• Chinese sports authorities cancel matches after Messi no-show in Hong Kong
• The Year of the Loong? China’s dragons ‘are not’ the West’s ‘giant reptiles with wings’
• Mainland Chinese sports authority says ‘no plans’ to host football matches involving Lionel Messi after he stays on bench for Hong Kong fixture
• [Sport] Lionel Messi: Chinese officials call off Argentina games amid anger over star not playing
• Con artist from rural China who hired luxury cars, pretended to be rich, swindled 40 women out of US$280,000 jailed for 13 years
• PLA patrols South China Sea amid strained ties with the Philippines over Taiwan and territorial disputes
• Singapore cracks down on Chinese influence | Asia
• ‘Integrity is gold’: honest man in China travels from afar to pay back US$20 he owed guest house from a year ago when broke
• Xi Jinping’s chaos-loving friends | China
• Taiwan spots a record 8 balloons from mainland China ahead of Lunar New Year
• Pakistan set for coalition rule after troubled election, as ex-PM Sharif trails rival Khan, and China, IMF bailouts loom
• Will US-Philippines dialogue only worsen South China Sea tensions?
• China funds clean energy for belt and road partners, fuelling green transition and salving chafed feelings
• ‘Death is not the end of love’: grieving China relatives spend US$700-$1,400 to ‘resurrect’ dead loved ones using AI technology
• Partial refund for Messi no-show in Hong Kong may sooth fans but wider public, mainland Chinese still angry, analysts say
• China’s gallium export volume for December hit highest level since July, customs data shows
• As ties warm, US military resumes search to bring WWII ‘fallen heroes’ home from southern China

Chinese sports authorities cancel matches after Messi no-show in Hong Kong

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/10/messi-friendlies-cancelled-china-hong-kong/2024-02-10T19:09:54.237Z

A pair of soccer exhibitions featuring Argentina’s men’s national team in China have been canceled amid growing fallout after Lionel Messi did not play in an Inter Miami friendly last weekend in Hong Kong.

Sporting authorities in the Chinese city of Hangzhou on Friday canceled an exhibition between Argentina and Nigeria scheduled to be played there next month. Beijing’s football association on Saturday followed suit, canceling a March friendly between Argentina and Ivory Coast that was to be played in the Chinese capital.

“Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate,” the Beijing Football Association said in a statement to local media.

Inter Miami, the MLS squad that last year signed the Argentine star, defeated a local League XI team, 4-1, in Hong Kong on Sunday. Messi remained on the bench with a reported hamstring injury as attendees shouted “We want Messi!” Boos intensified from the crowd through the second half as it became apparent Messi would not play. Team co-owner David Beckham later attempted to thank fans for their “incredible support” after the final whistle, but he was drowned out by jeers.

Hong Kong government officials had hoped the match would help enhance the city’s image as an attraction for international events amid a slow economic recovery, and asked for an explanation as to why Messi did not play in Sunday’s friendly. They said Messi was contracted to play at least 45 minutes.

The 36-year-old star, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in 2022, has been dealing with the hamstring issue, but started all three of his team’s preseason games before coming on in the 83rd minute in a Feb. 1 loss to Al Nassr in Riyadh.

Luis Suárez, the Uruguayan striker who joined Inter Miami in December, also missed the match in Hong Kong with a knee injury. Miami Manager Gerardo Martino apologized to fans, adding the decision was “made with our medical staff. If there was a way they could have played even a little while we would have done it, but there was too much risk involved.”

Inter Miami concluded its Asia tour Wednesday with a friendly against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo. Messi came on as a substitute in the 60th minute of that game.

“Despite our best intentions, we understand there has been disappointment over the absence of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in Sunday’s match and we are sorry that the two players could not participate,” the club said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday. “We also recognize that the late decision caused frustration among our Hong Kong supporters and the event promoter, Tatler Asia. We do feel it necessary to express that injuries are unfortunately a part of the beautiful game, and our player’s health must always come first.”

Spectators at the sold-out Hong Kong game had chanted “refund” during Sunday’s match. Following days of backlash from government officials and angry fans, Tatler Asia announced a 50 percent refund on tickets, which cost up to $624.

On Friday, after Messi’s 30-minute stint in Tokyo, Hangzhou sports authorities made the move to cancel Argentina’s upcoming friendly against Nigeria. Beijing’s football association then followed suit on Saturday with its cancellation of the Argentina-Ivory Coast match.

“As a commercial event, a company and the Argentinean soccer team negotiated that the team would play a friendly match in March this year in the city of Hangzhou,” the Hangzhou Sports Bureau said in a statement. “In view of the current well-known reasons, according to the competent authorities, conditions to hold the friendly match are not mature, therefore (we) have decided to cancel it.”

The Year of the Loong? China’s dragons ‘are not’ the West’s ‘giant reptiles with wings’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251636/year-loong-chinas-dragons-are-not-wests-giant-reptiles-wings?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese state media outlets have backed a push for the English word “dragon” to be replaced by its Mandarin transliteration loong in references to the Lunar New Year.

In a commentary published on Friday, state news agency Xinhua said loong was gaining currency over “dragon” among Chinese people because the two words had different, cultural-specific associations.

“Some culture mavens have been calling for a switch to loong, a word coined in the 19th century, to dissociate the Chinese dragon from the formidable monsters of Western myth,” said the commentary “The loong story: China’s zodiac animal is not the fire-breathing dragon”.

It argued that loong had positive connotations and Chinese people saw dragons as sacred and mythical creatures. However, in Western culture, dragons were “giant reptiles with wings”.

Advocates of the switch were quick to take Tesla founder Elon Musk to task on Saturday after he wished his fans on Weibo good fortune in the “Year of the Dragon”.

Along with their own good wishes, a few commenters suggested “Year of the Loong” was more appropriate.

The call is in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push for cultural confidence and to reject names and translations that are seen as too Western or strange.

It also echoed the theme of an article in Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily at the start of the week.

The article said Western portrayals of dragons as “fire-breathing treasure hoarders” were inspired by literature such as Beowulf – the Old English epic about a Scandinavian hero who slays monsters as well as a dragon, whose venom later kills him.

It said Greek mythology also depicted dragons as vicious sea monsters or guardians of valuable possessions.

“By contrast, the Chinese dragon is an auspicious creature, symbolising strength, wisdom, good luck, and power over the elements of wind and water,” the article said, citing the story of Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han dynasty (02BC – 9AD).

In Shiji, a 2,000-year-old history book also known as Records of the Grand Historian, the emperor’s mother dreamed of a dragon lying on her body, foretelling the birth of a future emperor.

“As such, Chinese people proudly claim they are the descendants of the dragon,” the People’s Daily article said.

China Global Television Network, the state-run English-language news channel, similarly posted a mini-documentary, mentioning the “very different understandings” of loong in Eastern and Western cultures.

“In Eastern culture … loong is the symbol of benevolence, confidence and energy, but in Western culture, it is more a fire-breathing winged creature,” host Tian Wei said.

Nevertheless, Western cartoons have presented a wider range of dragons in recent decades.

Disney, for example, has created Chinese-style dragons, like Mushu in Mulan (1998), and heroic ones, like Sisu in Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), as well as villains like Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Jabberwocky in Alice in Wonderland (2010).

