mainly in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The vessel can also house temporary laboratory modules for specific missions, according to a report by Science and Technology Daily. Its “integrated optical cabin” is loaded with cutting-edge cameras, sensors and laser markers to record imagery, make precise measurements and gather complex data.

Although the Xiang Yang Hong 03 is not a military vessel, India has been suspicious about its activities in the Indian Ocean. In January 2021, Indian media reported the ship had been “mapping the sea floor, probably with underwater drones” in the East Indian Ocean, and collecting data that could aid Chinese submarine activities in the region.

The vessel returned to the Indian Ocean region in June 2022, and again in late 2023.

The Indian Ocean has become a frequent destination for Chinese scientific research ships.

The Xiang Yang Hong, or “Facing the Red Sun”, vessels are a class of survey and research ships that also includes the Xiang Yang Hong 1, 6 and 19 – all of which have been reported to be operating in the same region.

The Shi Yan, or “Experiment” ships, run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is another fleet of China’s active survey vessels. In 2019, India said its navy expelled the Shi Yan 1 from India’s exclusive economic zone in the Andaman Sea, claiming the ship was “spying” on its military.

China, the only permanent Asian member of the UNSC, wants it to stay that way

Other Chinese research vessels have also drawn India’s ire, including the Yuan Wang, or “Looking Far”, fleet, part of the Strategic Support Force under the People’s Liberation Army. It is often sent to the Indian Ocean to track and monitor Chinese space launches.

In August 2022, the Yuan Wang 5 survey ship visited Hambantota International Port in Sri Lanka to resupply. Late last year, Colombo hosted the research ship Shi Yan 6, which conducted a joint maritime survey in Sri Lankan waters.

Maldives tells India to withdraw troops by March 15 as it draws closer to China

Why does hosting Chinese research ships matter?

In recent decades, China has vastly increased its presence in the Indian Ocean through naval patrols, economic activities, and scientific research, all of which India sees as a threat in its backyard. Since a deadly border clash in 2020, the two Asian giants have stepped-up their competition for influence in the region.

But the new Maldivian president, Mohamed Muizzu, is regarded as more Beijing-friendly. Days after his state visit to China – and amid a diplomatic spat with India – he asked for the removal of Indian troops stationed in his nation.

Unreported border clashes between Chinese, Indian troops took place in 2022

“The Maldives has always been a welcoming destination for vessels of friendly countries, and continues to host both civilian and military vessels making port calls for peaceful purposes,” the Maldivian foreign ministry said, referring to the Xiang Yang Hong 3 visit.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, under diplomatic pressure from India, has since banned any further visits by Chinese research vessels, and prohibited them from operating within its exclusive economic zone for all of 2024. The move has been hailed by Indian media as a “victory” over China.

---

China is facing more overseas security risks in year of elections, report says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249908/china-facing-more-overseas-security-risks-year-elections-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed

China could face more uncertainty and challenges in safeguarding its overseas interests this year, as more than 60 countries head to the polls in 2024, according to a Chinese think tank.

With elections to be held in countries including the United States, Russia and India, it “will usher in a new phase in the geopolitical game”, Renmin University’s China Overseas Security Research Institute (COSRI) said in its latest report.

The report, which was released on Wednesday, analyses China’s relationships with 193 countries – 60 of them with elections coming up – and their ties with the US.

The EU and China can’t agree on key issues. Is this ‘a recipe for a trade war’?

It notes that countries such as Togo and Rwanda in Africa, and Tajikistan in Central Asia, could see a transition of power after decades under their current leaders.

The researchers named 29 countries – including the US, India, Ukraine, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe – as “extremely high” overseas security risks for China.

Some 63 nations were considered “high” risk, including Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and Myanmar.

The risk was “moderate” in Thailand, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and another 70 countries, while Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and 24 other nations were in the “low” risk category.

Qi Kai, secretary general of COSRI, told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that these assessments were based on the countries’ bilateral ties with both China and the US, as well as election forecasts and their participation in Beijing’s global investment and infrastructure scheme, the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Without any doubt, I can say that the elections in the US this year are of extremely high risk and this [analysis] is based on both [our] scientific assessment and [the opinions] of our experts,” Qi said.

“[It is] not just the US suppressing us in all areas – from investment to trade – but also because [the US] is a global hegemony,” he said. “This is going to have an impact on our investment in other parts and regions of the world.”

The report said the US presidential election in November would bring uncertainty to the region and also the world.

“As for US-China relations, the election in 2024 will add great uncertainty to the relationship – although we are experiencing a brief détente because of the diplomatic efforts of our two heads of state after the many twists and turns of 2023,” the report said, referring to a summit between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in November.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump extended his lead in the Republican presidential nomination after defeating his sole challenger Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary, setting the stage for a rematch with Biden in the November poll.

Trump imposed several rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports during his 2016-20 presidency as part of a tough policy that affected trade and security ties between world’s two largest economies. The former president has said he plans to expand tariffs if he is re-elected.

The COSRI report looked at the election’s potential impact on US-China ties.

“If Biden is re-elected, he may have a relatively friendly attitude towards China, but would continue to restrict [China’s] investment in key areas,” it said. “If Trump wins, he will further increase China’s trade restrictions.”

After New Hampshire, Trump vs Biden looms, it’s the rematch many don’t want

The report also highlighted other areas of concern for Beijing.

In the Middle East, the researchers said that if the Israel-Gaza war spilled over it could bring chaos to the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria, and would also put Chinese investment in the region at risk if the US imposed sanctions on Iran or Syria.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament elections in June will likely reshape the European Union’s political direction for the next five years. The report urged Chinese companies in Europe to step up efforts to explore local markets to offset pressure from the US.

The report identified higher security risks in Africa, where 15 countries will hold elections this year.

Political instability has long been a concern for foreign investors in Africa. China is the continent’s largest trading partner, a major credit provider and significant source of foreign investment, and its influence in Africa often comes under scrutiny during election campaigns.

The researchers said that since a number of African countries – including Uganda, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea – had been ruled by a single party for a long time, “the political risks in these countries have increased exponentially as their leaders are getting old”.

‘No affair means he has no charm’: outdated sexist advice from China marriage counsellor sparks online backlash

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3248771/no-affair-means-he-has-no-charm-outdated-sexist-advice-china-marriage-counsellor-sparks-online?utm_source=rss_feed

A marriage counsellor in China has been accused of being sexist for persuading women whose husbands had affairs not to leave for the sake of their children.

The comments came from a government-assigned divorce mediator, whose brief is to convince couples not to separate.

The city of Suqian in the eastern province of Jiangsu, launched a divorce mediation scheme in 2021, assigning counsellors to couples after the government introduced its one-month “cooling off” policy.

