• New US duties on Chinese tin mill steel imports are struck down, drawing criticism from lawmakers
• China dethroned as top source of US imports after 17 years, replaced by Mexico: census data
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to travel to China in April
• Chinese, European scientists find hidden ocean in Saturn’s smallest moon
• China ‘clearly wants’ Ukraine war to end, top Swiss diplomat says after seeking Beijing’s help on global peace summit
• China is drawing a road map for EV-fuelled growth – and wants global cooperation to oil the wheels
• New US-China economic exchanges show how status quo trumps substantive changes in ties, analysts say
• Taiwan axes tour group travel to mainland China, blames lack of goodwill from Beijing
• Lunar New Year travel: Hong Kong to receive more than 1 million mainland Chinese tourists during festive holiday
• Trump’s tariff threat signals no relief from US-China trade pain
• China influencer couple caught up in US$240,000 Lunar New Year losses row after only 1 sale is made during live-stream event
• Beijing warns of ‘heavy price’ for ‘obstructing China’s reunification’ as US and Japan stage military drills
• China, wary of stock market downturn, appoints new regulatory chief
• Chinese security agencies tell students studying abroad to beware risk from foreign spies
• China-South Korea relations: at last, foreign ministers talk as shadow of North Korea, Russia, US, Japan loom over ties
• Lunar New Year: how folding red envelopes opens up Chinese cultural traditions
• Thailand recruits Chinese social media influencers as it seeks ‘new ways of selling things’ to boost exports
• Douyin CEO Kelly Zhang steps down as head of TikTok’s Chinese version to focus on ByteDance video editor CapCut and AI
• China’s famous ‘Harvard girl’ now finance professional with affluent US lifestyle, ignites debate about definition of success
• People in China among an extra 3 billion set to face freshwater scarcity by 2050 because of nitrogen pollution: study
• [World] China: Snowstorms spoil Lunar New Year travel for millions
• China’s airport ride-hailing ban, though brief, fuels fear of private sector grounding
• Star China banker Bao Fan’s disappearance made his firm a buyout target
• South China Sea: Philippines to put military base near Taiwan in high gear to tackle tensions with Beijing
• China population: with 20 million fewer people projected by 2035, will the retirement age have to be raised?
• IDG Capital works to rebut US ‘confusion’ over its inclusion on Pentagon’s list of companies with ties to China’s military
• Strange strawberry-sucking craze: why young women in China are obsessed with fruity fad and who started it
• Papua New Guinea’s PM to address Australian parliament as Pacific security race with China builds
• Chinese software engineer for Google accused of murdering his wife is out of hospital, awaits arraignment
• Why Middle East quagmire could be key to easing US-China tensions
• ‘Most important battle in our lives’: 11 Chinese university students overthrow professor accused of faking data

New US duties on Chinese tin mill steel imports are struck down, drawing criticism from lawmakers

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3251317/new-us-duties-chinese-tin-mill-steel-imports-are-struck-down-drawing-criticism-lawmakers?utm_source=rss_feed

A US trade agency struck down proposed duties on tin mill steel imports from China and three other countries on Tuesday, drawing criticism from lawmakers whose constituencies include steelmakers that claimed the tariffs were essential to offset below-cost dumping by foreign companies.

A four-member panel of the International Trade Commission voted unanimously to overturn 122.5 per cent tariffs on Chinese tin mill products the US Commerce Department proposed last month.

The ITC also struck down duties the department proposed for tin mill steel imports from Canada, South Korea and Germany, but those ranged merely from 2 to 6.88 per cent.

The commission determined that the US industry was not “materially injured or threatened” by the imports. The US will continue to levy a 25 per cent custom duty on tin mill steel from China that was first imposed in 2018 during the Donald Trump administration.

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said the ITC “got this wrong”, contending that the ruling would “make it impossible for Ohio’s tin mill industry and other domestic manufacturers to compete with unfair, illegally dumped steel from countries like China”.

Brown, along with Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, testified in January before the panel in favour of the proposed new duties.

Following the ITC ruling, Manchin vowed to do “everything” to protect steelworkers and American manufacturing, saying that a “robust” steel industry was vital to national security.

Both senators had toured a tin mill steel facility in West Virginia that employed more than 900 workers in September. The factory is owned by Cleveland-Cliffs, one of the only two significant domestic producers of tin mill steel and a petitioner in the case against imports.

On January 4, Cleveland-Cliffs, along with the United Steelworkers union, had sought the tin mill duties. Later that month, the Commerce Department in an investigation found that producers in China, Canada, South Korea and Germany were selling their products at lower prices in the US than in their home markets.

New duties on Chinese tin mill steel are opposed by US business group

The Consumer Brands Association, which represents about 200 packaged goods companies, argued that US companies import tin mill products from foreign manufacturers because US steelmakers did not meet quality standards and other requirements.

Tom Madrecki, a CBA vice-president, said that rather than invest in tin mill, US steelmakers prioritise producing steel that commands higher margins.

On Tuesday, the business group welcomed the ITC’s decision, saying that if the tariffs had been imposed at the levels requested by Cleveland-Cliffs, “nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs would have been put at risk, with consumer prices for canned goods soaring up to 30 per cent”.

The CBA said that can manufacturers were concerned the new duties would prompt their clients to explore other markets like Mexico, from which tin mill containers could be imported without extra tariffs.

China dethroned as top source of US imports after 17 years, replaced by Mexico: census data

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3251318/china-dethroned-top-source-us-imports-after-17-years-replaced-mexico-census-data?utm_source=rss_feed

For the first time in 17 years, China was dethroned as the United States’ top source of imports, offering fresh evidence that Washington’s tariffs and supply-chain diversification efforts are bearing fruit.

Mexico outpaced China in 2023 in terms of total value of goods shipped to the US, according to data from the US Census Bureau released on Wednesday.

Total US imports from China last year reached US$427.2 billion, falling by 20.3 per cent compared to 2022, and slightly higher than the US$421.1 billion from Canada in 2023, census data showed.

Meanwhile, the US bought US$475.6 billion worth of goods from Mexico in 2023, increasing by 4.6 per cent year on year.

China’s share of US imports also dipped to 13.9 per cent in 2023, its lowest level since 2004. China’s share peaked at 21.6 per cent in 2017, before the trade war began; it was 16.3 per cent for 2022.

China had been the top goods supplier to the US since 2007, when it surpassed Canada.

Geopolitical frictions, including intensifying economic disputes and a simmering tech war, have clouded relations between the world’s two largest economies.

And tariffs in place since Donald Trump’s presidency have hit direct shipments from China hard, at an average of 19.3 per cent.

Washington has also ramped up efforts to “de-risk” its supply chains, with American multinational corporations adopting a “China-plus-one” strategy and reducing reliance on the mainland as a production base.

Still, analysts say direct trade flow fails to reflect the growing complexity of global supply chains. More components made in China wind through Southeast Asia and Mexico – where final products are assembled – before arriving in the US, making it hard to track in detail.

More Chinese money is also flowing to Mexico, a key destination for US nearshoring. Chinese manufacturers for furniture, home appliances, apparel and automobile parts have flocked to the Latin American country to build production bases, vying for access to the US market.

However, Washington is becoming increasingly wary of the trend. In December, the US and Mexico agreed to monitor foreign investments and regularly share information about the screening process.

China’s investment in Mexico is up – but is dodging US tariffs the whole story?

At a hearing about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement convened by US trade representatives on Wednesday, American auto-industry representatives said Chinese manufacturers investing in Mexico taking advantage of lower labour costs and tariffs were “a large problem.”

Under the trilateral free-trade agreement that entered into force in 2020, 75 per cent or more of the components of passenger vehicles and light trucks should be produced within the region to qualify for duty-free treatment.

“You’re going to have a hard time getting compliance with USMCA requirements,” Jason Wade of the International United Auto Workers said at the hearing.

Describing China’s approach in Mexico, Wade added: “They will take the infrastructure and ecosystem that’s been developed over the last 25 years and just pay the fee and have access to the US market.”

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to travel to China in April

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3251319/german-chancellor-olaf-scholz-travel-china-april?utm_source=rss_feed

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to China with a business delegation from April 15 to 16, a person involved in the planning said on Wednesday.

The Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business and the BDI Federation of German Industries have sent invitations to companies to join Scholz, the person added, without specifying which firms were invited.

The FAZ newspaper first reported Scholz’s China trip.

A government spokesperson declined to comment on the potential trip, saying that in general Scholz’s public appearances are announced on the Friday before they take place.

Scholz was last in China in November 2022, when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first visit to China by a leader from the Group of Seven wealthy nations since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scholz pressed Xi to prevail on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine, saying Beijing had a responsibility as a major power to do so.

China remained Germany’s most important trading partner for the seventh year in a row in 2022 and is set to continue its streak in 2023 based on preliminary statistics office figures.

‘Opposite directions’: in German trade, US is poised to overtake China in 2024

However, the head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said that the United States is set to overtake China as top trade partner by 2025 at the latest in view of the continuing growth in German exports to the United States.

European leaders have warned companies of the risks of relying too heavily on China and urged them to diversify their business away from what they refer to as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival”.

Scholz heads to Washington this week, where he will meet US President Joe Biden to discuss the war in Ukraine, among other topics.

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Chinese, European scientists find hidden ocean in Saturn’s smallest moon

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3251302/chinese-european-scientists-find-hidden-ocean-saturns-smallest-moon?utm_source=rss_feed

Researchers from Europe and China have found an ocean in one of the unlikeliest places in the solar system – hidden beneath the icy shell of Saturn’s smallest, innermost moon.

In a paper published on Thursday by the journal Nature, the team said the global ocean ebbs and flows about 20km (12 miles) beneath the heavily cratered and geologically inactive icy shell of Mimas, which has a surface area about the size of Spain.

Compared with Jupiter’s ice moon Europa and other well-known watery worlds, the Mimas ocean is young and still evolving, offering a rare opportunity to study the formation of these potentially life-harbouring moons, the scientists said.

Lead author Valery Lainey from the Paris Observatory in France said the likelihood of Mimas – which is roughly 400km (249 miles) in diameter – hosting an internal ocean seemed “extremely low”.

“One would never expect to see so much water inside it – more than 50 per cent of Mimas’ volume is taken by liquid water,” he said.

The paper’s co-authors include researchers from Jinan University in Guangzhou, southern China, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Nantes and the University of Franche-Comté in France.

Experts who were not involved in the research said the findings would change the general picture of what ocean worlds look like and motivate a thorough examination of similar-sized icy moons throughout the solar system.

“Mimas has an important lesson to teach scientists: intuition is excellent for generating hypotheses, but not sufficient for drawing conclusions,” a commentary on the paper by planetary scientists Matija Ćuk and Alyssa Rhoden said.

“The solar system will always have surprises in store, and researchers must be open enough to new ideas and unexpected possibilities to recognise them,” wrote Ćuk, from the SETI Institute in California, and Rhoden from Southwest Research Institute in Colorado.

Mimas was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1789 and is notable for a gigantic crater that gives it the appearance of the Death Star space station in the Star Wars films.

Just as we always see the same side of the moon from Earth, Mimas is tidally locked to Saturn with one side eternally facing its parent planet. However, its internal structure can create a wobbling effect, causing it to oscillate slightly around its axis.

New theory challenges origin story on how giant planets found their orbit

Lainey and his colleagues have been studying Mimas for over a decade, using data from Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft. They realised that the oscillations were much larger than expected, suggesting either an elongated rocky core or an internal ocean.

To determine which scenario was more likely, the team turned to a detailed analysis of the rotation of Mimas around Saturn. The researchers were able to calculate Mimas’ orbital motion and position extremely accurately, to within a few hundred metres.

They found that while Mimas orbits around Saturn in one direction, its orbital path moves in the opposite direction over time. After ruling out other effects, the scientists decided that the tiny moon’s motion would not be possible if it was fully solid.

Nasa’s Saturn explorer Cassini bids farewell in blaze of cosmic glory

“We eventually had to look at Mimas’ orbit with the Cassini data to prove that only the ocean interior model works,” Lainey said.

“We were extremely excited to see that our original approach based on celestial mechanics worked well to reveal Mimas’ interior.”

While most of the Saturnian system is composed of water ice – including its iconic rings – the liquid water inside Mimas is simply due to the melting of its icy shell, according to Lainey.