The 2021 animation Wish Dragon – a China-US co-production – used Eastern and Western ideas of the creature, and was released to generally positive reviews in both countries.

Mainland Chinese sports authority says ‘no plans’ to host football matches involving Lionel Messi after he stays on bench for Hong Kong fixture

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3251635/mainland-chinese-sports-authority-says-no-plans-host-football-matches-involving-lionel-messi-after?utm_source=rss_feed

Mainland China’s sports authorities appear to have ruled out an appearance by Lionel Messi next month after the Argentine football star’s earlier no-show for a Hong Kong friendly match with his club side Inter Miami.

The Argentina national squad, captained by Messi, last month scheduled a tour of China during the international break from March 18-26, which included friendly matches with Nigeria in Hangzhou and against Ivory Coast in Beijing.

But the Beijing Football Association, which oversees football in the capital city, said on Saturday that it had “no plans at the moment to host any matches involving Messi”.

The association added that it had spoken out after queries from football fans about possible appearances by Messi in March.

The Saturday social media post came a day after the Hangzhou Municipal Sports Bureau announced the cancellation of the friendly match between Argentina and Nigeria for reasons “known by everyone”.

News agency the Associated Press said a source had told it that the Argentine Football Association said it was a “sensitive matter”, had already acknowledged the cancellation and was looking for another venue for the match.

An Argentine sports newspaper earlier reported that the match scheduled for Hangzhou would instead be played in the United States.

It added that the change would allow players to better adapt to the climate before the Copa America was held in the US in June.

A much-hyped exhibition match between Messi’s Inter Miami and a city select at the Hong Kong Stadium sparked jeers and demands for refunds after Messi, captain of the US club, part-owned by ex-England football star David Beckham, failed to take to the pitch because of injury.

Partial refund for Messi Hong Kong match does not go far enough, analysts say

City politicians and mainland Chinese newspaper the Global Times earlier interpreted Messi’s absence for the 4-1 win for Inter Miami, but his participation in a similar match in Tokyo just days later, as a “calculated snub” and a “political move to embarrass” Hong Kong.

Social media users in mainland China and Argentina had different views about Messi’s expected absence from the Argentine squad next month – if the Beijing game goes ahead at all.

An Argentine influencer said those who blamed the footballer for his no-show in Hong Kong “didn’t deserve to watch Messi”.

“It’s their problem if they failed to understand that Messi could not play because of injury,” the user, called “All About Argentina”, said.

“Instead of blaming Beckham and Inter Miami for bad communication, the grown men are blaming Messi, who was injured.”

Mainland China cancels planned Messi match after Hong Kong fiasco

But another internet user from the mainland’s Sichuan province said she would convince people around her not to watch matches involving Messi.

“China can live without Messi and even the Argentine football team,” she said. “But it has only one Hong Kong.

“Resolutely resist those blaspheming China’s dignity. Get lost!”

Tatler Asia, the organiser of the controversial Hong Kong fixture, on Friday announced a 50 per cent refund for disappointed fans amid increasing pressure from officials and the public.

Details of the refund plan will be released in March.

The luxury lifestyle brand said earlier it would withdraw an application for HK$16 million (US$2.05 million) in the Hong Kong government’s funding for staging the match.

[Sport] Lionel Messi: Chinese officials call off Argentina games amid anger over star not playing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68261461?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Chinese officials have cancelled two Argentina friendlies that were due to take place in the Asian country after Lionel Messi did not play for Inter Miami in a match in Hong Kong.

Fans in China were angered when the Argentina captain did not play for his club against a Hong Kong XI on Sunday.

Messi, 36, said he could not play because of a groin injury.

However, his non-appearance drew widespread criticism in China when he then featured off the bench three days later against Vissel Kobe in Japan.

"Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate," the Beijing Football Association said on Saturday.

When the Hangzhou match was cancelled on Friday their sports bureau said: "Given the reasons that everyone knows, according to the competent authorities, the conditions for the event to take place are not met."

Fans in Hong Kong jeered Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham and chanted for their money back after Messi did not take to the pitch.

They have since been promised a 50% refund by match organisers Tatler Asia.

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Con artist from rural China who hired luxury cars, pretended to be rich, swindled 40 women out of US$280,000 jailed for 13 years

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3250522/con-artist-rural-china-who-hired-luxury-cars-pretended-be-rich-swindled-40-women-out-us280000-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed

A man from a poor rural family in China who posed as a wealthy businessman by hiring luxury cars has been jailed for 13 years after he swindled 40 women out of a total of two million yuan (US$280,000).

The racket was exposed after the con man, whose surname is Gu, was beaten up in southwestern Sichuan province in February last year, by a man who accused him of having an affair with his wife, Red Star News reported.

Police discovered that the wife had transferred a large amount of money to Gu’s bank account.

Several other women also told the police they had been cheated out of money by him.

Investigators discovered that Gu faked his identity, dated multiple women simultaneously using sophisticated “time management” skills and tricked the women into lending him money.

It is understood that at least 40 women fell for the con and that the case involved a total of two million yuan, police in Sichuan said.

Gu, 33, was born in a small village in eastern Jiangsu province and dropped out of primary school in grade two. He later married but divorced years ago, the report said.

His elaborate scam involved posing as the boss of a construction company, renting luxury cars with borrowed money, acquiring fake property ownership certificates and even hiring a chauffeur to drive him around.

The set-up attracted many single women from dating websites, aged between 20s and 40s.

He would ask them to lend him money, claiming his non-existent company had a temporary cash-flow issue or that he had just made investments.

The women were convinced he was wealthy because of his extravagant lifestyle funded by the money he had taken from other women.

In 2022, Gu left Jiangsu after some of his “girlfriends” became suspicious when he did not return their money.

He moved to Sichuan province in the southwest of the country where he told people he was a construction company boss from Jiangsu who owned several properties and cars. He said he was divorced and hoped to find a wife.

To attract women, Gu promised to buy them houses and cars. He also offered to meet their parents to prove he was sincere about the relationship.

In January, a court in Tongjiang county, Sichuan, sentenced Gu to 13 years in jail and fined him 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) for fraud.

Another recent case of fraud took place in Shanghai and the court imprisoned a man to 13 years and 10 months for swindling a woman and her parents out of 20 million yuan (US$2.8 million).

Pretending to be rich, he dated the woman and persuaded her and her parents to sell their flats, putting the money into his bank account, the court said.

PLA patrols South China Sea amid strained ties with the Philippines over Taiwan and territorial disputes

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251630/pla-patrols-south-china-sea-amid-strained-ties-philippines-over-taiwan-and-territorial-disputes?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese military announced it conducted routine patrols in the South China Sea amid heightened tensions with the Philippines over the disputed waterway and Manila’s plans to ramp up troop deployment near Taiwan.

The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command said on its official WeChat account that its naval and air forces organised routine patrols in the disputed waters on Lunar New Year’s Eve on Friday.

“Troops in the theatre remain on high alert at all times and will resolutely defend national sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests,” the statement said.

The command covers the southern provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, Yunnan, and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region as well as the coastal regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

China warns Philippines on planned military expansion near Taiwan

The exercise came a day after the Chinese foreign ministry warned Manila against “” in response to news that Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr had ordered an increase in troops and construction on Batanes, the island country’s northernmost province, which is less than 200km (124 miles) from Taiwan.