As a result, at least 1,000 couples have retracted divorce applications in the area.

A 57-year-old woman, surnamed Liang, was hired as a counsellor after retiring from a kindergarten where she had worked for more than 30 years.

She said half the cases she handled involved husbands committing adultery and wives making the divorce application. She admitted she would often try to dissuade the women from continuing with their application.

However, the mediator said she did not have the same approach if the situation was reversed.

If a wife was having an affair and her husband wanted to end the marriage, Liang said she would not “work as hard to stop them”.

When the wives said they were unwilling to accept their husbands’ adultery, Liang would say things such as: “Look, TV drama series often show this kind of behaviour. In today’s society, if a man doesn’t have an affair, it implies he lacks charm.

“A man can easily find another woman after a divorce, but it’s different for a woman. If you’re a divorced woman with a child, what can you do?” Liang added.

The mediator told of a recent case in which a woman in her 30s discovered her husband had been cheating on her after she saw his WeChat conversations. When she confronted him, he confessed he had a mistress.

“The wife was distraught and emotional. But after her emotions stabilised, I began to convince her to focus on her kid,” Liang said.

With her vast experience of working as a kindergarten principal, Liang said she had seen how negatively affected children could be by divorce. She had used examples of these effects to persuade the wife.

“I told her that children are a mother’s weakness as women usually prioritise children,” Liang said.

She sometimes also revealed her own experience to wives she was counselling.

Liang would tell them how her husband had an affair when their son was at secondary school, but she continued to live with him for decades afterwards “for the benefit of my kid”.

The mediator concluded by saying: “It’s impossible not to have any problems in our lives. In this era with plenty of online temptation, it’s uncommon for a man not to cheat.”

Her old-fashioned opinions about marriage sparked criticism across mainland social media.

“This mediator’s views are toxic,” said one online observer.

“I’m speechless. Why are children a mother’s weakness and not a fathers? Why should the mother prioritise her child, and the father not do that?” Another asked.

“The best atmosphere in a family for a kid is a good relationship between his parents. If a couple cannot get along well, they should divorce and give their kid a peaceful environment,” said a third.

US tipped to press China on Houthi Red Sea attacks in talks in Thailand

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249932/us-tipped-press-china-houthi-red-sea-attacks-talks-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s reluctance to intervene in the Red Sea attacks could be tested when its top diplomat meets a senior White House official for two days of talks, according to analysts.

The White House on Thursday confirmed that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Thailand on Friday and Saturday, in an effort to “maintain strategic communication and responsibly manage the relationship”.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Sullivan and Wang were expected to discuss attacks on ships in the Red Sea carried out by Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Washington has urged Beijing to apply pressure on Iran over the attacks, which the Houthis say is in response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this week that China had influence over Tehran and the ability to “have conversations with Iranian leaders that we can’t”.

“And so, what we’ve said repeatedly is: we would welcome a constructive role by China, using the influence and the access that we know they have, to try to help stem the flow of weapons and munitions to the Houthis,” Kirby said.

The Financial Times reported earlier in the week that US officials had “repeatedly raised” the matter with their Chinese counterparts over the past three months, adding that Sullivan had discussed the issue with Liu Jianchao, who leads the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic arm.

Jeremy Chan, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group, said the meeting between Sullivan and Wang was an elevation of lower-level US diplomatic outreach to ask China to use its leverage over Iran to rein in the Houthis.

The two-day meeting in Bangkok would largely be focused on the Red Sea attacks, where the US hoped there may be “a rare opportunity for collaboration … in resolving a global hotspot issue”.

Since the attacks started in November, Washington has formed a coalition with more than 20 countries and launched air strikes on Houthi targets. But China has been cautious in its response, expressing only concerns over the escalating situation.

China has yet to formally condemn the Houthis or mobilise its forces to safeguard commercial interests in the key maritime corridor, a position analysts attributed to China’s reluctance to be embroiled in a Middle East conflict.

While China’s ships have not been attacked by the Houthis, Chinese shipping firms including Chinese state-owned giant Cosco have suspended transits through the area.

Yet, despite rising costs for Chinese companies, Beijing had been reluctant to mediate, Chan said.

“Instead, Beijing has preferred to blame the Houthi attacks on the Israel-Gaza conflict and criticise the US and UK air strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen as only adding fuel to the fire,” he said.

“The key question is whether Sullivan can convince Wang to change China’s position, and what concessions Beijing might demand from Washington in return.”

Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said that during the meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Sullivan would seek to characterise the Houthi attacks as a sort of “violent terrorism”.

But China – even as it supported globalisation and trade security – still viewed the attacks as a product of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Washington would also want to persuade Beijing to support its resolutions proposed at the United Nations Security Council, with hopes that China could later influence Russia, Wang Yiwei added.

The UN Security Council – with Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States as its permanent members – is deadlocked on the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Eurasia Group’s Chan said China believed the Houthi attacks were a “spillover” from the Israel-Gaza war and so Beijing would likely demand Washington lift its opposition to calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Chan said that given China’s interests in the Middle East region lay with Gulf states, Beijing would likely continue to take cues from countries in the region.

“Given these dynamics, Sullivan’s time might be better spent speaking to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates than China,” he said.

Still, with Washington and Beijing seeking to improve ties following the landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden late last year, Chan said Beijing would want to “maintain the warming trends” in relations and not completely rebuff Sullivan’s request.

China, he suggested, could make “nominal gestures” to appease Washington but it was unlikely to offer firm commitments to ease the conflict.

Chong Ja Ian, a professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said he expected Sullivan and Wang to “find areas where they can coordinate if not collaborate” as both countries have an interest in maintaining the safety of shipping in and around the Red Sea.

He noted that Beijing also had an interest in stability and security in the Middle East. But Beijing might have to weigh the leverage it had on Tehran with how much political capital it would cost to put pressure on Iran.

“Currently, [China] is enjoying whatever safeguards to shipping in the Red Sea area that the US and its allies are extending. That may provide Washington with some leverage.”

Chong suggested China might offer “some action” to deal with the Houthi attacks. “But to be very clear, China has important interests in the Red Sea region and the Middle East. It is not simply doing charity.”

China-friendly Laos faces pressure to prioritise Asean’s interests on South China Sea, Myanmar

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249943/china-friendly-laos-faces-pressure-prioritise-aseans-interests-south-china-sea-myanmar?utm_source=rss_feed

Southeast Asia is increasingly being caught in the cross hairs of tensions between mainland China and Taiwan, with a recently concluded election on the self-ruled island putting greater pressure on new Asean chair Laos to maintain a delicate balancing act.

In addition to geographical proximity, countries in Southeast Asia also share close economic ties with both Beijing and Taipei, observers say.