Mimas is the smallest moon known so far to harbour a global ocean. “The smaller a celestial object, the faster it can lose its internal heat. In the near future, its icy shell may start to get thicker again,” he said.

China ‘clearly wants’ Ukraine war to end, top Swiss diplomat says after seeking Beijing’s help on global peace summit

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251301/china-clearly-wants-ukraine-war-end-top-swiss-diplomat-says-after-seeking-beijings-help-global-peace?utm_source=rss_feed

Switzerland’s top diplomat has sought China’s help in preparing for a Ukraine peace summit, and said Beijing sent “clear” indications that it wanted the war to end.

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said while expecting an immediate solution to the conflict would be like chasing an “illusion”, the Swiss-hosted global peace talks were a “first step” towards resolving the situation.

“We can’t do anything if we stay seated. We are moving forward by taking the first step so I think all wars would sooner or later be terminated in a diplomatic way,” Cassis, who is in Beijing for a two-day visit, said.

“If we don’t dare to take the first step, we will never arrive anywhere.”

Switzerland last month agreed to host a global peace summit at the request of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the summit was “open to all countries that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

The dates and venue for the summit have yet to be declared.

Ukraine said it had invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the talks.

Asked on Wednesday if China had accepted the invitation, Cassis said Beijing did not offer an “immediate answer”.

“It’s a high-level conference so we need participation from everyone. I hope China, who is very open, can help us,” he said.

China has maintained close ties with Russia and refrained from criticising its actions in Ukraine since it invaded the former Soviet state nearly two years ago, days after Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “no limits” partnership between their nations.

Countries including the United States have urged China to play a greater role in ending the war in Ukraine.

“I’m interested in getting help from China because China has great relations with Russia,” Cassis told reporters on Wednesday, stressing that a solution to the war had to involve Russian participation.

“China said to us very clearly [that] it wants to stop the war. It wants the war finished.”

Cassis’ comments came hours after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where they discussed matters related to bilateral relations and also global security issues.

The Swiss foreign ministry said the two leaders held “extensive” talks on the Ukraine war, with “ways and conditions for peace” discussed.

A statement from the Chinese foreign ministry said the pair had an “in-depth communication” and agreed to deepen cooperation in fields including finance, science and technological innovation, and climate change.

Both sides also said they were willing to formally launch negotiations to upgrade their free-trade agreement following the completion of a feasibility study.

According to the Chinese statement, Wang said China’s ties with Switzerland carried “exemplary significance” and had long been at the forefront of Beijing’s relations with the West.

At the press conference later, Cassis said he had also raised the issue of human rights abuses and Xinjiang – where the treatment of Uygur Muslims has been a contentious issue between China and the West.

The South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety, was also on the table.

China “clearly stated that it supports international law and wishes no conflict”, Cassis said, as tensions spike between Beijing and Manila over disputed islands in the resource-rich waterway.

“We have been reassured,” he said.

After arriving in Beijing on Tuesday, Cassis held talks with Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng, who said China and Switzerland had “set a fine example of friendly cooperation between countries of different social systems and different sizes at different development stages”.

Cassis’s Beijing visit is part of a four-day trip to the Asia-Pacific. He stopped in India and South Korea earlier, and was expected to be in the Philippines on Thursday.

He said his regional tour was “very important” and “absolutely necessary given the current situation in the world”.

Ukraine would be at the centre of the discussions, he said, adding he hoped to tell countries he visited that they could contribute to ending the war.

China is drawing a road map for EV-fuelled growth – and wants global cooperation to oil the wheels

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3251270/china-drawing-road-map-ev-fuelled-growth-and-wants-global-cooperation-oil-wheels?utm_source=rss_feed

To guard against potential trade restrictions, maintain its status as the world’s top car exporter and transform the sector into a sustainable growth driver, China has laid out plans to widen its footprint in global electric vehicle (EV) development.

Heightened international cooperation, increasing the country’s say in standard-setting and measures to help home-grown manufacturers cope with looming export barriers are among the 18 planks listed in a document issued on Wednesday by nine state agencies, led by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce.

Beijing is optimistic that China’s freewheeling EV industry can serve as a dynamo for an economy that faces an uphill battle to achieve sustained recovery. But an overcapacity problem is weighing on the sector’s prospects, even as domestic competition intensifies.

As companies are betting on overseas markets to sustain the EV boom, interventions from those markets’ governments could drop roadblocks on the path to dominance.

The European Union launched an anti-subsidy investigation in October, alleging Chinese EV prices were being kept “artificially low”. Last month, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also labelled China’s EVs “a risk” for information security, hinting at restrictions down the road that would open a new front for trade and tech conflict.

The new document encourages cooperation to counter these curbs, as well as protect exports. “Set up R&D centres overseas,” it said, “[and] establish strategic collaboration with foreign research institutions and industrial clusters through talent training and exchange to better help China’s EV sector to integrate.”

A researcher with Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies said China is anxious not to let the US and EU slam the door on EV exports and curb the country’s major growth industry.

“After all, EV is one of the very few bright spots amid an unstable economic recovery. Strategically, the sector holds promises to drive growth at home and advance tech ambitions and influence globally,” said the researcher, who requested anonymity.

China zoomed past Japan as the world’s top car exporter in 2023, shipping 5.22 million vehicles abroad, up 54 per cent, year on year, according to General Administration of Customs data. Pedal-to-the-metal EV exports, ballyhooed by state media as a new growth engine for the world’s second-largest economy, hit 1.77 million last year.

Qu Ke, an analyst with CCB International in Hong Kong, said exports are essential to the sector’s growth.

“Exports are key for the EV industry to continue to flourish, to offset the economic drag from property sector distress and the export drag from the exodus of other production chains. Beijing is moving to defend its EV export advantage,” Qu said.

As an example, Qu said EV makers could pivot to the Middle East while localising production in Europe to reduce policy risks.

Along with cooperation, compliance and standard-setting are other priorities set out by the agencies.

Beijing seeks to promote the internationalisation of standards and specifications, including for batteries and charging facilities, and step up bilateral and multilateral recognition.

Joint efforts from ministries related to commerce, industrial production and foreign affairs were also encouraged. Those authorities, the document said, must track overseas market access, data and intellectual property laws to compile country-specific guidelines, as well as train manufacturers and exporters to fend off risks.

The agencies also stressed making use of World Trade Organization platforms and resolution mechanisms to create a “transparent and predictable environment” and safeguard global EV supply chains.

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New US-China economic exchanges show how status quo trumps substantive changes in ties, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3251296/new-us-china-economic-exchanges-show-how-status-quo-trumps-substantive-changes-ties-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed

Washington and Beijing appear keen on staying the course in their interactions, with warm handshakes and sincerity in dialogues, but they lack the incentive to resolve deep-seated differences, according to analysts who point to a just-concluded meeting of the US-China Economic Working Group.

Employing such a tactic in a formal economic-dialogue structure, they say, serves the respective agendas in both countries and comes as the administration of US President Joe Biden is facing a resurgent challenge by predecessor Donald Trump in an election year, while President Xi Jinping has his hands full trying to revive China’s economy.

“2024 is a year when both powers have incentives and strong reasons to favour the preservation of the status quo – strategic rivalry with rigorously installed guardrails to prevent the two parties from drifting towards undue escalation,” said Brian Wong, a fellow with the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World.

Senior Chinese officials voice concerns on US tariffs, investment curbs

And Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said there are no reasons to expect any “remarkable results” at such meetings, given past experiences.

The third gathering of the working group took place on Monday and Tuesday. It was the first time it had assembled in China. The next such meeting is set to take place in April.

“Issues that both sides emphasised have been discussed many times,” Shi added. “Financial and economic issues involve a lot of complicated details, and it’s not easy for either side to get hold of all the information of each other.”

The two countries have stepped up negotiations, which were often described as “candid, pragmatic and constructive” after Xi met Biden in San Francisco in November.

Both sides this week discussed bilateral economic concerns, including tariffs, sanctions and investment restrictions. Other topics involved cooperation within the Group of 20, industrial policies and debt issues of low-income and emerging economies.

During his virtual meeting with US trade official Marisa Lago on Tuesday, Chinese vice-minister of commerce Wang Shouwen also raised concerns over US restrictions on semiconductors and cloud services, as well as photovoltaic containments, and he demanded fair treatment for Chinese companies in America.

But despite a mutual desire to maintain strong bilateral communications, they struggle to see eye to eye on economic matters, according to Frank Tsai, an adjunct professor at the Emlyon Business School in Shanghai.

“The US has been criticising China’s model of industrial policy for more than a decade … What was once more of a US effort to align China with global practices has come to be perceived by China as justification for a larger goal of isolating China,” Tsai said. “By this logic, there is little incentive to compromise, since this won’t address the root cause.

“As long as the US is determined to oppose China, the US will find other reasons.”

The world’s two largest economies remain embroiled in a series of economic concerns – including what’s been called a “small yard, high fence” strategy of investment restrictions, a “de-risking” push, and reshoring or friendshoring via Mexico and Vietnam – while protectionist tariffs have been in place since the US-China trade war ignited in 2018.

Doug Barry, a Washington-based consultant who follows US-China trade, said it is important that “the parties are talking” and that “more meetings are in the works” after a downturn in ties that followed the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the US last February.

“We may see some real progress in the months ahead if the politics break the right way,” he added.

But Barry also noted “it’s unlikely the Biden administration will do anything by way of concessions that would leave him vulnerable to attacks that he’s weak on China” during the election year.

Xi, Biden to speak ‘relatively soon’ as Taiwan, Ukraine, Middle East issues loom

Following this week’s working-group meeting, a readout from the US Treasury Department said US delegates also raised concerns about China’s industrial policy practices and overcapacity, as well as the resulting impact on American workers and firms.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was also looking forward to another China trip “at the appropriate time”, the statement said.

In a note by Goldman Sachs on Friday, Chinese investors were said to be concerned about the possibility of the US further increasing trade barriers targeting Chinese exports, especially if Trump were to retake the presidency.

While saying President Xi was “a very good friend of mine”, Trump threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese products by more than 60 per cent if re-elected, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.

Some analysts say high import tariffs on Chinese goods have been a key source of inflation, with retailers passing on additional costs to American consumers.

Lu Xiang, who specialises in US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that prolonged inflation in the US has led many Americans to be disappointed with the Biden administration.

“It’s hard for the US to ‘decouple’ with the huge Chinese market and its supply capacity,” he added. “All the restrictions that the American government are imposing on China are zero-sum games, and it may be difficult to continue.”

Taiwan axes tour group travel to mainland China, blames lack of goodwill from Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3251300/taiwan-axes-tour-group-travel-mainland-china-blames-lack-goodwill-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwan on Wednesday suspended a plan to allow local agencies to organise tour groups to mainland China after the Lunar New Year holiday, citing a failure by Beijing to reciprocate the goodwill gesture.

The Tourism Administration, under the Ministry of Transport, told travel tour agencies to stop organising the tour groups on Wednesday.

Mainland Chinese authorities announce new steps to draw Taiwanese to Fujian

The administration said Taipei had originally planned to allow group tours on the mainland to resume after the Lunar New Year holiday but the plan was now suspended.

It said Beijing “had not made any arrangements for mainland tour groups to visit Taiwan” and had “unilaterally announced changes to civil flight paths … that would affect aviation safety”.

“After taking the change of circumstances and the safety of Taiwanese travellers into account, it has been decided that the plan will no longer be implemented,” the statement said.

The statement added that tours planned between March and May that had been confirmed would be allowed to go ahead, but those scheduled after May should be cancelled.

Taiwan needs ‘reciprocity’ despite resuming mainland China business travel

It also urged Beijing to “open up group tours to Taiwan for mainland travellers as soon as possible”.

Taiwan began allowing mainland Chinese tour groups to visit in 2008, and individual travellers three years later.

However, cross-strait relations soured after Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) became president in 2016 and Beijing suspended the individual travel arrangement in 2019.

From 2020 until October 2022, Taiwan suspended all visits, including those by mainland China, as part of its Covid-19 prevention measures.

Mainlanders who live or study overseas have been allowed to travel to Taiwan since September, but tourists based on the mainland remain barred.