“Starting 2024, the operational tempo for the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] will be higher,” Teodoro said according to an official statement earlier in the week.

It also came as the PLA Daily said the military in different theatres would stay vigilant and vowed to ensure national security and social stability during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that Taiwan was “at the centre” of Beijing’s core interests and represented an “insurmountable red line and bottom line”.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the Philippines and the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

“The Philippine side should have a clear understanding of it, act prudently and refrain from playing with fire on the issue of Taiwan, so as to avoid being exploited by others and leading to their own detriment,” Wang said.

He added that China and the Philippines shared a long history of friendship and should treat each other with mutual respect on issues such as national sovereignty and territorial integrity and avoid interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

Weeks ago, China’s assistant foreign minister Nong Rong and the Philippine foreign affairs undersecretary Theresa Lazaro met in Shanghai, where Lazaro reiterated that Manila adhered to the one-China policy and would continue to implement it, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

The two sides also agreed to improve maritime communication and to properly manage conflicts and differences through friendly talks regarding the contested waters.

Last year, amid frayed ties with Beijing, Manila doubled the number of Philippine military bases that US forces can access, including three facing Taiwan.

A “2+2” bilateral meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Philippine counterparts Enrique Manalo and Teodoro is set to take place in March. The South China Sea is expected to be high on the agenda.

Singapore cracks down on Chinese influence | Asia

https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/02/08/singapore-cracks-down-on-chinese-influence

“FESTIVE FEVER” is how the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre describes the national mood in the run-up to Chinese New Year on February 10th. A different fever troubles the government of Singapore: how to deal with China’s allegedly extensive influence operations in the city-state. This month a sweeping new law against foreign interference was invoked for the first time, against a Hong Kong-born Singaporean, Philip Chan.

Shadowy Chinese operations are not a new development. In 2018 Huang Jing, an academic at the Lee Kuan Yew school at the National University of Singapore, was expelled from the country for his ties to China’s security ministry. And misinformation and propaganda has long coursed through Singaporean social media. There are laws in place to regulate that. But the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, passed in 2021 and known as FICA, grants the home minister, K. Shanmugam, new powers to investigate individuals suspected of engaging in information campaigns by a hostile state. Mr Chan, the government declared, “has shown susceptibility to be influenced by foreign actors and willingness to advance their interests.”

Mr Chan is a property investor with interests in both Singapore and Hong Kong. He is forever popping up in photos of dignitaries visiting business associations. There is no harm in that. Nor is there in crooning a duet with a Singaporean minister at a charity event, as he has also been seen to be doing.

Mr Chan is however a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an organ of the Chinese Communist Party. He appears to have crossed a line by trumpeting China’s interests. Last year, in Beijing, he declared that the Chinese diaspora was duty-bound to “tell China’s story well”. He added that “if you want to have a future, you must stand with the country that represents the future.” Similar messaging comes through in Mr Chan’s various writings in Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore’s Chinese-language daily.

Not surprisingly, this has annoyed Mr Shanmugam and his colleagues. They are loth to see their tiny if prosperous state bend to the will of the regional hegemon. Yet Xi Jinping, China’s supreme ruler, has instructed the Communist Party to recruit ethnic-Chinese nationals of other countries in a quest to build international support and stymie political enemies. In 2018 responsibility for relations with the Chinese diaspora was handed to the same united front department that oversees the CPPCC. In South-East Asia above all, Chinese embassies and state-security organs reach out to ethnic-Chinese businessmen, clan associations and grassroots organisations. Mr Xi’s approach confers primacy to blood rather than to citizenship: no matter how long ago their forebears left China, ethnic Chinese are considered to have a duty to their ancestral land.

Distinguishing little between the Chinese state, Chinese culture and Chinese ethnicity is bound to sow questions about the loyalty and identity of the tens of millions of ethnic-Chinese citizens of South-East Asian countries. This causes especially serious worries for Singapore. It is the region’s only majority-Chinese state, with ethnic Malays, Indians and others in the minority. It is a rare state founded on multiracial principles. Racial identities are celebrated but racial harmony is demanded and policed.

Chinese interference, as Singapore’s ruling party sees it, poses a threat to the very idea of Singapore because it challenges that multiracial compact. No surprise, then, that the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, which contains a cornucopia of interactive exhibits, emphasises both the uniquely local dimensions of Chinese culture and the paramount importance of loyalty to Singapore. It was set up in 2017 after the Chinese embassy sponsored a cultural centre of its own.

Yet questions arise about the government’s approach to Mr Chan, notes Ian Chong of the National University of Singapore. What measures will be taken against him? Or is the point to scare people away from dealing with him (he has already resigned some of his association positions)? Or is he a case, in Chinese parlance, of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys—that is, more significant figures inclined to be in cahoots with China? More influential Singaporean businessfolk than Mr Chan are members of the CPPCC. Nobody has suggested they be Fica-ed. Come to that, Singapore has not named China as the offending country in Mr Chan’s case. China has a way of making everyone chicken.

Read more from Banyan, our columnist on Asia:
Asia’s commercial heft helps keep Russia’s war economy going (Feb 1st)
South Korea’s ban on praising the North is ridiculous (Jan 22nd)
How Hindu is India’s foreign policy? (Jan 18th)

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‘Integrity is gold’: honest man in China travels from afar to pay back US$20 he owed guest house from a year ago when broke

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3250512/integrity-gold-honest-man-china-travels-afar-pay-back-us20-he-owed-guest-house-year-ago-when-broke?utm_source=rss_feed

A man who travelled a long way to pay 150 yuan (US$20) he owed for a night’s stay at a guest house a year before, has won plaudits on mainland social media.

The guest house owner, surnamed Yuan, who runs an establishment in Dongguan, Guangdong province in southeastern China, said she was moved that the man had travelled from another province to pay the money, Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.

Surveillance footage shows the man walking towards the reception desk at about 8pm. He takes cash out of his pocket, counts it, and passes it to Yuan.

“How much do I owe you?” He asks.

A confused Yuan is about to ask who he is when the man realises she does not recognise him.

“Do you remember me? I owe you a room fee,” he says in the video, adding: “I’m going to pay you back.”

As he explains, Yuan begins to recollect the day.

“I did not think he would come back, so I forgot about him,” Yuan later told reporters.

He tells her that, a year ago, he travelled to the city looking for work and stayed at Yuan’s establishment. But he failed to find a job and, after a few days, he ran out of savings, so he crept out.

“I do help a lot of people. Some cannot pay. I just thought he was one of those who would not return,” Yuan said.

He told Yuan he had been unwell otherwise he would have come sooner and apologised for being late.

Yuan noticed his money was all loose change, and believed he had worked hard to save it, but no matter how much she refused to accept it, he insisted on paying.

She finally accepted 50 yuan from him and he looked relieved as he turned and walked out.

“His spirit of integrity is a real gem,” Yuan said.

The heartwarming story captivated many people online.

“Integrity is gold,” one person said.

“What a responsible man,” said another.

Stories about honesty regularly melt hearts in China.

Last month, a man in central China travelled between two provinces to return 200 yuan (US$28) he had borrowed from a police officer to get home when he was completely broke.