At the forefront of the diplomatic crossfire is Manila, which is already embroiled in a rocky relationship with Beijing over territorial disputes in the resource-rich South China Sea.

In the wake of the Taiwanese election earlier this month, China issued statements reprimanding two Asean countries – Singapore and the Philippines – to reiterate its one-China policy after they congratulated winner William Lai Ching-te from the ruling party. But its ire for Manila was more pronounced after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr referred to Lai as “president” in his congratulatory tweet.

Will untested Laos affect ‘unity in Asean’ over Myanmar crisis, South China Sea?

Although Marcos Jnr eventually clarified that he did not endorse Taiwan’s independence and remained committed to the one-China policy, the incident sparked a heated exchange between officials from both countries, adding to the existing diplomatic strain.

Under Beijing’s one-China principle, Taiwan is a breakaway province to be eventually reunited, by force if necessary. Although most countries, including the United States and the Philippines, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, the US is against the use of force to assert control of the island.

The Philippines, located just 142km away from Taiwan, has expressed concerns about tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Philippines Marcos doesn’t endorse Taiwan independence, seeks to avoid conflict

According to defence analyst Joshua Bernard Espena, Manila has been signalling to Beijing that its actions are reflective of its national interests in the face of China’s efforts to “consolidate its presence” in the South China Sea as well as the Taiwan Strait.

“To be embroiled in a conflict is to say that we are either reactive or we are thinking of how we are going to benefit in a time of crisis such as this one because we cannot stop or predict Beijing’s timeline,” he said.

“We need to take into account that the Philippines has no choice but to take proactive stances,” added Espena, who is Vice-President at the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank in Manila.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has been under prolonged negotiations with China for a Code of Conduct (COC) over the disputed waters.

China has overlapping claims with several Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

The Southeast Asian claimants, despite some internal differences, reject Beijing’s “nine-dash line” claim to around 90 per cent of the waterway.

Aristyo Rizka Darmawan, a lecturer in international law at the University of Indonesia, said Asean might not be well-equipped to respond immediately to any spontaneous escalations involving its members.

“What is more important for Asean now is to prevent such a scenario from happening,” he said. “In doing so, it is important for Asean to allow diplomacy through all channels of communications, such as the negotiation of the COC.”

And what could make matters a little more complex this year is the new chair of Asean, the Beijing-friendly Laos.

Communist-run, landlocked and poor, Laos has hooked its economic fortunes to China, which has in turn extended billions of dollars in loans to Vientiane for infrastructure projects, including railways, roads, and dams.

As such, questions have been raised about Laos’ political willingness and capacity to push back against Beijing in the case of heightened conflict, and if Beijing were to further its assertiveness in the South China Sea.

According to Collin Koh, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, the mainstream perception of Laos’ alignment with China over its economic dependence may be a “linear argument that amplifies the prognosis that Laos would do China’s bidding”.

Koh highlights Cambodia as a similar case, being labelled as “China’s Trojan horse within Asean”. This label arose when the group failed to issue a joint statement during Cambodia’s chairmanship in 2012 due to the dispute over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

Controversy erupted when member states accused Cambodia of blocking mention of the dispute over its alliance with China. That was the last time Asean could not reach an agreement and produce a joint declaration.

“I think since then, Cambodia is still trying to mollify and even remove that label as the spoiler within the group, and I think that has had profound lessons for all Asean member states.

“I don’t think Laos is willing to be seen as trying to rack up the Asean process,” he added. “Even if Laos has very important stakes with China, it is important to note that the other member countries will influence Laos if not for their own national interest, but also for regional interest.”

Vietnam, for example, has been intensifying its interactions with both Laos and Cambodia in recent years, Koh said, in part to ensure that its neighbours are not becoming too close to China.

“Vietnam may be trying to keep an eye on what Laos is up to when setting its agenda for Asean during its chairmanship, because it seems Vietnam has been focused on keeping Asean as central as possible,” Koh added.

Asean may have an additional safeguard in place through the “troika method” introduced by the outgoing chair, Jakarta. This means Laos will collaborate closely with Indonesia and the next chair, Malaysia, in addressing regional crises, particularly the issue of Myanmar.

“It is in all Asean countries’ interest to avoid any kind of military conflict in the region,” said Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of international relations at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

“As Asean’s rotating chair, Laos is expected to help lower tensions in the region, not adding fuel to the fire by siding with a particular party.”

[World] China reveals British national sentenced to jail in 2022 for spying

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68078586?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

China’s gold imports surge to record high as appetite increases, middle class seek wealth security

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3249894/chinas-gold-imports-surge-record-high-appetite-increases-middle-class-seek-wealth-security?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s appetite for gold rose to record high levels last year, as investors sought to secure their assets and limit uncertainties caused by a weak yuan, an ongoing property slump and fears over a stock market rout.

Imports of gold for non-monetary use – products including gold jewellery – rose to 1,447 tonnes last year, breaking the previous record of 1,427 tonnes in 2018, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The weight marked a sevenfold increase from 2020, while the US$90 billion value represented an almost ninefold increase from three years ago.

Domestic sales in China also hit 1,090 tonnes of gold last year, according to the China Gold Association, with gold jewellery consumption increasing by 7.97 per cent year on year and purchases of gold bars and coins increasing by 15.7 per cent.

With limited access to overseas assets, China’s middle class are seen to be attempting to preserve their fortunes, which have dwindled amid the slumping property market.

“Facing the property and stock market slump, global geopolitical instability, and the fall of the Chinese yuan’s exchange rate, gold purchasing is currently the best way for Chinese residents to preserve their wealth,” said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform.

Peng predicts the gold rush would probably cool down this year, as local governments are introducing market-friendly policies, while the yuan exchange rate is also showing signs of stabilisation.

China’s stock market has faced a prolonged sell-off in the past year, grappling with lingering property and deflationary risks, and a decline in foreign-direct investments, leading the benchmark CSI 300 index to hit a five-year low this week.

Is gold now forever? China’s youth shun diamonds, seeking safe-haven investment

The stock markets in mainland China and Hong Kong, after reaching their peaks in 2021, have since seen a collective loss of over US$6.3 trillion in market capitalisation.

China’s offshore yuan has also depreciated by more than 1 per cent this year, following a fall of nearly 3 per cent in 2023, according to Bloomberg.

Most Chinese individuals are unable to buy US dollars or US dollar-denominated products to hedge against yuan depreciation, meaning buying gold – including bars and jewellery – as the most accessible means to safeguard the value of their assets.

“Beyond the pent-up demand from reopening, a weak [yuan] and the lack of investible assets have fuelled Chinese consumers’ gold demand in recent years,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia-Pacific thematic research at Natixis.