Beijing resumed Covid-19 restricted outbound travel in 2023, but not to Taiwan.

The recent election of the DPP’s William Lai Ching-te as the next president has frustrated Beijing, which has labelled him a “troublemaker” for his stance on independence.

Mainland Chinese students arrive in Taiwan for visit aimed at easing tensions

Beijing’s Civil Aviation Administration last week adjusted a civil flight path, M503, which lies just west of the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, a nominal halfway point between Taiwan and mainland China.

Analysts said the move could affect Taiwan’s air defence deployments.

Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which handles cross-strait affairs, described the re-routing as a “routine operation” to ease flight congestion, ensure flight safety and meet the growing demand for air travel in the region.

But the island’s Civil Aviation Administration, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council have condemned the move.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington opposes any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and has pledged to arm Taiwan.

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Lunar New Year travel: Hong Kong to receive more than 1 million mainland Chinese tourists during festive holiday

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3251295/lunar-new-year-travel-hong-kong-receive-more-1-million-mainland-chinese-tourists-during-festive?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong will welcome more than 1 million mainland Chinese visitors for the Lunar New Year holiday as a series of festive celebrations including fireworks return to the city and border checkpoints plan on extended operating hours.

Fanny Yeung Shuk-fan, the executive director of the Travel Industry Council, said visitors from the mainland to Hong Kong between February 10 and 17 is estimated at about 1.2 million, or 80 to 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

She predicted around 130 tour groups a day, with same-day tour parties potentially pushing the number up to 190.

“For the inbound, we are quite happy with the estimates,” Yeung said. “Those coming know there is the night parade on the first day, and then the fireworks on the second day and the government also has special arrangements for the border facilities.”

The Immigration Department said it expected 7.5 million trips by Hongkongers and tourists starting Lunar New Year eve on February 9 to 17.

It said 6 million trips will pass through the city’s land boundary control points with the mainland.

The fourth day of the new year, on February 13, was expected to be the busiest day with 607,000 trips heading in and out, the department added.

Hong Kong issues cold weather warning with temperatures forecast to drop further

Hong Kong will host a Lunar New Year parade on Saturday, February 10, at Tsim Sha Tsui, and police have estimated a turnout of about 44,000 people for that event.

The fireworks show, the first in four years, is scheduled at 8pm on Sunday at Victoria Harbour. Police did not have any estimate of how many would turn up, but noted there were 400,000 in attendance in 2019.

Police said road closures and crowd control measures will be put in place during the two days of celebrations, while border checkpoints will extend operating hours.

The Shenzhen Bay checkpoint, linking the western areas of Hong Kong with Shenzhen, will be open 24 hours for a five-day period from Lunar New Year’s Eve on February 9 to 13.

The Lo Wu control point, which is connected to the East Rail line, will remain open until 2am on February 9 and 11. The last train to Lo Wu will depart from Admiralty at 12.56am for both days.

The government said the Lo Wu border, which will handle 80 per cent or 6 million out of 7.5 million trips during the Lunar New Year holiday, is expected to be the busiest.

Vendors at Hong Kong’s largest Lunar New Year fair optimistic over festive sales

The hotel industry also expects a business boom.

Timothy Chui Ting-pong, the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said hotel bookings for the coming weekend from February 9 to 11 were “ideal,” and the expected occupancy rate was about 90 per cent.

The bulk of the visitors were from the mainland, but levels still have not fully recovered to pre-coronavirus levels, he added.

Jack Cheung Ki-tang, the director of CTS HK Metropark Hotels Management, said the group’s hotels were about 80 per cent booked over the holiday, with an average stay of three to four nights.

“Business is obviously better than the last holiday, which was Christmas,” he told the Post.

“That’s not a holiday on the mainland, and Hong Kong’s tourists currently remain mainly from across the border.”

Cheung added the reservation situation remained “more or less the same” compared with the National Day “golden week” break, and that business so far this year had been “better than expected”.

Rooms across the various price ranges were performing equally well, he said.

“Accommodation is considered a necessity to most tourists, so they will factor that into their budget no matter what, unlike shopping and spending on luxury goods.”

Online travel agency Klook said it saw an 80 per cent year-on-year growth for inbound bookings, including flights and hotels for the coming weekend February 9 to 11, with South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, mainland China and Japan being the top five countries where tourists come from for the eight day holiday.

The top three attractions for mainland Chinese visitors were Disneyland, the fireworks display at Harbour City and Hong Kong Palace Museum.

All visitors spent an average of HK$1,500 (US$192) per person per purchase.

Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year fireworks to return after 4-year break

Professor Terence Chong Tai-leung, the executive director of Chinese University’s Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance, said the number of visitors to Hong Kong was generally on the rise, but there was still “much room for growth”.

He said only 34 million people visited in 2023, compared with the 65 million recorded in 2018.

“We [should] expect more tourists to come this year,” he said.

“Restaurant business grew by 7 per cent last year, so overall we have net gains from tourists.”

As for outbound travel, Yeung said group tours were expected to be around 60 per cent of pandemic levels - around 1,800 tour groups over the eight-day Lunar New Year period.

Hong Kong minister ‘confident’ border crossings will extend holiday opening hours

She added a lack of flights compared to 2019 and a decision by High Speed Rail to stop accepting group tour reservations from late January to this month to ensure smooth running of services over the busy travel period, as well as economic factors had affected group travel demand.

Yeung said people were travelling to the northern mainland city of Harbin to go skiing, as well as northern parts of Europe, such as Finland and Denmark.

She added Japan remained a popular destination, but tours to the country had flatlined after the New Year’s Day earthquake which killed more than 200 people.

Klook told the Post that the top five destinations for travellers from Hong Kong were Japan, mainland China, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea.

Yazmin Leung, 35, who works in the legal sector, said she would visit Bangkok for five days over the Lunar New Year break.

“I went to Hokkaido [in Japan] for skiing over Christmas and took a few trips to other parts of the country all throughout last year,” she said.

Additional reporting by Ambrose Li

Trump’s tariff threat signals no relief from US-China trade pain

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3251083/trumps-tariff-threat-signals-no-relief-us-china-trade-pain?utm_source=rss_feed

Former US president Donald Trump’s promise to levy new tariffs in his free-form stump speeches – “an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff” – is unsettling to CEOs and government leaders as they envision how he could upend their ambitions if he returns to power next January.

They have good reason. Tariffs depress trade, investment and output by raising costs while reducing demand and provoking retaliation. Policy shocks heighten uncertainty, which causes businesses to rethink decisions on expansion plans, pricing and investment options. Supply chains are disrupted while innovation is stymied as untargeted industries are swept into the vortex of trade wars.

The combined effect harms consumer welfare and undermines growth. The severity depends on the affected industry’s size and the extent to which domestic or foreign alternatives can be readily substituted. Damages from trade wars typically exceed protectionism’s benefits in every area, from innovation to job creation to spillover effects on foreign relations.

True, virtually every country imposes some restrictions on imports and coddles domestic businesses with incentives. Further, trade blocs provide privileges to members that put outsiders at a disadvantage. Industrial policies are being refitted to support national security imperatives, while government procurement preferences support domestic industries and the jobs they create.

That said, world trade remains robust. The World Trade Organization (WTO) sees the US$35 trillion in trade flows increasing by 3.3 per cent this year. A rash of beggar-thy-neighbour policies would jeopardise this outlook.

Trump calls himself the “tariff man”. He sees tariffs as a good source of income and a weapon to protect US workers. He relishes escalating trade hostilities with Beijing. His call for an across-the-board tariff on all imports and reports that he is considering a 60 per cent levy on China fit into this “America First” agenda.

His thinking invokes the name of Thomas Jefferson, who viewed retaliatory barriers as way for the new United States to achieve reciprocity, forcing Britain to end restrictions on US goods in its home and colonial markets. Trump’s rhetoric also reflects the position of Jefferson’s adversary, Alexander Hamilton, who wanted duties to raise revenues needed to pay off debts.

During Trump’s first term, he imposed tariffs on steel and washing machines and then escalated trade tensions by starting a 25 per cent levy across the board on roughly US$250 billion of Chinese imports. By September 2018, all these duties covered 12 per cent of US imports.

Trump bypassed Congressional approval, leveraging relatively unused powers. He imposed trade restraints under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to bolster national security, the rationale behind the steel and aluminium tariffs.

Presidents can also retaliate against a country’s discriminatory trade behaviour under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Trump used that basis for imposing tariffs on Chinese imports and restricting Chinese companies’ investments and acquisitions in the US.

In another move, Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in 2020 to try and ban new US downloads of the TikTok and WeChat apps.

The tailspin that followed underpins fears today of what Trump’s trade policies would unleash. The European Union, China and others responded with countervailing tariffs and complaints to the WTO, and Sino-American relations were engulfed in a massive trade war. Even relations with allies suffered. European states questioned the reliability of the US and advocated self-reliance.

Meanwhile, bilateral trade deals proliferated, another Trump objective. “We’re going to have a lot of trade deals,” he said shortly after taking office. “But they’ll be one-on-one.” The WTO became rudderless as the US refused to approve appellate judges to handle trade disputes. The foundations of a rules-based world order crumbled.

Numerous studies have tallied the costs. The US Federal Reserve found that Trump’s tariffs had resulted in “relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices”. On jobs specifically, “a small boost from the import protection effect of tariffs is more than offset by larger drags from the effects of rising input costs and retaliatory tariffs”.

Why China hopes US won’t touch century-old trade rule for imports under US$800

Trump’s tariffs were almost entirely borne by US importers, but Chinese counterparts only paid 68 per cent of China’s retaliatory tariffs. If a 10 per cent tariff on all imports is levied next January, the Tax Foundation estimates that it could cost US consumers and businesses US$300 billion, shrink the US economy by 0.5 per cent and terminate more than a half-million jobs.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has yet to fully roll back Trump’s trade policies or set out a comprehensive approach that tilts more decisively towards trade liberalisation. Domestic politics makes that unlikely as he prepares to face Trump in November. With tensions in the Middle East deepening and demands growing for US action to end Israeli attacks on Gaza, trade policy is a low priority.

The economy narrowly trails immigration as a top concern among potential voters, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll last month. High prices for the basics tainted public views of Biden’s handling of the economy, even though employment remains robust and inflation has fallen faster than expected.

Meanwhile, negative views of China have become more entrenched among the US public. These dynamics are part of what drives Trump’s trade policy.

We can expect Biden to be equally tough in his stance on trade but stop short of endorsing tariffs and undoing efforts to lower US-China tensions. A close election is likely. It’s wise to game out the scenarios and prepare for the consequences.

China influencer couple caught up in US$240,000 Lunar New Year losses row after only 1 sale is made during live-stream event

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3250266/china-influencer-couple-caught-us240000-lunar-new-year-losses-row-after-only-1-sale-made-during-live?utm_source=rss_feed

A promotional collaboration between a celebrity couple in China and a live-streamer turned into a fiasco, leaving a company with unsold stock worth 1.7 million yuan (US$240,000) and only one order made.

The incident unfolded on January 16, when Chinese actress Huang Shengyi and her actor-turned-businessman husband Yang Zi, were hired through a complex contractual arrangement involving a number of merchants to participate in a live streaming session with Brother Qin Jinzhan on Douyin.

Despite the merchants paying hefty service fees and preparing a substantial stock, sales were dismal and fell far short of the targets.

Ms Wang, a representative of the cured meat brand that lost the 1.7 million yuan worth of stock, said the company paid a fee of 100,000 yuan to secure the celebrity deal in a contract involving various parties.

The contract stipulated the star influencers would join the live streaming featuring the products alongside them. It was hoped sales to the value of 1.4 million yuan would be reached.

“Since our product is cured meat, which sells best before the Lunar New Year, I was quite anxious,” Wang told Red Star News.

Hoping for a sales boom, Wang’s company stocked up on more cured meat products, with a shelf life of 180 days. The campaign, however, only resulted in a single order sold, amounting to just over 100 yuan.

Facing significant losses and delays in obtaining a refund from the companies involved, Wang, along with about 60 other firms, reported the case to the police.

“The broadcast we were promised did not happen, and the sales proportions agreed upon weren’t achieved. We could not even secure footage of our products alongside the celebrities,” Wang said.