In August 2023, a pair of siblings in central China were widely praised online after they returned 30 new iPhone 14 Pros worth 210,000 yuan (US$30,000) they had found in rubbish bins in their residential block.

Xi Jinping’s chaos-loving friends | China

https://www.economist.com/china/2024/02/08/xi-jinpings-chaos-loving-friends

TURMOIL FASCINATED Mao Zedong, a revolutionary who enthused that when “there is great chaos under heaven, the situation is excellent”. Today China is the indispensable patron of regimes with a Maoist relish for disorder and for terrorising neighbours, including Iran, North Korea and Russia. Without China as a trading partner and diplomatic defender—notably at the UN, when sanctions are on the agenda—those troublemakers would pay a higher price for their lawless, aggressive ways.

China’s embrace of disruptive powers is something of a puzzle. Chairman Mao’s China was poor, paranoid and largely closed to the world. Today’s Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping, presides over a country whose prosperity and strength rely on globalised commerce. China’s economy is slowing, and would suffer greatly if the Middle East, North-East Asia or Russia and its backyard were to descend into wider conflict. Nor is Mr Xi a revolutionary. He is obsessed by order and stability.

Officially, China deplores the turbulent state of the world. China insists that it does not endorse the invasion of Ukraine or North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons. Instead China sees the frustrations of disruptive powers as vindicating its worldview. While talking of peace and of the just cause of creating a Palestinian state, China’s preferred order seeks security by coldly balancing the interests of rival states, with no nonsense about universal values or individual rights. Its diplomats duly accuse the American-led West of stoking tensions by ignoring the “legitimate security concerns” of countries like Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Does chaos suit China, then? Chaguan can report a striking lack of consensus among foreign governments. Some voices argue that China sees opportunities in a degree of “controlled chaos”. In that view, crises are welcome that divide the West, distract America or—in China’s immediate neighbourhood—advance Mr Xi’s stated goal that “Asian security should be maintained by Asians” (ie, that America should retreat to its shore of the Pacific).

A second camp insists that China’s mood is one of fatalism rather than glee. In this telling, China did not choose this world of chaos and only pretends to align itself with disruptive powers for propaganda purposes. Still another camp, which comprises some foreign governments and Chinese scholars, argues that China is reluctant to put pressure on turmoil-seeking partners, even when they do something unwelcome, as long as those countries, like China, face pressure from America. Solidarity does not add up to an identical worldview, though. “Russia really wants bloc politics, and wants China and Russia to stand in one bloc against the West. That is not what China wants. We would like a stable world in which the US is not the only superpower,” says a Chinese scholar.

Debating China’s view of chaos is more than an academic exercise. Lots of governments are now asking China to use its leverage to rein in disruptive partners. Their argument is usually an appeal to China’s self-interest. It is unclear whether China is convinced.

Take tensions caused by North Korea. In the past few months it has forged closer ties with Russia, shipping missiles and other weapons to Russian forces in Ukraine. It has also tested ballistic missiles capable of hitting anywhere in America. Some hopeful sorts detect signs of Chinese dismay over these North Korean provocations. They note for instance that Russia may see an interest in helping North Korea improve its missiles, now that it is using them in Ukraine. Such Russian aid would give South Korea another reason to strengthen defence ties with America and Japan: the last thing China wants. Optimists note that China’s rhetoric has changed, a bit. In recent times Chinese officials have called for the security concerns of all relevant parties on the Korean peninsula to be heeded, rather than North Korea’s alone. Pessimists note that China continues to block new sanctions on North Korea at the UN. China would prefer to have friendly rather than hostile relations with a nuclear-armed neighbour, gloomy voices conclude.

As for Iran, foreign governments tell China that its interests suffer when Iran and its proxies create trouble, as when Houthi rebels fire missiles at ships in the Red Sea. In reply, it is said, Chinese officials question whether there is evidence that Iran controls the Houthis, or knew in advance about last October’s Hamas attacks on Israel. Some observers wonder whether China had convinced itself, naively, that Iran is a rational power that sees economic development as its path to greater regional clout. Now China is learning that Iran is radical and dangerous, not least after watching the country’s Revolutionary Guards shoot missiles at militants based in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed friend of China’s. Either way, despite buying lots of Iranian oil, China is forging far deeper commercial ties with Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab states that fear Iran.

China hails Putin as a force for stability

Then there is Russia. Western leaders tell Mr Xi that warm ties with Russia’s dictator, Vladimir Putin, have harmed European views of China. Mr Xi is said to retort that China does not support war in Ukraine, but that it took centuries to establish lasting peace along the 4,300km-long Sino-Russian border and this achievement cannot be jeopardised. China’s messaging to Russia is rather different. According to Russian state media, China’s defence minister told his Russian counterpart on January 31st: “We have supported you on the Ukrainian issue despite the fact that the US and Europe continue to put pressure on the Chinese side.” In China’s account of the same call, its minister agreed—apparently without blushing—to work with Russia on “global security and stability”.

Perhaps China is best understood as a cynical, opportunist power, concludes an observer. “They don’t want to see instability and terrorism. But if America is humiliated in the Middle East, that works well for them. So they wait, and in the meantime they will do a lot of business.” Much about today’s Communist Party would startle Mao. Cynicism, he would recognise. ■

Read more from Chaguan, our columnist on China:
Hard times for China’s micro-industrialists (Feb 2nd)
Xi Jinping looks abroad for confidence (Jan 25th)
How China’s public views Taiwan’s elections (Jan 18th)

Also: How the Chaguan column got its name

Taiwan spots a record 8 balloons from mainland China ahead of Lunar New Year

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251615/taiwan-spots-record-8-balloons-mainland-china-ahead-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed

A record eight mainland Chinese balloons have been detected around Taiwan, with two directly flying over the island, Taipei’s defence ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry said the balloons were spotted on Friday, the day before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,572 metres) to 38,000 feet.

It was the highest number detected since the ministry started regularly releasing data on balloon sightings in December.

Taiwan reports 17 balloons approaching from mainland China as election nears

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure in recent years, and deploys warplanes and naval vessels around the island on a nearly daily basis.

In February last year, Taiwan’s military alerted aviation authorities after spotting a balloon floating in the island’s airspace but did not say where the balloon came from or provide a detailed location.

‘Shoot them down’: Taiwan vows to destroy ‘risky’ mainland Chinese balloons

The latest balloon sightings came after Taiwan’s presidential election last month, which was won by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing regards as a “separatist”.

Beijing warned ahead of the vote that a win by Lai would bring “war and decline” to Taiwan.

But it did not send an oversized number of warplanes and naval vessels in the election’s immediate aftermath.

Since the January 13 vote, the largest incursions included 33 People’s Liberation Army warplanes detected around Taiwan, according to Taipei.

The largest number of PLA warplanes recorded during a 24-hour window came in September, when Taiwan recorded 103 aircraft around the island.

Pakistan set for coalition rule after troubled election, as ex-PM Sharif trails rival Khan, and China, IMF bailouts loom

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3251609/pakistan-set-coalition-rule-after-troubled-election-ex-pm-sharif-trails-rival-khan-and-china-imf?utm_source=rss_feed

Pakistan’s general election on Thursday has produced a hung parliament, setting the stage for the formation of a weak coalition government whose first job will be to negotiate fresh financial bailouts from the International Monetary Fund and China.

Independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have overcome strenuous efforts by the country’s military-run establishment to form the single largest grouping in the National Assembly, winning 99 seats.

However, the party fell far short of a majority, according to results belatedly announced on Friday by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Voter turnout was a modest 42 per cent, well below the average of 50 per cent for the general elections of 2008, 2013 and 2018.

In part, this was because of formidable hurdles faced by PTI candidates, including the loss of their electoral symbol, a cricket bat, and the detention of key leaders.

Despite them, the PTI “has demonstrated resilience, leveraging social media effectively to maintain a prominent lead”, said Farwa Aamer, director of South Asia initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.

“However, it’s essential to recognise that no government formation can proceed without considering the intricate dynamics involving the country’s influential military establishment,” she said.

The PTI’s biggest rivals, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have won enough seats, 71 and 53 respectively, between them to form the next government with the establishment’s blessing.

However, any coalition government will be weakened by the long-standing rivalry between Sharif and Zardari.

The two men respectively also have complicated relationships with the military-led establishment. It has been complicit in the installation and downfall of several governments led by the PML-N and PPP in previous decades, and in the imprisonment of Sharif and Zardari – sometimes with help from one against the other.

Pakistan bomb attacks kill 26 near candidates’ offices on eve of election

“Political stability may be elusive if a weak coalition government emerges unable to take tough decisions necessary to take the economy out of the critical ward,” said Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Britain, the United States and the United Nations.

Pakistan narrowly avoided a Sri Lanka-like default in the first half of 2023 amid protracted negotiations for an emergency IMF balance of payments support programme.

Close ally China, Pakistan’s largest creditor, kept it solvent during talks with the IMF by refinancing some US$7 billion of low-cost loans.

Speaking on television on Wednesday evening, Nawaz Sharif’s brother and PML-N deputy leader Shahbaz Sharif said the “first priority” of a prospective government led by the party would be to negotiate a new financial assistance programme with the IMF before the current one expires in April.

Otherwise Pakistan would “face bankruptcy, with unimaginable suffering for the people”, he warned.

Ex-envoy Lodhi said Beijing’s US$28 billion of investments in energy and connectivity projections under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme wouldn’t be affected by the transfer of power in Islamabad.

CPEC is part of Beijing’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to integrate China’s economy with the rest of the world, particularly with developing and middle-income countries in the Global South.

“There is a firm national and political consensus in support of CPEC. The election hasn’t changed that”, she said, adding that China “will continue to be Pakistan’s strategic priority regardless of who forms the next government”.

An unprecedented delay in announcing election results on Thursday sparked allegations of rigging by the PTI and speculation of irregularities among many Pakistani journalists.

All of Pakistan’s previous 11 general elections have been tarnished by interference by the military-led establishment, which remains the ultimate arbiter of power after directly ruling the country for about half its 77-year history.

The controversy arose after the delayed final results for a section of constituencies appeared to reverse trends that favoured the PTI in the initial counting phase, which was televised on Thursday evening.

2 children among 9 killed in Pakistan election attacks

In between, the election commission had inexplicably stopped sharing certified results for individual polling stations with candidates’ agents and journalists, which is required under election rules meant to ensure transparency and avoid such a controversy.

Despite an ultimatum to returning officers issued at around 3am local time by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to declare results within a half-hour, the final outcome for half of the National Assembly’s 266 constituencies did not become clear until early on Saturday morning.

The outcomes of Pakistan’s previous general elections were all disseminated by 2am the following morning.

The United States, European Union and Britain on Friday all criticised “severe interference” in Pakistan’s electoral process and called upon Islamabad to ensure “a full investigation” of all reported election irregularities.

The PTI won more seats than any of rival party, despite many of its candidates contesting while on the run to evade arrest.

Most of the party’s leadership is undergoing trial in anti-terrorism courts for their role in PTI mob attacks on military installations in several cities last May.

The violent protests followed Khan’s arrest by armed soldiers on corruption-related charges.

The government and military subsequently accused Khan and his colleagues of attempting to stage a coup against Shahbaz Sharif’s then-administration, and of seeking to foment a mutiny against the army’s high command.

The PTI swept nearly all National Assembly constituencies in its power base of northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as was widely expected.

Surprisingly, though, the PTI performed above expectations in populous eastern Punjab province, which hosts about half of the National Assembly’s 266 directly elected seats. About half of Punjab’s seats were won by independents backed by Khan.

Pakistan struggles to secure IMF bailout as military intervention rears its head

“It’s evident that the democratic spirit has prevailed with a remarkable turnout, particularly notable among women and youth voters,” Aamer said.

The Pakistani electorate’s vigilance “remains paramount” because it is “keenly attuned to the electoral process and demands transparency and authenticity in the results”, she observed.

“Any deviation from these principles risks inciting public discontent and jeopardising the stability of the democratic transition,” Aamer said.

On the other hand, the underwhelming performance of the PML-N in its Punjab stamping ground, and its failure to regain seats along the Karakoram Highway in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa (KKH), may dissuade its leader Sharif from seeking an unprecedented fourth term as prime minister.

The highway has served as Pakistan’s sole overland connection to its close ally China since its completion in 1978. It now connects the Xinjiang region to the Chinese-operated port of Gwadar on the western Indian Ocean coast of restive Balochistan province.

Sharif suffered an embarrassing defeat in Mansehra, a mountainous district along the KKH, but avoided a potentially career-ending loss in his home city of Lahore.

The ex-prime minister detests the idea of leading a weak coalition government, telling journalists on Wednesday to stop asking him “for God’s sake” about the prospect of one.

Instead, he may once again defer to his brother Shahbaz, who led the broad based coalition government which replaced Khan after he lost a vote of confidence in April 2022, and held office until last October.

Shahbaz represented the PML-N in the first round of power sharing talks on Friday evening with Zardari.

On the other hand, the PTI’s loss of its symbol due to its failure to hold credible internal elections means that it still has hurdles to cross before the party can contest the leadership of the National Assembly, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces.

Until the PTI holds internal polls that satisfy the election commission, its victorious candidates will have to find refuge in another party’s ranks within 72 hours of the official declaration of final results.

Otherwise, they won’t be eligible to vote for women and minority candidates who will soon contest 60 indirectly-elected reserved seats in the National Assembly.

As a consequence, the PTI would lose its proportionate one-third share of those seats to PML-N, PPP and other parties, along with its current standing as the single largest party.

A similar fate threatens PTI-backed independent members of Pakistan’s four provincial assemblies, who were elected on the same day as their counterparts in the federal parliament.

Acting PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan said the independents might join an allied small Shia Muslim religious party which won a single seat out of the 266 directly elected on Thursday.

Pakistan ex-PM Sharif seeks coalition government after trailing jailed rival Khan

Otherwise, the PPP of ex-president Zardari – who’s renowned as Pakistan’s master coalition builder – has previously extended an offer of refuge to PTI-backed independents, but it was rejected outright by a justifiably mistrustful Khan.

The PPP holds the balance of power, having tightened its stranglehold over southern Sindh province in Thursday’s election.

It also has the most seats of any party in restive western Balochistan province, where the mandate was characteristically split between multiple contestants, and is well placed to cobble together a provincial coalition administration there.