“As households stay cautious about income outlook and the [US dollar] weakens, China’s gold consumption will decelerate and grow at a milder rate in 2024.”

The gold rush pushed prices in China to 13-year highs last year, and widened the spread with the overseas market to the largest in a decade.

The spot price of gold in China stood at around 477 yuan (US$67) per gram on Thursday, resulting in a 3.71 per cent gap between domestic and international gold prices.

Chinese biotech firms led by WuXi Biologics sink in Hong Kong as proposed US bill cites complicity with PLA

https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3249902/chinese-biotech-firms-led-wuxi-biologics-sink-hong-kong-proposed-us-bill-cites-complicity-pla?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese biotechnology companies slumped in Hong Kong by the most in nearly two years, after a US lawmaker proposed a bill to block US companies from doing business with them, citing their alleged complicity with the military.

WuXi Biologics crashed by nearly a fifth, leading the plunge.

China seeks to dominate biotechnology as an industry of the future and the nation’s biotech firms “have repeatedly collaborated with PLA [the People’s Liberation Army] entities” with power to compel them to turn over their data, according to a bill moved by Republican Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois this week.

The bill cited Third Military Medical University and Key Laboratory of High-Altitude Medicine, entities it said are “an espionage tool” of the Communist Party. Other entities mentioned include BGI, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute, and Wuxi Apptec, a sister company of Wuxi Biologics.

The move represents an escalation in Washington’s technology ban on Chinese companies, broadening the ongoing sanctions in sectors ranging from hi-tech, semiconductors and cotton production over various economic and political reasons.

The Chinese biotech industry had remained largely unscathed, until the latest provocation. It is further evidence that Washington’s “small yard and high fence” strategy is getting tighter, not easier, despite the summit involving presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in California last November.

The Hang Seng HK-Listed Biotech Index, which tracks 50 of the largest companies in the biotech, pharmaceuticals and medical devices industries, tumbled 6 per cent, the biggest drop since March 2022.

WuXi Biologics, the biggest index member, sank 18 per cent, the most since December 4, losing HK$24.4 billion (US$3.1 billion) of market value.

Wuxi Apptec, a sister company, also plunged 18 per cent, to HK$63.70.

China urged to grow legal talent for global fight against terrorism, corruption and cyberscams

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3249905/china-urged-grow-legal-talent-global-fight-against-terrorism-corruption-and-cyberscams?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top prosecutor called for efforts to foster legal talent with expertise in fighting terrorism, corruption and cybercrime abroad so Beijing can play a bigger role in international law enforcement and judicial activities.

Observers said the move signalled that Beijing saw the need for legal professionals who understand “complex multi-jurisdictional matters” amid intensifying geopolitical competition with Washington and its allies.

Ying Yong, head of China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate, called on prosecutors to focus on cultivating talent with international legal expertise and experience in “international law enforcement and judicial activities in counterterrorism, anti-corruption, and combating cybercrime” in a study session on Thursday.

“[We should] quickly cultivate a team of high-end talent with firm political beliefs, excellent professional qualities, a deep understanding of international rules and expertise in foreign-related legal practices,” Ying said, according to a report on his office’s website.

Xi urges loyalty from courts, law enforcers to ‘defuse’ social, financial risks

Wang Jiangyu, a law professor at City University of Hong Kong, said the move showed China had taken concrete action on developing “foreign-related rule of law” – an initiative launched in 2020 to connect Chinese law and foreign and international law – so it was no longer just “a vague slogan”.

He said the emphasis on anti-corruption showed that the top prosecutor’s responsibilities in that area – especially China’s “Operation Fox Hunt” to track down fugitives abroad – require overseas collaboration.

Operation Fox Hunt is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature anti-corruption campaign launched more than a decade ago.

China has been trying to build its own legal framework to pursue fugitives overseas. It also passed its Law on Foreign Relations last July to offer a legal basis for the country’s diplomacy and has called for strengthening international cooperation in combating corruption.

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

Matthew Erie, associate professor at the University of Oxford and principal investigator for the university’s China, Law and Development project, said the move outlined how the Supreme People’s Procuratorate was responding to Beijing’s call for help in developing foreign-related rule of law.

“All judicial, legislative, and enforcement organs are called on to help build foreign-related ‘rule of law’, and this is their response,” he said, adding that the country’s legal bodies would need officers who can understand “complex multi-jurisdictional criminal matters”.

Erie said China’s top prosecutor’s office had engaged with ally nations to tackle a host of cross-border issues, and the trend towards coordination in cross-border law enforcement would continue given Beijing’s concerns about domestic and external threats.

In one of the most recent examples, Beijing has doubled down on its attempts to fight cyberscams across the Mekong River basin, with Myanmar emerging as a focus for cross-border collaboration. The Southeast Asian country is a major base for cyberscammers who lure Chinese nationals with promises of jobs and then force them into working for criminal groups.

Beijing has long focused on counterterrorism, especially in collaboration with Central Asian countries, to stop what it said was “extremism” spilling into its far western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Beijing has also tightened controls and rolled out counterterrorism measures in Xinjiang in recent years, which have drawn criticism from Western governments and international organisations over concerns about alleged human rights abuses in the region.

Some Western countries have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials or imports from Xinjiang. In response, Beijing enacted an anti-sanctions law in 2021 to provide a legal basis for China to take retaliatory measures when other countries take punitive actions against Chinese officials or companies.

China influencer who takes box of rice to food tasting outlet accused of being greedy, taking advantage

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3248753/china-influencer-who-takes-box-rice-food-tasting-outlet-accused-being-greedy-taking-advantage?utm_source=rss_feed

An online influencer in China who took a box of cooked rice to go food tasting at his favourite store has sparked a debate on mainland social media.

The unnamed influencer, from the southeastern province of Guangdong, is reportedly a fan of Sam’s Club, a membership-only wholesale outlet from the United States, which has branches in China.

The man has membership and is a frequent customer.

In a viral video, the influencer who is carrying a box of rice is seen having a free food tour at his local branch.

After scoffing a number of snack samples, such as chocolate and pistachio nuts, he tucks into generous servings of meat with his rice – even requesting refills.

“Whenever I come here, I feel as if I’m at home,” he says in the video.

As soon as he enters Sam’s Club, he is seen excitedly heading straight to a booth serving egg puffs, where he consumes two pieces.

At another booth he gorges on pistachios, chocolates, and egg rolls with coconut. At every booth, he takes two or three pieces of snack food.

Once he has had his fill of snacks, he seeks out the congee booth but is disappointed to discover there are only three samples left.

“I’ll have all the leftovers as well,” he tells the server.

His appetite whetted, the ravenous man evidently feels it is time for a few main courses.

At the booth that serves fresh lamb rolls, he places his box of rice in front of the server.