The merchants are alleging fraud, claiming that they collectively paid more than 30 million yuan for live streaming services but failed to achieve agreed sales targets.

Amid a public backlash, Huang Shengyi’s studio issued a statement on January 25, clarifying that the couple was invited as guests to the live streaming for promotional support and emphasised that they made no promises regarding sales volumes.

“It’s important to clarify that Huang Shengyi and Yang Zi made no authorisations for sponsorships or guarantees of sales volumes for the live streaming session. Any unauthorised commercial use of their likeness or name will be met with legal action,” the statement read.

The celebrity couple were involved in a previous controversy where they promoted tickets to Shanghai Disneyland, claiming that if parents do not take their children to the famous theme park, they will feel inferior.

This latest case has caused a stir on mainland social media, sparking discussions about celebrity endorsements in live streaming sales.

“How is it possible that a live streaming with so many viewers only sold one order? That is very strange,” one person said.

“Paying 30 million yuan before even broadcasting the live stream? That is why so many celebrities are joining live streaming sales, it’s easy money,” said another.

“I never buy products endorsed by celebrities. The placement fees are too high and the celebrity commissions are outrageous,” a third said.

Beijing warns of ‘heavy price’ for ‘obstructing China’s reunification’ as US and Japan stage military drills

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251276/beijing-warns-heavy-price-obstructing-chinas-reunification-us-and-japan-stage-military-drills?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing’s embassy in Tokyo warned that anyone obstructing China’s reunification would pay a “heavy price” as the US and Japan hold biennial joint drills reportedly featuring a mock conflict over Taiwan.

Citing anonymous government sources, Japanese media reported that Washington and Tokyo had named Beijing as a “hypothetical enemy” for the first time during this year’s “Keen Edge” exercise. According to the reports, this year’s drill centres around a Taiwan contingency.

“If anyone insists on meddling in China’s internal affairs and obstructing China’s reunification, then it will not just be about the issue of a so-called hypothetical enemy – they will have to pay a heavy price,” the embassy said in a written statement on Tuesday.

At last, Chinese and South Korean foreign ministers talk amid tension

According to the US Indo-Pacific command, the Australian Defence Force also joined the eight-day exercise, which will wrap up on Thursday.

Reports also said the drills used real, unaltered maps for the exercise, breaking a norm of using maps that differ slightly from real ones.

Beijing said it expressed its “grave concerns” to Tokyo following the media reports, while Japan denied the accuracy of the drill details described in the reports, according to the Chinese embassy’s statement.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary.

Like most countries, Japan and the US – two of the island’s close allies – do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. But they are opposed to any change in the cross-strait status quo, and Washington is committed to supplying Taipei with weapons.

Washington and Tokyo are reported to have completed a draft plan late last year for a joint operation for a possible Taiwan conflict.

“No one should underestimate the solid determination, firm will and strong capacity of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the embassy said, noting that some forces in Japan had exaggerated the situation in the Taiwan Strait and provoked confrontation.

In recent years, Japanese politicians have repeatedly stated that “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency” – a phrase that has irked Beijing. The slogan, first uttered by former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, indicates Tokyo is likely to get involved if Beijing attacks Taiwan, but Japan has avoided explicitly saying it would help defend Taiwan.

Ties between Beijing and Tokyo have been strained in recent years over long-standing territorial issues, the Fukushima water release, Japan’s growing concerns about security in the Taiwan Strait as well as its security alliance with Washington aimed at keeping Beijing in check.

A trilateral leaders’ summit between China, Japan and South Korea is expected to resume early this year, but there have been no announcements yet on when exactly it will take place. It is expected that Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold talks on the sidelines of the event.

The Keen Edge joint drill between Washington and Tokyo is a command post exercise held every other year, alternating with the biennial “Keen Sword” field training exercise.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said increased coordination with the US Space Command and US Cyber Command would also be a feature of this year’s Keen Edge exercise.

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China, wary of stock market downturn, appoints new regulatory chief

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3251281/china-wary-stock-market-downturn-appoints-new-regulatory-chief?utm_source=rss_feed

China has appointed Wu Qing – a capital markets veteran – to head the nation’s securities watchdog, an appointment that will place a cumulative US$11 trillion in value under his supervision as one of several measures laid down by Beijing to blunt a downturn.

Wu, who ran the Shanghai Stock Exchange between 2016 and 2017, has been appointed chairman and party chief of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). He will succeed Yi Huiman, who had been in the position since 2019, state media outlet Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Before this promotion, Wu – who holds a PhD in economics – was deputy party chief of the financial centre of Shanghai. He was entrusted to run the Shanghai Stock Exchange following a 2015 slump in China’s capital markets.

Before his stint in Shanghai and the city’s bourse, he had worked at the CSRC for years, overseeing its departments of fund and institutional supervision as well as its risk disposal office for securities companies.

The appointment came after the regulator announced a set of policies to prevent a stock market rout and lift investor sentiment since last week, including curbs on short selling and an intervention by state fund Central Huijin Investment to increase stock holdings in the market.

Beijing has laid out an ambitious plan to turn the country into a financial superpower to better support the real economy, and President Xi Jinping has said preventing and resolving financial risks must be an “eternal theme” for the government.

The top leadership also highlighted concerns over the fragility of its financial system, particularly as China faces an increasingly turbulent geopolitical environment, grapples with a property crisis and attempts to buoy weakened confidence across the economy, all of which have hampered a solid and sustained recovery.

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Chinese security agencies tell students studying abroad to beware risk from foreign spies

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3251272/chinese-security-agencies-tell-students-studying-abroad-beware-risk-foreign-spies?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top spy agency has warned Chinese students to be alert to the risk from foreign spies when studying abroad.

The warning from the Ministry of State Security comes amid a sweeping national security drive.

In a post on the ministry’s WeChat account it told the story of a “real case” involving a Chinese graduate who, it claimed, had secured a place from a “top ranking” foreign university despite failing the Chinese college entrance exam in 2006.

It said the student, identified only by the surname Zhang, had been “severely punished” for his role in leaking Chinese scientific research after graduating.

The ministry did not say where Zhang had studied, but it said he had been responsible for liaising with Chinese students abroad and had done well in his studies, which brought him to the attention of a senior figure in the university.

This individual was then said to have put Zhang in touch with two people who turned out to be foreign spies and convinced him to provide intelligence on Chinese international students and other “sensitive information” in return for money.

China cracks down on geographic data theft, warning of national security threat

The account said these spies had secured Zhang a job in a Chinese research institution in China, even though he did not have the correct credentials, and told him to appear to be helpful to his colleagues to collect information.

The State Security Ministry said Zhang had “squandered his promising future” by giving in to the foreign intelligence agency’s “emotional manipulation and monetary temptation”.

It warned the public to be alert to national security risks and “uncover the hidden motives behind various seemingly innocent interactions” while studying and travelling abroad.

In recent months the Chinese authorities have heightened their focus on risks to national security, with the state security ministry becoming more active on social media to warn of the threat from foreign spies.

Last year, State Security Minister Chen Yixin said the country must “proactively defend” against foreign spies to strengthen national security and the Communist Party’s leadership.

A new counter-espionage law came into effect in July 2023, which expanded both the definition of spying and the investigative powers of national security agencies.

Although China and the United States recently pledged to boost academic exchanges as part of a wider effort to improve relations, Chinese students in America are still at risk of being caught up in the wider tensions between the countries.

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

Recently China accused the US authorities of harassing Chinese students on arrival at Washington’s Dulles airport, subjecting them to lengthy questioning and trying to turn them into spies.

According to China’s education ministry, more than 8 million students have studied abroad in the period between 1978 and the end of 2021, with the US, Britain and Singapore as the most popular destinations.

China-South Korea relations: at last, foreign ministers talk as shadow of North Korea, Russia, US, Japan loom over ties

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251239/china-south-korea-relations-last-foreign-ministers-talk-shadow-north-korea-russia-us-japan-loom-over?utm_source=rss_feed

China has called on South Korea to pursue a “friendly” policy towards Beijing in the first phone call between Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Cho Tae-yul

The pair spoke on Tuesday, nearly a month after Cho became Seoul’s new foreign minister amid speculation that it was an unusual delay while bilateral ties had become increasingly complicated.

In a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang said China would uphold “stability and continuity” in its South Korea policy, while calling on Seoul to have a “positive, objective and friendly” policy towards Beijing.

“China maintains stability and continuity in its policy towards South Korea, and always regards South Korea as an important cooperative partner,” Wang said.

“We hope that South Korea will pursue a positive, objective and friendly policy towards China, abide by the one-China principle, safeguard the political foundation of China-South Korea relations, and push bilateral relations back to a healthy and stable development track.”

Cho, who was sworn in on January 12, has already spoken with his counterparts from the United States, Japan, Australia and Vietnam.

His predecessor, Park Jin, held a video call with Wang four days after entering office but Cho’s call with Wang could not be scheduled earlier because of the Chinese minister’s busy schedule, including trips to Africa and Thailand last month, according to South Korean media.

Is South Korea ‘adopting Japanese narratives’ on disputed islets under Yoon?

China’s ties with its East Asian neighbour have been strained in recent years over Seoul’s closer alignment with the US, North Korea’s increasing military ambition and President Yoon Suk-yeol’s controversial remarks about Taiwan, which Beijing sees as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.

Most countries, including South Korea and the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to arming Taiwan.

Yoon compared Taiwan with North Korea as a “global issue” in April, prompting an angry Beijing to summon South Korea’s ambassador.

According to Beijing’s statement, Cho said the “one-China” position of the country had not changed. Seoul, unlike other allies such as the US and Japan, did not congratulate president-elect William Lai Ching-te after Taiwan’s elections last month.

According to a statement from Seoul’s foreign ministry, Wang invited Cho to Beijing for a visit and the South Korean minister agreed to do so “at a mutually convenient time”.

The statement said the two also agreed to accelerate preparations for a summit between China, South Korea and Japan, the first since 2019. South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, quoting a diplomatic source, said it was likely to take place in the first half of this year after China’s “two sessions” annual parliamentary meetings.

Wang and Cho also discussed North Korea in the meeting, with Wang saying: “The current tensions on the peninsula happen for a reason.

“We hope that all parties will remain calm and restrained, refrain from words and deeds that aggravate tensions, and resolve their legitimate concerns through dialogue and consultation.”

Cho expressed concerns over North Korea’s latest provocations and its military ties with Russia, and asked China to strengthen its “constructive role” in helping to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, the South Korean statement said.

Trump may make North Korea deal, embolden China, if he wins election: Bolton

South Korea believes China has influence over Pyongyang’s military ambition, while Beijing has insisted that increasing defence cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo escalates tensions in the Korean peninsula.

Both also highlighted the importance of stable supply chain management, as Wang urged economic issues not to be politicised.

South Korea recorded its first trade deficit with China for the first time in 31 years in 2023, with China importing fewer chips from South Korea as Beijing pushed for technology self-reliance amid its competition with the US.

It also complained about delays of urea exports, a type of nitrogen used as fertiliser in agriculture that Seoul mostly imports from China, which is believed to have limited exports because of a shortage of the product within the country.

Lunar New Year: how folding red envelopes opens up Chinese cultural traditions

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3251132/lunar-new-year-how-folding-red-envelopes-opens-chinese-cultural-traditions?utm_source=rss_feed

A friend asks if I have folded lucky red envelopes before. I tell them about the hongbao workshop I will be leading. There’s some hesitation and a “hmmm”. No, I admit, but there’s always a first. Could someone even make their own envelopes?

The inspiration to hold a workshop at my local library on folding red envelopes – known as hongbao in Mandarin and lai see in Cantonese – for Lunar New Year was sparked by a desire to share more about my culture. I am first and foremost a Chinese-American. Since leaving Hong Kong and returning to the United States to work in 2013, I have made it a point to hold certain cultural traditions and holidays near and dear, and marking Lunar New Year is one of them.

Culture is a broad and welcoming platform to help uplift Chinese people in the US and celebrate our contributions, especially during these fast-changing and uncertain times. Cultural exchange is a platform for advocacy, even if its effect is not immediately obvious.

For example, I once held a Lunar New Year presentation at work. My colleagues, none of whom are Chinese, learned about the holiday through photos of my past celebrations and sampled foods symbolic to the holiday, such as dumplings representing lucky ingots and spring rolls serving as gold bars.