Some analysts appearing on Pakistani television screens said the ongoing crackdown against the PTI could see its successful independents come under pressure from the Pakistani establishment’s intelligence agencies to desert Khan.

But other analysts argued that the public’s mandate could strengthen the candidates’ resolve to remain loyal to him.

Before election day, as many as half of winning PTI-backed independents were in touch either with the PML-N or the PPP, to join whichever party looked like forming the government, several respected Pakistani journalists have reported.

Khan’s ability to prevent such defections is limited by his absence. He is serving multi-year jail sentences for corrupt practices, leaking state secrets, and illegally marrying his wife according to Islamic law injunctions.

Khan was found guilty of the latter two charges last week by lower court judges, whose verdicts were widely interpreted by analysts as a signal from the establishment to voters telling them not to waste their ballots on the imprisoned PTI chief.

Voters resounding rejection of that message was expected to embolden populist Khan, who has maintained his uncompromising stance against negotiating with political opponents he has long called “thieves”.

Instead, Khan has demanded talks with the military’s leadership, but top generals have refused to entertain him since last May’s riots.

“Manipulation and horse trading aside, Imran Khan truly does seem to be the people’s preferred choice today,” said Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University in the US.

“Appreciating that and moving towards some form of reconciliation” between the military-led establishment and Khan was “now necessary for political stability” in Pakistan, he said.

Will US-Philippines dialogue only worsen South China Sea tensions?

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3251227/will-us-philippines-dialogue-only-worsen-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States and the Philippines are expected to conduct a “2+2” dialogue in Manila in March, involving US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, and their Philippine counterparts Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro Jnr.

The Philippines will host the talks for the first time since the dialogue began in 2012, with three unambiguous messages likely to be conveyed.

First, Manila is trying to increase its bargaining chips in bilateral talks with China by deepening its diplomatic engagement and defence cooperation with the US.

The Marcos administration has attempted to strengthen its hand in South China Sea disputes with China, primarily by trying to involve other countries in its protests against Beijing while negotiating with it at the same time.

The more robust the ties that the Philippines builds with foreign powers, the more leverage it has in negotiations. Therefore, a reinforced relationship with the US via the “2+2” dialogue would be beneficial to Manila’s negotiations with Beijing.

Second, the US intends to bolster the Marcos administration’s stance towards China by offering substantial support. So far, the Philippines has been dealing with whether and how to continue its hard line against China, given the potential costs involved. The dialogue gives the US a chance to support Manila’s continued assertiveness in the region.

Third, last year’s “2+2” dialogue took place in April, not long before the annual Balikatan exercises between the US and Philippines militaries. Given their enhanced levels of strategic cooperation, both sides may discuss policy coordination on maritime activities, thus broadening the scope of their defence cooperation.

During last year’s meeting, Washington and Manila resolved to “modernise” their alliance and optimise mutual defence capabilities. This year’s dialogue comes as the Philippines continues its operations in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Late last month, a small aircraft from the Philippines dropped off supplies for troops on a grounded vessel at Second Thomas Shoal, known as Renai Reef in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines. Continuing resupply missions to troops on the beached vessel is likely to be a top priority for the Philippine military going forward.

Given this, Philippine officials are expected to highlight the Second Thomas Shoal issue during the latest dialogue with the US, and Washington is likely to advise on how to maintain the Philippines’ presence in the disputed reef. The two sides are also likely to discuss enhancing the Philippines’ maritime strength by upgrading and modernising its fleet, and holding more joint patrols and military exercises to counter what they see as Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

On January 17, Teodoro said the Philippines was planning to conduct “more robust” military activities with the US and its allies in the face of a “more aggressive” China. Even so, Washington could still curb Manila’s activities in the South China Sea.

The Biden administration’s attention is currently divided between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and trying to keep Israel’s war in Gaza from spilling over into the wider Middle East. As such, it is unlikely that the US would be eager to open another front. If there is to be any confrontation in the South China Sea, Washington would probably prefer the non-military kind.

Last November, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr raised the prospect of a separate code of conduct for the South China Sea with fellow claimant states Malaysia and Vietnam. More recently, he travelled to Vietnam to sign agreements that included establishing a joint coastguard committee to discuss common issues.

Will more assertive Philippine approach to South China Sea pay off?

While consultations over the code of conduct might come up during the US-Philippines dialogue, a similar bilateral agreement between the two is unlikely any time soon. Manila and Washington have strengthened their policy coordination amid the consultations over the South China Sea code of conduct, as they seek to ensure their interests are protected.

For its part, China has expressed strong disapproval over what it sees as US intervention in code of conduct talks. It has repeatedly warned that it would see the presence of external actors in territorial disputes in the South China Sea as a hostile move and treat it as such.

In conclusion, next month’s “2+2” Philippines-US dialogue is likely to advance defence cooperation between the two countries. Any resulting increase in Manila’s ’ assertiveness in the South China Sea could risk intensifying confrontation in the disputed waters.

China funds clean energy for belt and road partners, fuelling green transition and salving chafed feelings

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3251576/china-funds-clean-energy-belt-and-road-partners-fuelling-green-transition-and-salving-chafed?utm_source=rss_feed

Despite misfires during previous infrastructure endeavours in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, China is now making substantial green energy investments in those regions – and finding eager takers.

Companies are making strides in power generation and crafting solar energy equipment with support from a range of host countries, including Egypt, Mauritius, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In dollar terms, last year Chinese-backed projects grew at a singularly speedy clip.

In Africa, China’s work in “alternative” power reached a historic high in 2023 of about US$2.7 billion, said Christoph Nedopil Wang, director of the Australia-based Griffith Asia Institute.

Alternative energy work in the Middle East totalled US$9.48 billion from 2018 through 2023, data from the institute shows. That figure dwarfs the US$2.23 billion spent over the previous decade. Central Asia set its own record last year, with US$1.3 billion of investment from China.

Chinese investors can make money on green energy without alarming host countries with the cost, scale or pollution brought by the mega-projects from the early phases of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, analysts said.

The 11-year-old initiative, aimed at smoothing China-bound trade through interlinked infrastructure networks, has pivoted to what Beijing officials call “small but beautiful” projects. They’re geared to shun pollution while making money for hosts and investors alike.

“Chinese companies engaged in renewable energy are typically looking for a solid financial return,” Wang said.

China’s leadership aims to reverse the belt and road’s old reputation, said Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

“It’s really designed to improve China’s image and present it as a global player, and to address this criticism of how it’s been irresponsible in the past in its dealings with developing countries,” Menon said.

Earlier projects in Kenya, Myanmar and Sri Lanka spawned debt or environmental concerns. The initiative once prioritised ports, roads and airports.

China’s energy engagement last year was already “the greenest in absolute and relative terms” under the belt and road, the Green Finance and Development Centre at Fudan University said in a February research paper.

Countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa – especially poorer ones – are feeling the heat from climate change, with extreme weather events spurring overhauls in power generation to cut carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 in line with United Nations goals.

But China has “harnessed its competitive advantage in policy consistency” and kept capital costs low to lead the world market in solar and wind power exports, the Fairbank Centre for Chinese Studies said in a 2022 study.

In Qatar, for example, PowerChina Guizhou Engineering christened an 800-megawatt photovoltaic station in 2022 as the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation’s first non-fossil fuel power plant.