“Can you put some lamb filling on my rice?” He asks.

Without question, the server obliges. But the man apparently has not had his fill of meat and quickly seeks out a pork rib booth, where he asks for several pieces.

“It’s the most delicious rice with meat and vegetables I’ve had,” he says.

Finally, he eats some fruit for dessert, and his appetite appears to be satisfied at last.

“I’m well-fed with food and drink. I’ll come again,” he says.

His culinary adventure divided opinion on mainland social media.

“While his behaviour looks unseemly, he is not violating any rules,” one said.

“The purpose of offering free samples is to give customers the opportunity to try the food, so he did nothing wrong,” said another.

“The man is greedy for petty advantages,” said a third.

Another asked: “Taking rice to go food tasting is going too far, right?”

[World] China warns citizens against 'exotic beauty' traps of foreign spies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68078152?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Tuvalu goes to the polls in election watched by China and Taiwan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/26/tuvalu-goes-to-the-polls-in-election-watched-by-china-and-taiwan

Voting has started in the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, in a national election that could reverberate from China to Australia, amid a tussle for influence in the region.

With just over 11,500 people spread across nine islands, Tuvalu is one of the smallest nations in the world, but the election for the 16-seat parliament was being closely watched. After the vote count, parliamentary negotiations will form a new government and elect the prime minister. Polls opened at 8am and were to close at 4pm.

Prime minister Kausea Natano is running again, but even reelection to parliament won’t guarantee him the top post.

Finance minister Seve Paeniu is challenging him, and opposition leader Enele Sopoaga is hoping to again be prime minister, after losing out to Natano after the 2019 election.

After votes are counted, government boats collect the new lawmakers from islands and bring them to the capital Funafuti, a journey that can take up to 27 hours. The prime minister is chosen by the newly elected lawmakers.

The elections come as China, the United States and others wrangle for influence in the strategically crucial region. Washington recently pledged to connect the country’s remote population by undersea cable to global telecommunications for the first time.

Tuvalu, a British colony until 1978, is one of only 12 countries that have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own territory.

But China has been pushing those Taiwan allies to switch their alliance. Natano has so far rebuffed Beijing, but that could change after this election. Nauru, another small Pacific nation, recently switched its support from Taiwan to China.

Paeniu has said he wants to review Tuvalu’s relationships with both Taiwan and China.

Taiwan on Thursday said China was trying to influence the Tuvalu election and “seize our diplomatic allies”. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Global warming is another big issue, as Tuvalu’s low-lying atolls routinely flood.

A proposed security treaty between Tuvalu and Australia could also hang in the balance. The treaty commits Australia to help Tuvalu in response to major natural disasters, health pandemics and military aggression. The treaty also gives Australia veto power over any security or defense-related agreement Tuvalu wants to make with any other country, including China.

Debate on the treaty has been divisive and it has yet to be ratified. Sopoaga has said he would reject it.

Hong Kong to attract top stars like Taylor Swift, Chinese scientists create ‘dream bullet’: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3249842/hong-kong-attract-top-stars-taylor-swift-chinese-scientists-create-dream-bullet-scmps-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

After the US abandoned development of its ‘dream shell’, Chinese scientists now claim they have managed to create the smart shell for kinetic energy weapons that could reshape the military landscape.

Hong Kong’s tourism minister has pledged to take steps to attract more international stars to boost the local economy after lawmakers questioned why the city had missed out on performances by global artists such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

For China’s middle class, things have never looked harder. No signs have yet emerged to upend their frustration as the property market meltdown and free-falling stock market have continued to wipe out their wealth.

China and Singapore will introduce a 30-day mutual visa exemption agreement from February 9 – Lunar New Year’s Eve – allowing citizens of the two countries to travel, visit families and go on business trips.

A Thai owner of a pet lion cub could face jail after a viral video of her friend driving around Pattaya in a convertible Bentley, with the big cat wearing a chained collar sitting in the back seat, sparked accusations of animal cruelty and endangering public safety.

Investigators are looking into the wealth of high-profile politicians and businesspeople named in the Pandora and Panama Papers. But political rivals to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim call it selective persecution.

Are you nutty about nuts? Do you know the difference between a nut and a seed? Are all nuts equal? Increasingly we hear how good nuts and seeds are for us, and are urged to add them to salads, smoothies and breakfast cereals. But why?

3 Chinese workers sue Singapore remittance firm for US$48,000 after mainland police freeze money

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3249862/3-chinese-workers-sue-singapore-remittance-firm-us48000-after-mainland-police-freeze-money?utm_source=rss_feed

Three Chinese nationals working in Singapore sued a remittance firm after police in the mainland froze money they had transferred home, as China ramps up efforts to root out alleged money laundering and other illicit activities.

The trio are seeking 347,501 yuan (US$48,417) from Samlit Moneychanger Pte, as part of other claims, alleging breach of agreements, according to a suit filed to the city state’s courts in October and obtained by Bloomberg News.

Samlit denied the allegations. It said it fulfilled its obligations and cannot be responsible for what happens after money reaches designated accounts in China, according to court documents.

The seizures comes as China cracks down on what it considers massive crime rings that have extended beyond its shores as more of its citizens leave home. Across Asia, nations from Singapore to Myanmar are grappling with scams and money-laundering cases that have spilled out from the world’s second-largest economy.

Singapore in particular is seeing its biggest money laundering case play out with more than S$3 billion ($2.2 billion) of assets confiscated from ethnic Chinese in the city state so far.

Singapore’s US$1.3 billion probe exposes Chinese criminals’ paid-for passports

Police in China have blocked hundreds of remittances from Singapore, many of them sent by Samlit, a licensed money changer based in the city’s Chinatown area, according to complaints made to authorities in Singapore.

In the lawsuit, Tan Mingshi said Chinese police allegedly froze 250,000 yuan that was transferred into his wife’s bank account in 2022 because of “suspicion of money laundering.” Only after he followed police instructions to return to China and transfer 142,226 yuan to “scam victims” were the remaining funds released, according to court documents.

Peng Fang Fang, another claimant, said she gave S$40,000 to Samlit to send the equivalent of about 195,600 yuan to her account in China, only to have most of it frozen by police. Qi Chao, the third claimant, said most of the S$10,576 moved to his Chinese bank account was frozen as the police investigated his “illegal activities” related to the transfer, according to the court filing.

Like Tan, Peng said she returned to China to answer questions from police. Qi also said he had to comply with instructions from police. Their frozen funds were transferred out of their bank accounts, with Peng notified that this was done by the Chinese police bureau, the lawsuit states. All three said they followed police orders “for fear of criminal consequences,” the suit alleges.