After the presentation, colleagues told me how much they enjoyed it and connected this holiday with Thanksgiving, where family gatherings are front and centre. As we are in an election year in the US, it can’t hurt to further uplift the wonderful aspects of our culture. The more we share, the more we gain an understanding of our respective histories and celebrate our uniqueness and similarities.

I have been the happy recipient of many a red envelope over the years. During my years living and working in Hong Kong and mainland China, I received them from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who were older than me. As part of tradition, the envelopes are given to children and single people.

My colleagues at work freely gave them out with wishes of good fortune, and I saw that they were handed to service workers such as restaurant employees and doormen. Many included the logos of businesses and banking institutions. I collected the envelopes for a while, each with their unique and often stunning designs, and enjoyed the crisp banknotes that came with them.

In prepping for the forthcoming workshop, there was the challenge of finding a process of do-it-yourself (DIY) red envelopes. I scoured YouTube and surprisingly discovered several helpful videos. More importantly, on the journey, I had the perfect excuse to dig further into my roots. The hongbao was a window into learning more about my own family.

My father recalled looking forward to receiving ya sui qian, or “suppressing age money”, from his grandparents during his boyhood years in Shanghai. The economy was struggling in China in the 1950s, and Lunar New Year was marked by hearty meals and lucky red envelopes. In keeping with tradition, children would also bai nian – that is, wish their elders a happy new year – and kowtow to show their respect before receiving the red envelopes.

“With the money, usually we used it to buy snacks throughout the rest of the year. There wasn’t a lot of money involved, so it didn’t go very far,” said my father, who has always been a generous giver of red envelopes as well. Growing up, I recall receiving many a birthday gift or even sometimes just a simple gift via a hongbao. Come to think of it, my father almost always uses hongbao for his gifts.

“It’s light, easy to carry, it has a good symbol, it reminds a person of his Chinese cultural roots and it’s very practical,” he said. “You can do whatever you want to do with the money. It was very symbolic of Chinese culture. I enjoy the Chinese culture part because that’s my roots.”

Tradition has transformed over the years, though, in part because of changing times. Adult children with good jobs now sometimes give red envelopes to their parents, I learned.

Others collect their envelopes not only for their design but as a reminder of their loved ones and the thought and care that went into them. Suwan Chien, a teacher at the Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Centre, has collected more than 30 over the years and calls each envelope a “representative token” of well wishes.

My fiancé and I recently spent a rainy weekend mastering the art of folding red envelopes; the good news is that they came out pretty well. In preparing for the workshop, we discovered that handmade lucky envelopes are not imagined. Origami enthusiasts practise the art form, and DIY envelopes are for craft lovers. Either way, something handmade feels much more heartfelt and thoughtful.

Finally, there is a comfort to keeping with tradition. I recently received a reminder from my aunt, who as a single person has been a long-time recipient of lucky red envelopes. She offered me envelopes from Chase Bank, telling me, “You are not married, no need to give out red envelopes.” I will, at least for one more year, be a happy recipient.

Thailand recruits Chinese social media influencers as it seeks ‘new ways of selling things’ to boost exports

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3251258/thailand-recruits-chinese-social-media-influencers-it-seeks-new-ways-selling-things-boost-exports?utm_source=rss_feed

Thailand is planning to enlist Chinese social-media influencers to hawk things from the so-called elephant pants to local sweet delicacies to their followers back home, as part of the Southeast Asian nation’s bid to shore up exports to the world’s No. 2 economy.

Thirty to 50 of China’s top influencers will be invited to Thailand for a week in May, Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said in an interview to Bloomberg News in Bangkok on Tuesday. The intent is to get them to livestream about Thai goods, he said.

“The world is changing,” Phumtham said. “We have to think about new ways of selling things.”

What’s in it for the influencers? The government will share profits from the sales with them to incentivise their efforts. “If it fails, we lose nothing,” Phumtham said. “If it’s successful, we plan to expand this tactics to other things.”

While Thailand has in the past thought up the idea of tapping influencers to boost tourism, the latest initiative comes after exports to China dropped for the first time in seven years in 2022 – relegating the Asian giant to the no. 2 spot for Thai goods after the US. Ensuring growth of exports is key to achieving Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s goal to boost annual economic output to 5 per cent during his term.

That’s an ambitious target for an economy, where growth has averaged just 1.8 per cent in the past decade, making it the region’s laggard. That performance was due to cycles of military coups and political instability, which eroded investor confidence and competitiveness against peers like Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Thailand to permanently waive visa requirements for Chinese tourists

Exports, a key engine of the Thai economy, contracted 1 per cent in 2023 after notching 5.4 per cent growth in 2022. The Commerce Ministry set up a 2024 working target of 1-2 per cent export growth, while the Finance Ministry forecast a 4.2 per cent rise in the sector that normally accounts for about half of the country’s gross domestic product.

In tandem with the plan to use Chinese influencers to grow exports, Thailand is also exploring ways to promote local products and tourist destinations through placements in a coming “boys love” television series. The government has tapped two popular Thai heartthrobs who command a massive following across Southeast Asian markets, China, South Korea and Japan to help with the mass-marketing effort through their coming new show called “Shine.”

Phumtham recalled meeting the actors, Phakphum “Mile” Romsaithong and Nattawin “Apo” Wattanagitiphat, last week to launch the project in front of hundreds of screaming fans – many of whom hailed from neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

The government also will unveil a pair of “girls love” actresses who have been recruited to join the initiative ahead of a Pride Month event in June.

“I didn’t understand the power of love until after the press conference,” Phumtham said, adding that he expected the collaboration to generate about 2 billion baht (US$560.8 million) of economic value.

In December, Thailand’s parliament passed the first reading a draft amendment of the country’s Civil and Commercial Code to legalise same-sex marriage. The so-called “marriage equality bill” is expected to clear all parliamentary approvals by August, Phumtham said.

Douyin CEO Kelly Zhang steps down as head of TikTok’s Chinese version to focus on ByteDance video editor CapCut and AI

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3251242/douyin-ceo-kelly-zhang-steps-down-head-tiktoks-chinese-version-focus-bytedance-video-editor-capcut?utm_source=rss_feed

Kelly Zhang Nan, the most powerful woman in ByteDance, has stepped down as CEO of the Douyin business unit that includes the Chinese version of TikTok, as well as other signature products such as news aggregator Jinri Toutiao.

Citing “business development needs and personal preferences”, Zhang will focus on CapCut, a video-editing and graphic design app, according to an internal letter sent by ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo on Wednesday and seen by the Post.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) technology will substantially disrupt content creation and even give birth to new content creation platforms,” Liang wrote. “We hope to actively explore, fully understand and seize the opportunity.”

A ByteDance representative confirmed that Zhang had relinquished her role as chief executive of Douyin, adding that the company was grateful for her leadership.

ByteDance has no immediate plans to fill the vacant role, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Born in the 1980s, according to Chinese media reports, Zhang joined ByteDance in 2014 and was promoted as head of the company’s China business in March 2020.

Her latest internal move comes amid ByteDance’s intensifying efforts to explore new opportunities in generative AI, which has drawn global attention after US start-up OpenAI launched its conversational bot ChatGPT in late 2022.

The rapid development of large language models – the technology that underpins ChatGPT and similar chatbots – has sparked a new wave of AI-powered content creation apps, such as image generator Midjourney and video generator Pika Labs.

In an all-hands meeting last week, ByteDance CEO Liang berated employees for “not being sensitive enough” to emerging technologies and “lacking a sense of crisis”. He said one of the company’s priorities in 2024 would be to stay “always day-one”, referring to the need for the unicorn to keep up with its entrepreneurial spirit.

Why the secret AI sauce behind TikTok is such a vital ingredient

ByteDance’s content recommendation system has long been regarded in the industry as the secret behind the global success of TikTok and a successful use case of AI.

However, the company did not launch its chatbots Doubao and Cici AI until the second half of 2023, after Baidu and Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the Post, rolled out rival services earlier that year.

Last week, ByteDance introduced Coze, a platform similar to OpenAI’s GPTs, which allows users to customise its chatbot for specific tasks.

After Zhang’s move, Han Shangyou, business chief of Douyin since December 2022, and Zhang Chao, the executive in charge of Jinri Toutiao and online literature site Tomato Novel, will report to Zhang Lidong, chairman of ByteDance’s mainland business.

Additional reporting by Coco Feng

China’s famous ‘Harvard girl’ now finance professional with affluent US lifestyle, ignites debate about definition of success

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3250129/chinas-famous-harvard-girl-now-finance-professional-affluent-us-lifestyle-ignites-debate-about?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s famous “Harvard girl”, who became a national sensation more than two decades ago when she won a full scholarship to the prestigious United States’ university, is back in the spotlight.

Fresh details have emerged on mainland social media of Liu Yiting’s life as a financial professional in the US, sparking a heated debate about the definition of success.

For a long time, 43-year-old Liu was the role model many parents in China used for their children to aspire to.

In 1999, after she graduated from the esteemed Chengdu Foreign Languages School in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, she was accepted into Harvard University to study Applied Mathematics and Economics on a full scholarship.

Ivy League universities were known about in China, but few undergraduate students chose to study there, many did not even know it was an option.

So, when Liu’s mother and stepfather published a book titled Harvard Girl telling their daughter’s story and the part they played in her education, it became a national sensation.

The book sold more than two million copies in China, and hatched an obsession among Chinese parents to send their sons and daughters to American universities.

It also spawned a new parenting style known as jiwa, or “chicken blood parenting”, in which parents aggressively pressure their children to excel academically.

However, there has been a backlash in recent years, with Liu’s parents’ methods increasingly criticised and even called “extreme”.

One example revealed in the book is a method intended to build Liu’s resilience, which involves touching ice.

She said she once kept her fingers on a frozen cube for eight minutes, proudly describing it as a “big win” when at first she felt “excruciating pain” then “complete numbness”.

Liu’s LinkedIn page shows that, after graduating from Harvard in 2003, she worked at the Boston Consulting Group and PepsiCo. In 2016, she became the Chief Operating Officer at investment management company Coalescence Partners.

She married fellow Harvard student Scott Sambur, who was a partner in the law firm Seward & Kissel until last year.

On mainland social media, some people have expressed disappointment that Liu has become “ordinary American middle-class”, contrary to their expectations for her to make greater achievements and contributions.

Others said Liu’s life was exactly how they pictured success, which they defined as more than just achieving an affluent lifestyle.

“Success is not about getting into the top universities and earning a lot of money. It is about having the freedom to be oneself and living a happy and peaceful life,” one person said on Weibo.

China sent eight million students overseas between 1978 until the end of 2021, and 5.5 million returned to the country after graduation.

With unemployment among the 16-24 age group at an all-time high, returning overseas students, known as hai gui, increasingly find their degrees no longer an advantage among jobseekers.

On mainland social media, more parents say they are rejecting the jiwa style of parenting.

One mother, on the social media platform Xiaohongshu, said her primary school-aged son had “lost the light in his eyes after I pushed him to study. I gave up on jiwa. I will let my child be himself.”

People in China among an extra 3 billion set to face freshwater scarcity by 2050 because of nitrogen pollution: study

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3251104/people-china-among-extra-3-billion-set-face-freshwater-scarcity-2050-because-nitrogen-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed

An additional 3 billion people worldwide may lack clean drinking water by 2050, with China among the areas most at risk, a global study has projected.

A team of researchers in Germany and the Netherlands estimates that small river basins in southern China, central Europe, North America and Africa will become water scarcity hotspots because of high nitrogen pollution levels.

“Our … assessment shows that nitrogen pollution in rivers [was] an important cause of water scarcity in 2010 and will likely continue causing water scarcity in 2050,” the team wrote in reporting on their modelling study.

“This calls for urgent proactive pollution control strategies to reduce the impact of future potential water scarcity on nature and humans,” the researchers said in their paper published in peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on Wednesday.

China unveils new plan to clean up major rivers and lakes

A separate peer-reviewed study published in 2016 by scientists in the Netherlands found that 4 billion people – half of them in China and India – experience severe water scarcity at least one month each year.

Worldwide, 500 million people face severe water scarcity all year round.