High heat and yellow sand in Qatar’s hotter months increase reflectivity at the station site 80km (49.7 miles) from the capital Doha, the Huanqiu.com news website in China reported. The collection of solar energy reflected from the ground raises power generation by 10 to 15 per cent.

Qatar consul general in Hong Kong Ali Saad Al-Hajri said in October the solar station would generate more cooperation with China on renewables.

“That kind of commitment to clean energy is increasing, and China is one of the biggest partners capable of achieving those kinds of goals,” he said.

Solar energy comprises part of China’s US$6 billion in investments in Egypt, said Baher Sheweikhi, the country’s consul general in Hong Kong. The two nations expect to explore renewable hydrogen together as well, he added.

China’s BRI ups green energy focus after vow to stop new coal power units: report

Of the 510 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity installed in the world last year, China contributed more than half, the official Xinhua News Agency in Beijing said on January 25.

China has “grown into an indispensable force to drive the development of the world’s clean energy”, Xinhua said, quoting a National Energy Administration official. The report points to expanded capacity in wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric power.

The United Arab Emirates has identified green technologies from China as a source of “significant potential for growth”, Hong Kong consul general Shaikh Saoud Ali al-Mualla said in December.

And the tiny African island nation of Mauritius is accepting Chinese investments in solar energy to meet its carbon reduction target by 2030 because it has seen “a particular interest” among panel makers, said Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, minister of financial services and good governance.

Elsewhere in Africa, China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation and Kenya’s Rural Energy Authority have built an unusually large photovoltaic electricity station.

In Uzbekistan, photovoltaic panels from China will help power a 1GW project built to use the Central Asian country’s abundant sunshine for 2.4 billion kilowatt hours of clean energy per year, Xinhua said in October. The project is expected to cut carbon emissions by up to 2.4 million tonnes.

And neighbouring Kazakhstan sees green technology as a “promising area of cooperation” with China, the country’s top diplomat in Hong Kong has said.

“The gain is mainly economic” for China, said Zha Daojiong, a Peking University international studies professor. “Such investment is finite. Electricity produced gets to stay in the destination market.”

‘Death is not the end of love’: grieving China relatives spend US$700-$1,400 to ‘resurrect’ dead loved ones using AI technology

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3250466/death-not-end-love-grieving-china-relatives-spend-us700-1400-resurrect-dead-loved-ones-using-ai?utm_source=rss_feed

Grieving relatives in China are making use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create lifelike avatars of their deceased loved ones, sparking a widespread debate on mainland social media.

Hangzhou Daily has reported that the use of AI services to “resurrect” the dead has gained popularity in China.

People are spending between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan (US$700-$1,400) on the services that are also known as “ghost bots”.

The founder of an AI firm, Super Brain, Zhang Zewei, said that the technology was able to create basic avatars that are able to mimic the thinking and speech patterns of the deceased.

Since he set up the firm in May 2023 in Jiangsu province, eastern China, his team has helped thousands of families digitally revive their dearly departed from as little as 30 seconds of audiovisual material.

More than half of his clients have been elderly parents who lost their children.

“There are so many people in China, many with emotional needs, which gives us an advantage when it comes to market demand,” said Zhang.

Due to the fact that every client has different needs, he offers customised counselling services.

At present, his team is able to provide three kinds of service.

AI healing would clone voices to build a chatbox and the digital portrait provided a profile image to support an intelligent speech function, as well as a 3D digital human model.

Zhang’s team has successfully provided the AI healing service to more than 600 families. Fees range from 5,000 to 10,000 yuan.

He said clients were required to share photos, videos and audio recordings of the deceased.

“The more the materials we have, the better the cloning effect,” Zhang added.

A grieving man, surnamed Wu, one of Zhang’s clients, was mourning the loss of his son who died of a stroke aged 22 while studying in the United Kingdom in 2022.

He and his wife felt comforted after getting a basic avatar capable of copying his son’s image and voice.

“Goodbye, my dear parents. I hope I can accompany you all the time, and give you warmth and love,” his “son” said in a robotic voice.

“Death is not the end of love. Let’s reunite in the metaverse,” said Wu.

The story has intrigued people on mainland social media.

“It’s marvellous,” said one online observer.

Another agreed: “It’s definitely therapeutic for those who have lost a loved one.”

“Would they feel more pain if they were pretending not to lose anyone?” Another person asked.

But another person said: “Is it really good? People must try to go on with their lives without the lost loved ones.”

Partial refund for Messi no-show in Hong Kong may sooth fans but wider public, mainland Chinese still angry, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3251599/partial-refund-messi-no-show-hong-kong-may-sooth-fans-wider-public-mainland-chinese-still-angry?utm_source=rss_feed

A partial refund to ticket holders of last Sunday’s beleaguered Inter Miami football match in which star player Lionel Messi was a no-show may help to ease the anger of those who handed over money but will have little effect on soothing the wider public in Hong Kong and mainland China, analysts have said.

The Hangzhou Sports Bureau announced in a statement late Friday night that it had cancelled a planned friendly match with the Argentinian team next month, while earlier in the day the organiser of the Hong Kong match Tatler Asia announced it would give back 50 per cent of the ticket price to fans.

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at semi-official Beijing think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, agreed public anger would continue to “linger” without a plausible explanation for Messi’s “abnormal behaviour”.

“Perhaps Inter Miami might have underestimated the seriousness of the consequences of this event,” he said. “Without offering a credible explanation, it will lose the lucrative Chinese market for a long time to come, and Messi will suffer irreparable losses in prestige among Chinese people.”

Barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a member of the government’s key decision-making Executive Council, told the Post that members of the public may feel Messi and his Inter Miami club had disrespected Hong Kong.

“Just because the money will be returned, it doesn’t mean the feelings have changed,” he said. “I think some people are still quite angry about what they see as being disrespected, and they didn’t even buy tickets. So this approach may not be able to calm them.”

An earlier opinion piece by Chinese newspaper Global Times suspected the incident was orchestrated by “foreign forces”, while residents called for various boycotts on the popular Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.

Organiser of Messi match in Hong Kong may face legal action as backlash mounts

“What happened to all the Chinese brands that use Messi as an ambassador?” one person posted, drawing replies that specifically named dairy giant Mengniu, and declarations that they would stop buying the company’s products until they were no longer “remaining silent”.

Despite being heavily featured in ads for the event, Messi ultimately sat out the entire match against a Hong Kong team on February 4.

Messi and Inter Miami later blamed his absence on an injury, but the backlash locally and on the mainland only intensified when the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner jogged onto the pitch three days later in Japan.

Organiser Tatler Asia has since issued two apologies, and on Friday announced the 50 per cent refund to all ticket holders, including many mainland visitors, who paid up to HK$4,888 to see the game at Hong Kong Stadium.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung on Friday expressed satisfaction with Tatler Asia’s refund arrangement but said he was aware some fans did not feel the same way.

Messi plays in Japan, fuels Hong Kong fans’ anger over missed game in city

Barrister Jackson Poon Chin-ping said claimants who were not satisfied with a 50 per cent refund of the ticket could pursue more claims over fees for transport to the stadium and accommodation, on top of asking for a full refund at the Small Claims Tribunal.

But he pointed out that in Tatler’s defence, it could provide a contract showing no clauses indicating that Messi must play in the game.