None of the claimants has been accused of any wrongdoing related to the fund transfers, according to their lawyer Pang Khin Wee of Hoh Law Corp. Pang said they are all blue-collar workers who have lived in the city state for years.

In its defence filed to the court, Samlit said none of the claimants provided “satisfactory” evidence backing their frozen money claims. Samlit and its lawyer did not reply to emailed requests seeking further comment.

As of December 15, there have been more than 670 complaints to Singapore police about frozen remittances to China worth a combined S$13 million, according to authorities. Almost two-thirds of the reports were linked to Samlit, they added.

In response to the slew of seizures, the Monetary Authority of Singapore ordered remittance firms to only use banks or operators of a card network such as Union Pay International when sending funds to China.

The remittance firms had often used overseas agents to save costs, rather than making direct bank transfers, MAS said in a statement last month. The restrictions are in place for three months starting January 1, with a possible extension.

China’s anti-money-laundering drive entangles legit remittances from Singapore

The directive wasn’t related to any specific money laundering concern, the MAS said on its website in December.

The MAS and the Singapore police said at the time they haven’t received any information indicating that remittance companies have been involved in money laundering or scams, or that the funds were frozen because these firms had transferred proceeds from any criminal activity.

Singapore is seeking clarity from China’s government on how remitters can unlock their money, Alvin Tan, a minister of state, said earlier this month. China is the world’s third-largest remittance recipient, netting US$50 billion in 2023, according to a December report by the World Bank.

The Chinese embassy and government agencies haven’t responded to queries seeking comment on the situation.

Famous China influencer tells millions of fans she wants to adopt abandoned baby girl she saw on news report as sister for 3 boys

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3248612/famous-china-influencer-tells-millions-fans-she-wants-adopt-abandoned-baby-girl-she-saw-news-report?utm_source=rss_feed

A online influencer and mother of three boys in China has made an impassioned plea to adopt an abandoned baby girl she saw on a news report, sparking a heated discussion on mainland social media.

The 33-year-old, who uses the nicknamed Rainbow Couple because she involves her husband in her work , is from Sichuan province in the south west of the country.

She posted a video for her 12 million followers, asking for help to adopt the four-month old child.

“Sisters, please help me,” she pleads in the video.

Rainbow, who makes 104 million yuan (US$15 million) a year, says her family supports her decision.

She had seen a news report about the child being found abandoned on the street by a passer-by on January 5, with a note attached to her.

“I cannot afford to raise a child because of family misfortune, so I leave my little daughter here in the hope someone will be willing to bring her up. My family and I are grateful,” the note said.

With the help of the police, the baby was placed in a welfare institution that is seeking a family to adopt her.

The moment Rainbow saw the child on the news, she says she felt an immediate emotional connection.

“Hoping to adopt her is not acting on impulse or an attempt to attract internet traffic,” she said, explaining that she already has three sons who were born by caesarean section so she cannot have any more children naturally.

“I really want a daughter,” she says in the video.

She hopes someone who sees her video will let the institution know she wants to adopt the little girl.

“Please help me. I will make her very happy,” she pleads.

Rainbow says she is convinced her loving family, which includes her husband, three sons, grandparents, uncles and aunties, could give the baby the love she deserves.

She added that her family could also hire nanny to help look after the girl.

“Please trust me. I’m really capable of giving her a happy life,” she begs.

A member of staff at the institution said many families have registered their interest in adopting the abandoned baby.

“If her parents don’t come for her in two months, we will begin to screen the potential families,” the employee said.

The story quickly went viral on mainland social media, receiving mixed reactions.

“It’s so wonderful that you are offering her such a good future,” one person said.

“Hope you can make it happen,” said another.

However, another online observer said: “Do you know you’re depriving infertile couples from having a family?”

“She already has three sons, so she should not be eligible to adopt a child,” another person said.

---

South China Sea: how ideological differences between Philippines and China could heat up tensions in disputed waters

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249817/south-china-sea-how-ideological-differences-between-philippines-and-china-could-heat-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

The recent trading of barbs between China and the Philippines over ideological differences highlights the “perennial mistrust” between the two neighbours, experts say, noting that their disparate approaches to democracy and authoritarianism are likely to further escalate tensions in the South China Sea.

After Taiwan’s ruling-party candidate Lai Ching-te emerged victorious in the island’s presidential election earlier this month, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr congratulated Lai, referring to the latter as president.

This earned a rebuke from China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, who said Marcos Jnr should “read more books to properly understand the ins and outs of the Taiwan issue”.

In response, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr lashed out at Mao for “insulting” his president and stooping to “low and gutter-level talk”.

Marcos’ plan to amend Philippine constitution for China deal sparks backlash

Describing his country as one that “[enjoys] the privileges, rights and freedoms of a democratic society”, Teodoro Jnr said it was unsurprising that “an agent of a party and system of government incompatible with our way of life … would go that far and that low”.

The worsening tussle over ideological differences highlighted “the perennial mistrust and unclear expectations” between the two neighbours, said Chester Cabalza, a security strategist and founding president of the International Development and Security Cooperation (IDSC), a think tank in Manila.

The contrast between democracy and authoritarianism felt like “déjà vu” from the Cold War in that it might lead to “years of militarisation and confrontation in the region if not contained”, he added.

“It certainly opens a grand debate of suspicion,” Cabalza said, adding that the “unfurling of a complex geopolitical juggernaut and opposing ideology” might ignite “conflict, intolerance and rivalry”.

Jaehyon Lee, a Southeast Asia expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said the framing of opposing ideologies amid clashing sovereignty claims would heighten tensions in the South China Sea.

“It effectively reduces room for negotiation or compromise,” he said.

Tensions in the South China Sea have risen precipitously of late, particularly between China and the Philippines, whose forces have engaged in numerous confrontations in recent months while officials trade accusations about which side is responsible for creating conflict in the disputed waterway.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, took a different view, saying that democracy versus authoritarianism was not a useful lens to explain the South China Sea’s “dynamics”.

He noted that China and Vietnam, both communist countries, waged war over the Paracels in 1974 and Johnson South Reef in 1988.

The former was undertaken by Vietnam to expel the Chinese navy from the vicinity, while the latter involved an altercation between Chinese and Vietnamese forces over who would control the Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks region of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Manila risks Beijing’s wrath with ‘non-starter’ South China Sea mini pact plan

Pitlo said Manila was also negotiating a separate code of conduct with Vietnam over the South China Sea and was looking to finalise a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between their respective coastguards ahead of Marcos Jnr’s planned visit to Vietnam next week.

“Shared interests or common threat perceptions, not ideology, provides common ground for the two fellow Asean claimants,” Pitlo said.

On Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement that Vietnam’s standing deputy minister of foreign affairs, Nguyen Minh Vu, visited its headquarters and met its deputy commandant for administration, Vice-Admiral Allan Victor Dela Vega.