Nitrogen is key to plant growth. But while fertilising crops with nitrogen could increase productivity, excessive and inefficient use of the nutrient could harm the environment. For example, water with too much nitrogen could trigger a proliferation of algae that would deplete oxygen and cause fish to die.

Wang Mengru, the lead author of Wednesday’s article, said excess nitrogen in water could also harm humans.

“Nitrogen pollution can lead to harmful algal blooms in surface water, which produce toxins that contaminate drinking water and cause health issues in humans, such as liver damage, diarrhoea and neurological problems,” said Wang, who is an assistant professor at the environmental systems analysis group of the Netherlands’ Wageningen University & Research.

“This will reduce the amount of clean water that can be safely supplied to nature and humans, leading to higher levels of water scarcity.”

Researchers from three German institutes and two in the Netherlands took part in the study.

Wang and her team found that the number of small river basins facing water scarcity was on track to triple in just over 25 years because of nitrogen pollution.

By 2050, more than 3,000 sub-basins would be at risk of being water quantity and quality scarce, they wrote. This would affect an extra 40 million square km of basin area and 3 billion more people who may potentially find clean water scarce, with China likely to be one of the hotspots.

Wang said China was at risk “because of high water withdrawals for irrigation purposes and high water pollution by nitrogen”.

The main causes of nitrogen pollution in China are low nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture, the need to boost harvests for the growing population, and poor treatment of increasing sewage, according to Wang.

“Not only does water quantity matter, water quality is also important and should be urgently addressed in future water management policies,” she said.

Wang added that more efficient use of water and nutrients in agriculture, better sewage treatment, and reducing water-intensive activities such as raising livestock for food and cutting food waste could help address future water security issues.

[World] China: Snowstorms spoil Lunar New Year travel for millions

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68224539?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

China’s airport ride-hailing ban, though brief, fuels fear of private sector grounding

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3251155/chinas-airport-ride-hailing-ban-though-brief-fuels-fear-private-sector-grounding?utm_source=rss_feed

The Shanghai government’s controversial ban on ride-hailing services at one of China’s busiest airports only lasted a week, but that was enough to spark doubts over the country’s commitment to finding growth momentum in a slowing economy.

The Shanghai Road Administration Bureau announced on Sunday at midnight that pickup services booked through ride-hailing apps would resume at Pudong International Airport after a ban levied on January 29, adding the decision was made “after receiving feedback from the general public”.

The airport was the second-busiest in China last year in terms of visitor numbers, with only Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport hosting more traffic according to reports from airport operators.

The policy – announced ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a peak travel period – was met with an overwhelmingly negative public response. Critics described it as an act directly contradicting Beijing’s commitment to clear unnecessary restrictions of market access, crucial for the nation’s efforts to achieve a sustained recovery.

Beijing has repeatedly vowed to support the development of the private sector, improve the business environment and encourage market competition as the economy faces multiple roadblocks to growth, including persistent deflationary pressures, a prolonged housing downturn and mounting debts on local government ledgers.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, said last Friday that the government should “align policy directions” and “build a transparent and predictable policy environment”, which would be helpful to lift confidence and counter downward risks.

But the “sweeping approach” of some government departments when implementing certain policies remains a confounding factor, said a Beijing-based economics professor and specialist in consumer behaviour, who asked not to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

“Taking a sudden and sweeping approach in this case is simply not right,” they said, adding that such actions would create uncertainty in the business environment and hinder consumer confidence.

“These internet platform services have created massive economic growth potential, and consumers choose them over taxis for a reason.”

More Chinese expected to travel abroad for Lunar New Year

A few days after the public outcry, the Shanghai transport authorities urged the public to “adopt a longer term perspective” for the city’s transport arrangement and said the decision was to avoid letting ride-hailing become a “monopoly” when there is enough supply in taxi services. The authorities added the arrangement would “ensure smooth and orderly traffic” at the airport.

Alicia Garcia-Herrero, an economist for the Asia-Pacific region at French investment bank Natixis, said ride-hailing drivers “should have equal rights” to compete with taxi drivers.

The latter group, she added, would definitely come out comparatively well in the initial ban, making taxi services the “monopoly” instead.

“If the government will abuse its power to protect the interests of the monopolist, options that have real potential to grow and are chosen by consumers may be forced out. This issue is essentially the same as the local protectionism mentioned during the reform of state-owned enterprises in the last decade,” Garcia-Herrero said.

Fu Weigang, executive president of the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, said the incident would impact business confidence.

“The business environment is what private and foreign enterprises are more concerned about these days,” Fu said.

“This incident [shows] the problematic sides in the environment that need to be improved, like making sure that a new regulation is well thought out before implementation to avoid shocks and that law enforcement is consistent and predictable.”

He did give some credit to authorities, however, calling the reversal of the policy “timely” and an act which showed public opinion was being taken into account.

China’s commitment to supporting the private sector has been questioned in recent years, as wide-ranging bans were imposed on lucrative sectors including private education and online gaming.

Ride-hailing was China’s fastest-growing internet market segment in terms of user scale, according to a 2023 report by the China Internet Network Information Centre.

Regulatory scrutiny was largely treated as over last year, when Beijing began praising leading internet platforms as economic drivers and vowed to provide further support for the development of platform companies.

Both the Beijing-based professor and Garcia-Herrero said as the Chinese economy is in downturn, job opportunities at online ride-hailing and food delivery platforms have become important sources of income.

“We have been talking about the importance of boosting consumption in order to drive the economy in the past few years, and it is important to address the uncertainties in income and policies,” the Beijing-based professor said.

“Sometimes, the government’s inappropriate interventions may be counterproductive in solving problems,” they said said, adding frequent changes in policy can also discourage private-sector activity.

Additional reporting by Frank Chen

Star China banker Bao Fan’s disappearance made his firm a buyout target

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3251217/star-china-bankers-disappearance-made-his-firm-buyout-target?utm_source=rss_feed

About a year after Bao Fan disappeared from public view, his boutique Chinese investment bank is shrinking and being circled by rivals.

Almost a third of China Renaissance Holdings’ staff in Hong Kong, which includes investment banking, private equity and wealth management teams, have either resigned or lost their jobs, people familiar with the matter said. Li Yuan, who oversees the wealth business, is leaving the company. Including mainland China, about 100 staffers left the firm in the past year, one of the people said.

At the same time, the firm has received interest from a Hong Kong-based financial group with a Middle East backer to take over what remains, including valuable trading licenses, the people said. A couple of small Chinese brokerages have also shown interest. The discussions were preliminary and no due diligence has taken place.

Talks with prospective buyers have been difficult because Bao’s detention has prevented the firm from making decisions on significant matters, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. That hurdle may now be cleared after China Renaissance announced last week that Bao resigned as chairman and chief executive officer effective Feb. 2, citing “health reasons and to spend more time on his family affairs.” Co-founder Xie Yi Jing will assume his duties.

A company spokesperson declined to comment. China Renaissance said in August that Bao was “cooperating” in a probe. His current whereabouts and legal status are unclear.

Bao’s disappearance last February shocked the business and investing community, in a further sign of Beijing tightening its grip on the financial sector through a sweeping crackdown on corruption. Bao’s detention was likely related to China Renaissance’s former president Cong Lin, who was taken into custody in 2022, Bloomberg News has reported.

Bao Fan resigns from China Renaissance Holdings

A former banker at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, Bao, 53, founded China Renaissance in 2005, making a name for himself by brokering mergers that led to the formation of ride-hailing service Didi Global Inc. and food-delivery giant Meituan. His ability to spot rising tech stars made him one of China’s most influential financiers. He later branched into private equity to back start-ups and tech firms, managing more than US$8.8 billion in assets at the end of 2020.

Half of the investment-banking group in Hong Kong departed in the past year, and the team has shrunk to less than 10 people, while the sales, trading and research team’s headcount dropped one-third to about 40, from almost 60. The private equity fund has stopped deploying capital because the investment committee, once chaired by Bao, cannot make decisions without him, the people said.

The Hong Kong consortium was earlier contemplating a back-door listing should the takeover progress, and it’s also eyeing the securities licenses that China Renaissance holds, the person said.

China Renaissance has delayed its 2022 annual report since the detention of Bao, whose sign-off was needed. Senior management in December appointed Zhonghui Anda CPA Ltd, a Chinese audit firm, hoping to have a better chance of getting the financial statements done. Deloitte & Touche last year resigned as auditor without approving the 2022 report.

The company’s stock has been suspended for almost a year, last trading at a market value of HK$4.13 billion (US$530 million).

President Xi Jinping has been tightening his grip over China’s US$61 trillion financial sector, vowing to deepen anti-corruption efforts in sectors from finance to energy, and show “no mercy” in the fight. The campaign brought down more than 100 financial officials and executives last year alone. The investment banking community has also been implicated, ensnaring bankers from brokerages including Everbright Securities Co. and Guotai Junan Securities Co.

South China Sea: Philippines to put military base near Taiwan in high gear to tackle tensions with Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3251228/south-china-sea-philippines-put-military-base-near-taiwan-high-gear-tackle-tensions-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines aims to boost military presence and infrastructure in the country’s northernmost province near Taiwan, according to its defence chief, amid tensions with Beijing over the South China Sea.

“Starting 2024, the operational tempo for the AFP will be higher,” Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr was quoted as saying on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Teodoro, who was accompanied by military chief Romeo Brawner Jnr and other officials, made the comments after visiting a naval detachment in Batanes province where a naval base is also being constructed.

Teodoro called for increased military presence and the development of more structures in Batanes, which he described in the February 6 statement as the “spearhead of the Philippines as far as the northern baseline is concerned.” Batanes is about 200km (124 miles) from Taiwan.

Filipino bishops urge Manila to ‘defend what is ours’ in South China Sea

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. While many nations, including the US, do not officially acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state, they oppose any use of force to alter the existing status quo.

The defence chief’s comments underscore the Southeast Asian nation’s efforts to build its security capability as tensions with Beijing flared up in recent months, with their vessels facing off in the South China Sea amid competing territorial claims in the resource-rich waterway.

“The visit highlights the importance of fortifying our territorial defence capabilities to ensure the overall safety and integrity of our nation,” according to the military statement, which did not provide details of the plan.

The Philippines and the US resumed joint patrols in November that began near the province and ended in the South China Sea. Teodoro has said more joint patrols may happen in the future.

In October, the Philippine navy inaugurated the naval detachment on Mavulis Island in Batanes, an area that is also being considered as a possible site for the annual US-Philippines military exercises this year.

Teodoro also sought increased cooperation between the military and local government units “to protect stakeholders such as fisherfolk and other maritime-related agencies in order for them to feel safer,” the statement said.

China population: with 20 million fewer people projected by 2035, will the retirement age have to be raised?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3251159/china-population-20-million-fewer-people-projected-2035-will-retirement-age-have-be-raised?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s population is expected to plunge by 20 million to 1.39 billion by 2035, a report has predicted, further clouding long-term economic prospects and creating implications for delayed retirement and an accelerated automation rate.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said last week that China’s population has reached its peak.

And despite a brief rebound of newborns in the next couple years, the number would continue to decline due to China having fewer women of childbearing age, delays in people getting married, as well as the growing popularity of not having children altogether, according to its report.

“The government’s pronatalist policies will have a limited effect. Married couples have cited high economic costs as a major reason for having fewer children, based on various market surveys,” the EIU report said.

China’s population dropped for a second year in a row in 2023, falling by 2.08 million from 2022 to 1.4097 billion, while Chinese mothers only gave birth to 9.02 million babies last year, representing the lowest level since records began in 1949.

Meanwhile, China’s workforce is also shrinking, as its working-age population aged between 16-59 also fell from 875.56 million in 2022 to 864.81 million last year, which may lead to an acceleration of automation, as well as the postponement of the retirement age, the report said.

“[But] the government [is expected] to postpone the retirement age only gradually to avoid cannibalising young hires at a time when youth employment is already at all-time high, which risks social stability,” the EIU said, with China’s adjusted jobless rate for 16 to 24 age group standing at 14.9 per cent in December.

China’s retirement ages are among the lowest in the world – 60 for men, 55 for female office workers and 50 for female blue-collar workers. Beijing confirmed in 2022 that it would start pushing back its long-mandated policy in the coming years, but no timetable has been released.

The EIU’s calculations suggested that if China’s retirement age was raised to 65 by 2035, the pension budget shortfall could be reduced by 20 per cent, while net pension contributions could be increased by 30 per cent, pointing to relief for governments and households.

Research in 2019 showed that China’s main state pension fund would run out of money by 2035 due to a decline in the available workforce.

People aged above 60 will account for 32.7 per cent of China’s population by 2035, the EIU said, up from 21.1 per cent in 2023. People aged 65 and above will also rise from 15.4 per cent last year to 25.1 per cent by 2035, the report added.

“Although this suggests a heightened fiscal burden, it will also positively affect the healthcare-sector demand and at-home spending, particularly with individuals returning home after retirement,” the EIU said.

China’s changing demographics, as the working-age population falls and young workers increasingly favour service jobs, is also having an impact on factory operations as manufacturers are increasingly turning to machines and robots to help fill the gap.

And while China’s population decline is occurring more rapidly than anticipated, it would maintain the world’s second-largest population for the foreseeable future, ensuring a substantial market size, according to the report.

In April last year, the United Nations said India had replaced China as the world’s most populous country.

But analysts said that it still boasts a large and still-growing pool of quality workers, and that it would be difficult for India to be equipped with the same demographic resources that buttressed China’s rapid economic growth and industrial upgrades.

Like if the US lost New Mexico: 6 takeaways from China’s 2023 population data

Demographers have, though, conceded that China’s policies to boost its population are unlikely to deliver imminent effects, and many have urged society to adapt to the new norm with contemporary policy systems and a suitable service infrastructure.

Existing hardships, such as an insufficiency of child care services, the financial pressure to care for elderly parents and the cost of housing and raising a child, remain the biggest deterrents, said He Dan, director of the China Population and Development Research Centre.

Unstable expectations, including low income level, employment and career development are also factors, He said in the article published in the latest issue of Population and Health magazine.

China’s demographic shifts would also drag down its urbanisation push, the EIU said.

“Future population reallocation will mainly be driven more by migration between urban areas, rather than from rural to urban areas, which will result in a gradual slowdown in the urbanisation rate,” the report added.

At the end of 2023, the urbanisation rate in China had reached 66 per cent.

And as most Chinese people already live in urban areas, the rural population would not drop as fast as it has in the last two decades, and the regional economic disparity will keep driving people into large city clusters, said the EIU’s deputy China economist Tianzeng Xu.

IDG Capital works to rebut US ‘confusion’ over its inclusion on Pentagon’s list of companies with ties to China’s military

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3251202/idg-capital-works-rebut-us-confusion-over-its-inclusion-pentagons-list-companies-ties-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed

IDG Capital, a venture firm with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, said it’s working to clear up “confusion” over its inclusion on a US Pentagon list of companies with ties to the Chinese military.

The company was surprised to discover its name on the list and said that it had not been consulted ahead of time or asked for information. The firm plans to seek clarification and redress.

“We are not a Chinese military company, nor do we have any association with the Chinese military, and we do not belong on this watch list,” a spokeswoman said in an email. “We are an international investment firm with investments in China and other parts of the world. We have a robust governance and compliance programme in place to ensure we comply with all applicable laws in all jurisdictions in which we operate.”

The list, updated by the Pentagon last week, is aimed at highlighting companies that work with the Chinese military, including by helping it to modernise and “ensuring it can acquire advanced technologies.” The list does not carry sanctions or other direct penalties.

However, there can be reputational consequences for being included, and other businesses and organizations may be reluctant to work with companies that are highlighted. “US companies might think twice about taking IDG money,” said H.K. Park, managing director at consultancy Crumpton Global, which is advising clients on scrutiny issues. And US investors “might think twice about investing in IDG’s funds.”

IDG appears to be the first investment firm to appear on the Pentagon’s list, Park said.

According to an email sent to its limited partner investors on February 1 that was reviewed by Bloomberg, IDG was initially unsure if it was the intended target for the list. “We are working with our counsel to look into this matter and are confident that any confusion should be resolved to our satisfaction,” the email stated.

IDG has invested in several US-based companies, ranging from Zoox, the self-driving car company, to Legendary Entertainment, the movie producer.

In 2021, IDG’s name came up in congressional testimony on the ties between capital markets and China’s military industrial complex. Nathan Picarsic, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted that IDG’s investors included prominent US foundations and retirement plans, and that the firm had backed companies including Qihoo 360 Technology. In 2020, the US Department of Commerce added internet security company Qihoo to its so-called entity list, which limits access to American technology among other restrictions due to national security concerns.

IDG was also an investor in SenseTime Group, an AI start-up that landed on the same entity list in 2019. Additionally, the firm made early investments in giant companies like Baidu, Tencent Holdings and Meituan.

In 2021, consumer electronics company Xiaomi, another IDG portfolio company, landed on the entity list and was removed months later after it filed suit against the US government. It called its inclusion unlawful and said it had no ties to the Chinese military.

The mandate to draw up the list was created by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021.

IDG is one of the oldest venture firms in the market and has been in China since 1993. On its website the firm says it has invested in more than 1,600 companies, with 500 of them going public or getting acquired. Two years ago, the firm filed paperwork to raise US$900 million from investors for a new China fund.

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Strange strawberry-sucking craze: why young women in China are obsessed with fruity fad and who started it

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3250254/strange-strawberry-sucking-craze-why-young-women-china-are-obsessed-fruity-fad-and-who-started-it?utm_source=rss_feed

Just when you thought online challenges could not get any more wacky, social media in China has been sucked in by a new fruity fad.

Young people are competing to consume strawberries without using their teeth.

The craze grew from a January 11 post on Xiaohongshu, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, which provided detailed instructions about how to suck a strawberry.

According to the post by a user named @Aqing, participants must ensure all the red pulp is swallowed leaving the seeds, connected by white veins to the core.

A perfect result should be a strawberry skeleton that can float beautifully in a glass of water.

In the past few days, young people have been posting pictures of their strawberry sucking challenges on social media, earning them the nickname “leech gods”, after the worm known for its sucking power.

One observer quipped that she was so good at sucking that it made her “feel that the air has become thinner”.

“I thought it was some new Chinese kung fu,” said another.

One person on Xiaohongshu even described the practice as a “kissing exercise”.

Some marvelled at the results, saying they helped them learn the inside structure of the fruit.

Experienced suckers say that to succeed at the challenge, the strawberries picked must be red, half-raw, and regular in shape.

One Xiaohongshu user who goes by the name @Wuxidixi, got so hooked on the challenge that she posted herself sucking a banana, kiwi fruit, and frozen pear – a winter speciality from northeastern China.

Her wacky stunts have attracted some strange requests, with one person asking if she would help suck the air from her vacuum storage bags.

This is not the first bizarre social media fad involving strawberries.

In 2022, after the Winter Olympics champion Eileen Gu posted a selfie with a strawberry in her mouth, it sparked a small trend among her fans to copy her pose with the fruit.

Recently, some people also cut strawberries into slices to put on their heaters, to produce a natural strawberry fragrance in their rooms.

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Papua New Guinea’s PM to address Australian parliament as Pacific security race with China builds

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/07/png-pm-james-marape-anthony-albanese-meeting-pacific-security-china

Australia will roll out the red carpet to the visiting Papua New Guinea prime minister, James Marape, amid efforts to stall China’s security talks with the Pacific country.

Marape is due to arrive in Canberra on Wednesday before he addresses a joint sitting of the Australian parliament on Thursday – the first Pacific leader to be afforded this honour.

Amid increasing competition for influence in the region, the Australian government will seek to build on the security agreement with PNG that Marape and Anthony Albanese signed just two months ago.

The two prime ministers will also hold an annual leaders’ meeting on Thursday.

Recent reports that PNG and China have entered early talks on security and policing cooperation has alarmed Australian officials, who say Beijing is learning from its mistakes, including an ill-fated attempt by China last year to strike an overarching security and trade agreement with 10 Pacific countries at once.

The PNG government has since stressed its continued appreciation for Australia as an important “traditional security partner”.

Marape’s visit comes at a time of rising pressure at home after an outbreak of deadly unrest and violence in PNG’s capital in January. That led to a string of minsters resigning and this month Marape may face a vote of no confidence as a political process allowing MPs to challenge the PM begins on Friday.

Last month, a state of emergency was declared in Port Moresby in response to rioting and other violence in which at least 16 people were killed. Shops were set on fire and citizens robbed and assaulted after police and public sector workers protested over a pay cut that officials blamed on an administrative glitch.

Marape faced calls to resign and at least six ministers quit after the riots. The prime minister refused to step aside, saying that the unrest was politically planned and organised and that he could only be removed on the floor of parliament, and suspended the police commissioner and other senior figures instead.

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Pressure on the prime minister, who is also battling a weak economy, has continued to grow. In Papua New Guinea, prime ministers are protected from no-confidence votes for the first 18 months of their leadership; for Marape, that period expires this week.

The process to allow votes of no confidence, common in Papua New Guinea politics, begins on 9 February and runs until August.

MP Puka Temu, who recently left the government and joined the opposition, said it was “astonishing” that Albanese would invite Marape to a state visit days before the vote of no confidence in the PNG leader was opened.

“Is Australia insensitive to PNG’s domestic politics or blatantly interfering in our democratic processes?” Temu said. “The political processes of Papua New Guinea matter. They need to be respected and not interfered with in the way Australia is currently doing.”

Marape told the Guardian the visit was scheduled last year and hit back at the opposition for playing “politics with the PNG and Australia relationship”.

“This historic address will elevate PNG at a regional leadership level in as far as PNG’s place in Pacific and the world is concerned,” Marape said.

The director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific islands program, Dr Meg Keen, said Marape would be looking to use the visit to enhance trade with Australia.

“This will be the first PM to address the parliament of any Pacific country,” Keen said.

Keen said the trip, which also includes a special dinner, showed Australia was “doing some red carpet treatment here, as of course China has done”.

Albanese said he was “deeply honoured” to be the first foreign head of government to address Papua New Guinea’s national parliament in January last year, and it was “fitting to invite Prime Minister Marape to do the same”.

Australia and PNG should work closely together because their security and prosperity were “bound together”, Albanese added.

Keen said Marape had indicated Australia remained “the security partner of choice” and that he would not do anything to compromise the agreement.

“However, it’s been clear from day one that these deals (US and Australia) were never exclusive deals and Marape reserves the right to pursue security deals with other countries,” Keen said.

“It’s not that PNG hasn’t had a long history in engaging with China on security … China has invested millions in security in PNG including vehicles and police training. China is trying to enhance that and get [closer].”

The Albanese government has bipartisan support to deepen ties with PNG.

The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said Marape’s visit “should deliver meaningful progress on policies in areas such as security, climate, health and economic development”.

Rebecca Kuku is a reporter with the National, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Chinese software engineer for Google accused of murdering his wife is out of hospital, awaits arraignment

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3251194/chinese-software-engineer-google-accused-murdering-his-wife-out-hospital-awaits-arraignment?utm_source=rss_feed

Chen Liren, a Chinese software engineer for Google accused of beating his wife to death in their home in Santa Clara, California, was transferred from the hospital to jail on Tuesday to await arraignment on murder charges.

Chen, who has been hospitalised since his arrest three weeks ago, has missed five scheduled arraignments. He is expected to appear in court on Friday.

If convicted of the charge, he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole.

Chen was arrested on January 16 after police, following up on a call from a concerned acquaintance, found him covered in blood in the house he shared with his wife, Yu Xuanyi, who also worked for the US tech giant.

Yu’s body was found inside a bedroom in the home.

The reason for Chen’s hospitalisation remain undisclosed. Michael Gadeberg, deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County, said he intended to ask the court to deny Chen bail.

Chen and Yu, both 27-year-old software engineers, graduated from the elite Tsinghua University in Beijing before studying computer science at the University of California San Diego. The case has shocked social media in mainland China.

On his LinkedIn profile, Chen indicated he had worked on the algorithm behind YouTube Shorts, a TikTok-like tool on the platform. At the time of her death, Yu also worked for Google, following employment with Amazon for about a year.

The couple had recently bought a house together worth US$2 million, according to media reports. Neighbours said the two led a quiet, normal life, albeit away from the rest of the community.

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Yu’s death came to light on January 16 after an acquaintance of Chen’s voiced concern about him and Yu because Chen had refused to answer his phone or door.