During the meeting, both sides discussed the MOU aimed at strengthening “strategic partnership and cooperation”, as well as “promoting, preserving, and protecting” their mutual interest in the region.

Manila is certainly not relying on ideological rhetoric to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea. In recent months, the Philippines has strengthened defence cooperation with countries as diverse as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and the United States.

The latest defence pact was signed with Canada last Friday, a move that defence minister Teodoro said could lead to a troop pact between the two countries.

Earlier this month, the Philippines signed an MOU with Britain pledging to strengthen cooperation, particularly in the areas of defence and military education, as well as in training and capacity building.

IDSC’ Cabalza said Manila was expanding its “security cordon” with the goal of “forming a coalition for collective deterrence in the name of global security” and to maintain a rules-based order in the disputed waterway.

‘Always harassed’: the Filipino fishermen ensnared by South China Sea geopolitics

Asan Institute’s Lee said Manila’s defence pacts with multiple countries that offered “minimal deterrence power” would provide indirect help, should there be a conflict in the region.

However, a direct role in a conflict between any Southeast Asian countries and China in the South China Sea would require “more than simple defence cooperation”, Lee said.

The possibility for a “mutual defence agreement or treaty” where countries pledge to assist allies in conflict was slim, Lee added, given Southeast Asian countries’ negative view of “military alliance arrangements”.

Pitlo from the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation said Manila was leveraging its strategic location in return for military aid or security guarantees to quickly shore up the country’s armed forces and coastguard, as well as strengthen deterrence capabilities.

Last month, Marcos Jnr signed the 2024 national budget, which allocates greater funding for defence and maritime security, to the tune of US$4.1 billion. It represents a double-digit increase from the previous year’s allocation.

Pitlo added that the contribution to Manila’s military modernisation through defence cooperation with other countries would have to be weighed against the concern of having more foreign aerial and naval vessels operating out of and around the Philippines.

“The attendant peril [will be] more frequent and closer encounters and possible miscalculation, especially between US and Chinese vessels and aircraft,” Pitlo said.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top China diplomat Wang Yi to discuss Middle East: report

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3249816/us-national-security-adviser-jake-sullivan-and-top-china-diplomat-wang-yi-discuss-middle-east-report?utm_source=rss_feed

America’s national security adviser is on his way to Thailand to meet China’s foreign minister and discuss US concerns in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Jake Sullivan is expected to raise recent Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea with Wang Yi, the newspaper said.

Beijing enjoys friendly relations with Tehran, and the Iran-backed Shiite militia group has defended its actions as retaliation for Western support of Israel in its war with Hamas.

Washington has sought to put pressure on China to halt Iran’s logistical, military, and financial backing of the Houthis, who seized control of Yemen following a coup in 2014. Tehran is considered the armed group’s most important international supporter.

News of the high-profile meeting came to light after The Financial Times disclosed on Wednesday that the US had “repeatedly” raised its concerns with senior Chinese officials over the past three months.

On Tuesday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby made clear that Washington hoped Beijing could play a bigger role with Tehran.

“China has influence over Tehran,” Kirby said. “They have influence in Iran. And they have the ability to have conversations with Iranian leaders that … we can’t.”

“We would welcome a constructive role by China, using the influence and the access that we know to try to help stem the flow of weapons and munitions to the Houthis.”

Firms eye Plan B ahead of Lunar New Year as Red Sea crisis roils supply chains

Both Sullivan and his deputy, Jon Finer, discussed the threat posed by the Houthis with Liu Jianchao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s international department, during his visit to Washington in early January.

The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a query about the planned meeting in Thailand.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also broached with Wang the possibility of China using its influence over Iran, according to The Financial Times. However, the US has yet to see any substantial evidence that Beijing is pressuring Tehran.

On Wednesday, Wang Wenbin, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, voiced Beijing’s “deep concern about the recent rapid escalation of tensions in the Red Sea”.

Sino-American ties competitive despite being ‘notably stabilised’: US envoy

Wang called for a stop to disturbing “civilian ships” and urged all parties involved to refrain from “adding fuel to the fire”.

Beijing’s plea came on the same day the US Navy announced that two American-flagged ships had been attacked by Houthi rebels in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

The Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake were targeted by “three anti-ship ballistic missiles”, according to the United States Central Command. The container ships were carrying cargo for the State and Defence departments.

As a result, the vessels were diverted to the Gulf of Aden, located off the coast of Oman.

Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron hail 60 years of China-France diplomatic relations

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249809/xi-jinping-and-emmanuel-macron-hail-60-years-china-france-diplomatic-relations?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron delivered video speeches to an event toasting 60 years of bilateral relations on Thursday, as speculation swirls that Xi could visit Paris in the coming months.

Xi urged France to “jointly advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and economic globalisation”, Xinhua reported, amid growing fragmentation in global trade.

The Elysée did not immediately release President Macron’s remarks, but he was reported to have said that “France is willing to join hands with China to address global challenges and promote the resolution of international crises”.

Diplomatic ties between France and the People’s Republic of China were launched by Charles de Gaulle and Mao Zedong in 1964, with a series of commemorative events expected this year.

Media reports claim that Xi will make his first European trip since the pandemic to France this spring, although neither side has confirmed the visit.

“Over the past 60 years, China-France relations have always been at the forefront of China’s relations with Western countries, bringing benefits to the people of both countries and contributing to world peace, stability and development,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

“China and France will continue to make contributions to safeguarding world peace and stability and responding to global challenges; we must adhere to mutual benefit and win-win results, while deepening traditional cooperation.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke in person at the event at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, urging France to “take a clear-cut stand against the Cold War mentality and camp confrontation”.

Chinese premier urges France to support ‘spirit of free trade’ in Europe

“We will continue to unleash consumer and investment market demand, continue to expand the import of high-quality products and services from France … I believe that France will also uphold the concept of openness and provide Chinese companies with a fair, just and predictable business environment,” Wang said.

The speeches took place amid a fraught geopolitical backdrop, with trade tensions between Europe and China flaring over recent months.

Paris was the main sponsor of a European Union investigation into industrial subsidies in China’s electric vehicle sector. In response, Beijing launched a probe into subsidies in the French brandy industry, which has created a chill effect on sales of cognac in China.

“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,” Ian Ford, a Shanghai-based founder and chief executive of Nimbility, a brand and sales management company for alcohol sold in Asia, said in a recent interview with the Post.

On Wednesday, the EU launched an update to its economic security strategy, the cornerstone of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s push to de-risk ties with China.

France, however, was among the member states pushing back against a key element of the strategy: the development of outbound investment controls on private capital bound for China.