The individual reported seeing Chen through a window in the home – motionless, on his knees, his hands in the air and staring blankly.

Officers from the Santa Clara fire department then arrived at the couple’s home for a welfare check at about 11am.

When the officers entered the residence, they found Yu’s body on the floor in a bedroom just behind where Chen had been standing.

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Police arrested Chen and took him into custody.

Yu had severe blunt-force injuries to her head, according to a detective’s statement of facts. Chen’s right hand was swollen and purple, it said, and he had blood on his clothes, legs, arms and hands as well as scratches on his arm.

A fire department official asked Chen how he injured his hand, the statement continued, to which Chen replied, “I punched my wife”.

Chen did not provide a motivation for the crime, according to the statement.

Why Middle East quagmire could be key to easing US-China tensions

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3251004/why-middle-east-quagmire-could-be-key-easing-us-china-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

“The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said shortly before the latest outbreak of conflict there. In fairness to Sullivan, he had reason to be optimistic.

After all, the United States had gradually restored frayed ties with Saudi Arabia, engineered peace deals between Israel and several Arab nations, and had largely maintained a cold peace with Iran, its chief regional adversary. The implicit argument was that the Biden administration was deftly disengaging from the Middle East to focus on strategic competition with other major powers, most notably China.

On closer examination, however, this was arguably the most short-sighted geopolitical claim in recent memory – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has since warned of an “incredibly volatile time” in the Middle East, the worst in at least half a century.

“I would argue that we’ve not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably even before that,” Blinken said, referring to the Yom Kippur War between Israel and several Arab nations in the twilight decades of the Cold War. By all indications, the US strategy in the Middle East is now in tatters.

The Biden administration has found itself between a rock and hard place, desperately seeking to avoid a greater conflict in the region while projecting strength amid perceptions of US decline ahead of a contentious election in November. Paradoxically, a bogged-down US could be in a better position to negotiate a detente with China, which is in no mood for great power conflict amid its own domestic troubles.

On assuming office, US President Joe Biden promised a new era of American foreign policy in tune with the demands of the 21st century. His administration promised to embrace multilateralism in favour of allies, strengthen domestic industrial capacity and economic security and directly take on China.

Notwithstanding the seemingly impeccable credentials of its foreign policy team, the fundamental problem with the Biden administration’s strategy was that it underestimated challenges posed by other non-Western powers. First came Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which effectively tied down Europe and absorbed significant armaments and capital from the whole Western alliance.

Although remarkably successful in resisting Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s war efforts have proven increasingly divisive in the US, with top Republican leaders calling for a peace settlement. But while the US could share its Ukraine burden with its wealthy allies in Europe, the situation in the Middle East is different.

The Biden administration’s exit from Afghanistan and its attempts to secure a new nuclear deal with Iran should have rung alarm bells early on. Intent on focusing on China and facing a proxy war with Russia, the US tried to establish a fragile status quo in the Middle East in tandem with like-minded Arab powers and Israel.

On closer examination, however, Biden and his team effectively adopted the Trump administration’s regional policy, which largely marginalised the Palestinian question and almost ignited a war with Iran back in 2020. In short, the Biden administration hoped to secure, with a few tactical and rhetorical adjustments, a different outcome by largely sticking to a failed strategy.

The upshot is a strategic quagmire as the Biden administration faces pressure from multiple sides to act in contradictory ways. Within the Democratic Party, there are growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza just as Biden is under pressure to stand by the country’s chief ally in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a resurgent Iran, backed by Russia and China, is also testing the US regional position with greater assertiveness. All of sudden, Biden has found himself in an impossible situation. He is trying to avoid direct war with Iran while responding to lethal attacks by Iran-backed militants which have claimed the lives of American soldiers this month.

However, these new-found US troubles in traditional theatres of conflict could inject an element of pragmatism into the Biden administration’s China strategy. To begin with, the prospect of a protracted conflict in the Middle East and eastern Europe means a China-centred foreign policy is likely to be untenable.

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Both Iran and Russia, which inspire different partisan divides in the US, will continue to put heavy demands on Washington’s strategic bandwidth for the foreseeable future. To further complicate matters, the possibility of Donald Trump’s return to the White House has rattled US allies, sparking serious conversations over potential conflict with the US in the not-too-distant future.

At the very least, US allies from Brussels to Tokyo are also exploring a more self-reliant security strategy should a future Trump administration embrace an extreme unilateralist-transanctionalist foreign policy. In contrast, China can concentrate on its own backyard in East Asia with its increasingly sophisticated armed forces and economy.

The good news is that Beijing is also in no mood for confrontation. Facing an economic slowdown at home and growing geopolitical friction with key neighbours – from India and South Korea to the Philippines and Japan – President Xi Jinping signalled his preference for de-escalation during his much-publicised meeting with Biden and top US business leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last year.

With no concrete solutions on the horizon in multiple theatres, the Biden administration has an incentive to keep things on an even keel with its chief competitor. As a result, a relatively uncertain US could be forced to embrace strategic sobriety in the greatest rivalry of the century.

‘Most important battle in our lives’: 11 Chinese university students overthrow professor accused of faking data

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3249928/most-important-battle-our-lives-11-chinese-university-students-overthrow-professor-accused-faking?utm_source=rss_feed

“For us, this is the most important battle in our ordinary lives,” wrote doctoral student Zhang Li, in a post to social media platform Weibo on January 23.

For more than a month, he and 10 other students at Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei province, had been quietly preparing a “revolution” to overthrow their supervisor.

On Tuesday, Huang Feiruo, a professor in HAZU’s department of animal nutrition and feed science, was dismissed after an investigation by the university confirmed some of the students’ accusations.

HAZU found that 10 papers listing Huang as corresponding author contained falsified data, while a textbook he edited and published used other people’s content without attribution. The book has been suspended from use.

He was also found to have misused funds and lacked due diligence as a tutor. All 15 students in his lab have been reassigned to new supervisors, according to HAZU.

The decision to blow the whistle on Huang paid off, but such accusations are rare in China, where the power imbalance between students and their supervisors is marked.

While there have been cases of students making complaints about their supervisors, they usually wait until after they graduate, given that the role includes the power to give a student’s dissertation the green light.

The students’ campaign began on January 16, when a 125-page letter accusing Huang of academic misconduct and of encouraging students to cheat, was made public on various Chinese online platforms.

Of the 15 students in Huang’s lab – three studying for PhDs and 12 master’s students – 11 signed the open letter. The Post contacted Huang for a response to the allegations, but he has not yet replied.

Liu Xiaomeng, one of the whistle-blowers, wrote in a diary-style letter: “I’ve suffered many breakdowns and really couldn’t figure out how to graduate while staying upright.”

She posted the letter on her social media account on January 17, saying that she was placed in a lab that lacked almost all essential research materials and equipment and that at one point she was abruptly given some data from an unknown source and asked to write a paper.

Fan Xiudi, director of the Education Evaluation Research Centre at Tongji University in Shanghai, said that any student in China who spoke out against a tutor could end up hurting themselves, as “the university may downplay the scandal and the student will be left in isolation”.

“Students have to take great risks and even bet on the future of their academic careers. This suggests that something is wrong with our entire academic environment,” she said.

Four of the students – including Zhang – are due to graduate in June. But if they kept quiet about their concerns, they felt it was likely that they would have been asked to fabricate data in their dissertations.

This was something they were unwilling to do and in the end, the students decided to stand up and say no, Zhang said.

“We had worries about the possible consequences, but it had to be done. “We all prepared for the worst and were ready to even lose our diplomas and look for jobs in our hometowns,” he told the Post, in an interview before the university announced its decision.

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Another graduate student expressed support for the students’ “fight” on social media platform Zhihu.

“The community has tolerated academic misconduct for a long time. But we can only turn a blind eye to the widespread cheating of some powerful academics,” the graduate student said.

After graduating in 2018 from HZAU’s college of life sciences and technology, Zhang said he was excited to join Huang’s research team as he continued his postgraduate studies at the university.

He recalled that when he was choosing his supervisor, he was attracted by the glowing introductions on Huang’s official website. “His curriculum vitae is full of many outstanding academic achievements and various honours,” Zhang said.

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But in 2020, as a PhD student, he began to have suspicions. He noticed that some students had published papers though they did not appear to have carried out experiments.

Some samples, too, seemed to have data that did not seem reasonable even though it was claimed they had been sent for third-party testing, Zhang felt.

Huang, himself a past student of HZAU, was something of a rising star in his field of animal molecular nutrition and feed processing technology.

He was selected as a Distinguished Young Scholar – one of the country’s most competitive talent programmes – at the provincial level.

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He led a number of national research projects and also received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), which funds most of the country’s basic scientific research.

Huang started his bachelor’s degree at HZAU in 1999 and completed his PhD in 2008. After graduation, he began working at the university and was promoted to professor and PhD supervisor in 2017. He was head of his department before his dismissal.

But the students’ accusations brought his impressive résumé tumbling down – and led to a tsunami of public attention and online discussion.

Huang’s students listed more than 30 problematic academic papers in which they claimed there was evidence of fraud, including 15 published papers and 19 dissertations that he supervised.

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The papers, published mainly between 2016 and 2023, were alleged to show misconduct, including the use of the same experimental graphs in different papers, graphs with obvious signs of splicing, and discrepancies between original and published data, suggesting fabrication or manipulation of data.

For example, in 2021, a paper with Huang as corresponding author was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Hepatology, which included an experimental image on “protein expression in mouse liver”.

However the same image was also found in the thesis of his PhD student Wang Tongxin – who was the first author of the paper – except that in Wang’s research, the data was from piglet liver.

In their letter, the students implied that these papers were only the ones for which they could get conclusive evidence, claiming that there might be others that had been falsified or invented – something they said would need further investigation.

On January 18, HZAU officially announced that its investigation team had found that the issues raised by the students regarding the experimental images, data and research results were basically true, and that the university had suspended all of Huang’s positions and work as a faculty member.

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Huang’s students alleged other unethical behaviour, including allowing postdoctoral researchers to manipulate peer reviews, failing to pay students’ monthly allowances on time, and coercing students into falsifying data to make their dissertations “perfect”.

Over the past decade, the number of papers published by Chinese researchers in journals listed in the Science Citation Index (SCI), one of the main international benchmarks, has increased dramatically. Meanwhile, the issue of papers being retracted has become more serious than ever before.

Citing data from Healsan Consulting and Retraction Watch, a report in the mainland investigative outlet Caixin in January said that, in the past decade, there had been more than 50,000 retractions of SCI papers worldwide.

Chinese research accounted for more than a quarter of the articles retracted due to plagiarism, fake peer reviews and unreliable data, the report said. That figure rose to 75 per cent in the year 2023.

Stem cell study in Nature didn’t have ethical approval, Chinese academy says

Admittedly, Fan said, academic fraud was a pervasive global phenomenon, however, what worried her was that the academic ecosystem in China encouraged its growth.

She said one of the underlying reasons for it was that the number of papers published was connected with too many benefits, including promotion, funding and various awards.

This could incentivise researchers to take unethical short-cuts, as it became less important whether their work was really relevant to society or whether the data was reliable, she said.

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Research institutions also wanted their staff to win awards as they also benefited, such as by improving their ranking and increasing their competitiveness.

As a result, academic institutions tended to “indulge” potential dishonesty, which had become a “public secret”, Fan said.

“Unethical cases often surface after people outside the institution expose them,” she said.

“Such an ecosystem can lead to right-thinking students and researchers who are truly passionate about research being disadvantaged or even marginalised in a group or organisation.”

In their open letter, the students said two postdoctoral researchers in Huang’s lab were held up by him as role models, having published dozens of papers in top journals. But they noted that others in the group had never seen the pair perform experiments, and that the lab’s facilities were surprisingly spartan.

“So where did the experimental results come from? The answer is obvious: by fabrication … This method is less time-consuming, less expensive, produces better results and higher output, so it naturally becomes the preferred choice of some people,” they wrote.

Academic misconduct was essentially the illegal “plundering” of resources and had far-reaching consequences, Fan said.

As well as the issues at an institute level, misconduct could lead to a negative and biased impression of all Chinese research among the global scientific community, plus it could affect the country’s science and technology industry and its economic competitiveness, she said.