In general, France has been one of the bloc’s strongest proponents of industrial policy, but has rebuked efforts to move Europe closer to the US concerning China. Macron’s allies frequently promote the idea of Europe as a third prong in a multipolar world.

“We need to continue to promote Europe as a third bloc, a balancing force between the US and China,” EU industry chief Thierry Breton, a close ally of Macron, said this month.

Is France visit a sign Cambodia is moving away from ‘ironclad’ China ties?

Macron is on a state visit to India, where he will be the guest of honour at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India Day celebrations on Friday. Europe and the US have both courted New Delhi as a counterweight to China in both military and economic terms.

According to France 24, Macron is hoping to secure more military sales to India, building on recent deals on fighter jets, submarines and nuclear reactors.

China’s Communist Party vows to take on ‘new and old challenges’ in People’s Daily article based on Xi Jinping’s speech

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3249786/chinas-communist-party-vows-take-new-and-old-challenges-peoples-daily-article-based-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed

The Communist Party of China has pledged to maintain a tight grip on discipline within its ranks as it faces “new and old challenges” to its rule.

An article in party mouthpiece the People’s Daily said these problems would not go away any time soon, and resolving them would be “a long and arduous process”.

“There is always the possibility that some old problems will rebound. If we relax even a little bit, they will resurface, while new problems are still emerging,” the article said.

It ran under the byline “commentator of the People’s Daily” – indicating direct endorsement from the senior party leadership.

It was also the fifth official piece elaborating on a speech delivered by President Xi Jinping to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – the party’s top corruption watchdog and disciplinary body.

The “four dangers” will threaten the party’s power for a long time, the article warned, referring to the official term covering lax discipline, incompetence, popular disconnect and corruption.

Xi tells corruption hunters to show no mercy in ‘severe and complex’ battle

This comes as graft fighters report a record number of internal investigations of senior officials, more than a year after the party’s 20th national congress where Xi began a third term as leader amid a show of even firmer support for him.

In his work report to the congress, Xi said the party had “waged a battle against corruption on a scale unprecedented in our history” and “achieved an overwhelming victory”.

But high-profile officials continue to fall. Apart from the shock removal of foreign minister Qin Gang and defence minister Li Shangfu, both the shortest-serving in their positions, the party also launched corruption probes into a record high 45 senior officials last year, according to a tally by the Post.

Anti-corruption officers have pointed to a wide range of misconduct for those probes, including corruption, snubbing instructions from the senior leadership, political disloyalty and irresponsible use of public funds.

Two weeks ago, Xi reiterated his call for the party to find ways to transcend “the historical cycle of rise and fall”.

Addressing hundreds of top discipline inspectors gathered for the CCDI’s annual meeting in Beijing on January 8, Xi emphasised the “strategic question” facing the party’s 98 million members.

“As the world’s largest Marxist ruling party, how can our party successfully break free from the historical cycle of rise and fall and ensure that it will never change its nature, convictions or character?” he was quoted as saying by state media.

Thursday’s article said the Chinese Communist Party must draw painful lessons from many other “large parties and parties with a long history” that had failed, but did not offer any specific examples.

“They were once full of vigour and vitality, but some have fallen apart or disappeared, some have weakened and are approaching their end, while some are in deep trouble. These are very regrettable and thought provoking [lessons],” it said.

Brian Wong, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Hong Kong, cited Beijing’s tracking of communist powers around the world.

Beijing had kept a watchful eye on events such as the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, the changes in Eastern Europe, and the “falling apart” of revolutionary parties, such as in Cambodia, Wong said.

“On the other hand, Beijing also recognises that the socioeconomic inequalities giving rise to great instability in advanced liberal democracies point towards the need to redress these inequalities [in communist states] and [enforce] internal party discipline.”

The People’s Daily article also said China’s unique situation made it impossible for it to follow the paths of other countries. “Unique problems can only be fundamentally solved by relying on the party’s internal strength”, it said.

China’s ruling party sees strict enforcement of discipline as a way to sustain its public appeal.

Xi relaunched the Mao-style “self-revolution” slogan in 2015 with this in mind, and has since repeatedly emphasised this as the only way forward to keep the people’s support.

A People’s Daily report on the January 8 meeting hailed the “courage” in carrying out self-revolution as “the most distinctive character and greatest advantage” of the party.

The concept, often metaphorised as a “blade turned inward”, is a response to concerns about the impact of corruption on the party.

It mainly involves a rigorous system to oversee all officials, building a competent disciplinary supervision team, and a better combination of carrot and stick to steer officials away from temptation.

The People’s Daily article also warned of the “four major tests” faced by the party with regard to governance, reform and opening-up, the market economy and the external environment.

The latest data released by the CCDI on Thursday showed 610,000 cadres had been reprimanded last year, a 3 per cent increase over 2022, while 49 ministerial rank officials faced disciplinary action, compared with 53 the previous year.

A political researcher at Tsinghua University in Beijing said Xi’s speech to the CCDI and the People’s Daily commentary showed the anti-corruption drive would not be removed from the president’s priority list for “a very long period of time”.

“The ‘old problems’ [in the article] refer to the corruption that took place before … Xi came to power, primarily caused by vibrant economic growth and more lax party discipline,” the Tsinghua researcher said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“The new problems can refer to those who fall prey to increased infiltration from the West, as China and the West are competing on many fronts, and those who refuse to implement Xi’s policy directions or engage in pointless formalities and bureaucracy while Xi wants to see results.”

Music student from China convicted of harassing person over democracy leaflet

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3249815/music-student-china-convicted-harassing-person-over-democracy-leaflet?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese citizen who is a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, was convicted on Thursday of threatening a person who posted a flier in support of democracy in the Asian country, authorities said.

The flier that was posted near the Berklee College of Music campus in Boston on October 22 read: “Stand with Chinese People,” and other statements including: “We Want Freedom” and “We Want Democracy,” the US Attorney’s Office in Boston said in a news release.

In response, Xiaolei Wu, 26, threatened to chop off the person’s hands; reported their family to China’s public security agency; asked others to find out where the person was living, and publicly posted the person’s email address, the release said.

The person who posted the flier is a permanent US resident originally from China who has family members still living there, the Attorney’s Office said.

Tsinghua University’s ‘star’ twin scientists return to China from the US, Canada

Wu was convicted of one count of stalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communication. Each charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to US$250,000.

Wu’s lawyer did not respond to an email requesting comment.

“No one in this country should ever be subjected to threats of violence or a cyberstalking harassment campaign for expressing their political views,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S Levy said in a statement.

“Mr Wu now stands as a convicted felon for his illegal efforts to suppress speech by a fellow Berklee School of Music student who was critical of the government of China. This type of conduct will never be tolerated.”