“Both parties have their reasons, it would be fairly hard to say odds are on one side,” he said.

Poon noted that the agreement between Tatler and Inter Miaimi CF was never disclosed to the public, so chances were potential claimants would have to go through a few hearings to arrive at a settlement.

Tatler Asia said on Friday that Inter Miami had committed that all of their marquee players, including Messi, would be required to play for 45 minutes unless injured.

“But as it turned out, we were informed by Inter Miami CF that Messi and Suarez could not play due to injury,” the statement said.

Tong said whether Messi’s failure to play constituted a violation of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance should be left for the court to decide.

“To claim a violation, one must first prove the ads for the match were misleading … did they give people the feeling that Messi was definitely going to play?” he asked. “That can be quite subjective.”

He added the time of ticket purchasing might also make a difference.

“Generally speaking, many people understand athletes can sit out a game if they are injured,” he said. “People who bought tickets early on may have done so knowing of that possibility.

“But if they purchased it after seeing him arrive in Hong Kong looking healthy, carrying his own suitcase and practising on the pitch, then it would be reasonable for them to assume he would play.”

“But I don’t think it would be easy to lodge a criminal complaint here,” he concluded.

Hongkonger Sam Lau, who had been a fan of Messi since 2010, said he had reservations over the star and had lost faith in Tatler because of how the game was organised.

“If I happen to go overseas and watch a match with Messi playing in the team, I do not mind going to the game,” he said. “But If he ever comes back to Hong Kong for another event, I will not buy tickets.”

China’s gallium export volume for December hit highest level since July, customs data shows

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3251604/chinas-gallium-export-volume-december-hit-highest-level-july-customs-data-shows?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s decision in December to resume the export of large amounts of a mineral vital to manufacturing cutting-edge technology like semiconductors led to a leap in sales after virtually choking off global shipments for months.

Latest customs data showed China shipped 7.3 metric tonnes of gallium in December – close to its 2022 average of 7.9 metric tonnes per month.

After almost no exports were recorded in August and September, a small amount of gallium was allowed to leave the country in October and November – 0.25 and 1.53 metric tonnes respectively.

Beijing cited national security concerns in requiring Chinese exporters of gallium and germanium from August to obtain licenses from the government and share information on their overseas clients and the commodity’s intended use.

Both metals and their chemical compounds are used to make advanced chips, telecommunications equipment and electric vehicles.

China is the world’s largest producer of the two elements, accounting for more than 95 per cent of global gallium output and 67 per cent of germanium.

Before last year’s regulations were introduced, China saw a surge in exports – about 7.5 metric tonnes of gallium in July – as buyers rushed to lock in supply.

However, the new figures for germanium were less rosy. China exported a mere 3.3 metric tonnes of wrought germanium in December compared to 8.78 metric tonnes in July.

China’s top fabless chip firms, such as Loongson, estimate big losses in 2023

No germanium was sold abroad in August, while only a trickle left the country in October and November – 0.64 and 0.72 metric tonnes respectively.

For the whole of 2023, China exported about 41 metric tonnes of germanium and 44 metric tonnes of gallium.

Many in the West believe Beijing imposed its restrictions to retaliate against Washington’s export controls aimed at keeping China from producing advanced semiconductors as the two global power remain locked in a tech war.

Western companies have been dependent on China’s supply of the two crucial components.

China’s gallium and germanium exports tumble as shipment controls take effect

Despite Beijing’s export rules, there had been no “dramatic reductions” in the supply of gallium and germanium, according to Chris Miller, author of the book Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology.

China realised that cutting off supplies would be “costly to itself as well as to the US and other countries”, Miller said.

“It’s not a costless tool for China to use because it would create disruptions that would ricochet through electronic supply chains and hit China too.”

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As ties warm, US military resumes search to bring WWII ‘fallen heroes’ home from southern China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251428/ties-warm-us-military-resumes-search-bring-wwii-fallen-heroes-home-southern-china?utm_source=rss_feed

The US military has completed two site surveys to recover World War II remains in China, the first in the country in nearly five years, in the latest effort to honour the legacy of Sino-American military cooperation eight decades ago.

A team with the US Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) “spent several weeks surveying sites in southern China in order to provide vital information for future recovery missions”, the agency said on its website last week.

It was their first trip to China since May 2019. It came as ties between the two countries continued to thaw following a summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November, and as high-level communication between their two militaries was subsequently restored.

“We are committed to finding our fallen heroes and bringing them home with dignity, honour and respect,” US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns wrote on X on February 1.

Zach Fredman, an associate professor of history at Duke Kunshan University in Jiangsu province in China’s east, said the latest surveys in China were “unambiguously good news”.

“Locating missing remains would help to give closure to families [of American soldiers] and to honour the legacy of Sino-American military cooperation during the second world war,” said Fredman, the author of The Tormented Alliance: American Servicemen & the Occupation of China, 1941–1949.

He said this could be part of “improvement at lower levels” that would help stabilise the bilateral relationship despite disagreement between the two sides, for example, over Taiwan and remaining geopolitical rivalries.

One week before the San Francisco summit, the US and Chinese militaries held a video meeting about cooperating to find the remains of American POW/MIA , or prisoners of war/missing-in-action).

It was the first such meeting since January 2021 and, according to the Chinese defence ministry, the two sides “exchanged views on the case investigation and matters related to the military archival cooperation”.

More than 120,000 American military personnel served in China during the 1940s when the two sides fought against Japan. The remains of about 690 unaccounted-for American personnel from World War II are believed to be within modern-day mainland China, according to the DPAA, a US Defence Department agency responsible for recovering the bodies of service members who go missing during wars.

Recovery work was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic because of Beijing’s border controls and lockdown restrictions, and did not resume immediately, largely due to tension between the two countries, including spats over then the House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to self-ruled Taiwan in August 2022.

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Efforts to resume the military exchange were also derailed when the US identified and shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon transiting US territory in February last year.

During a meeting in Hawaii in August, DPAA director Kelly McKeague reportedly asked South Korean vice-defence minister Shin Beom-chul for help to contact the Chinese side in try to restart the recovery mission, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. Seoul has worked closely with Beijing on recovering the remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-1953 Korean war, and it has returned the remains of 938 Chinese troops since 2014.

Fredman said the shared history between China and the US during WWII still had “a lot of relevance” to today’s bilateral relationship, particularly for China.

“This was the absolute apex of US-China relations – there’s a wartime alliance against Japan, and China was unambiguously on the right side in this global war against fascism as a partner with the United States,” he said.

“In lower hanging fruit, like this shared history against Japan, they can enable cooperation in more complicated areas.”

In August, China held a high-profile commemoration for Joseph Stilwell, the American general who sought to gain unrestricted command over Chinese forces when serving in China during the second world war and had an acrimonious relationship with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.

Xi hailed Stilwell as “an old friend of China … whose positive contribution to friendship between our two peoples would never be forgotten”.

In a letter to two former members of the Flying Tigers, a fighter pilot group that helped to defend China against Japanese forces at that time, the Chinese leader said the two countries should “bear even greater responsibilities for maintaining world peace, stability, and development … and must achieve mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation”.

According to General Claire Chennault, commander of the group and later the air force in China during World War II, Chinese soldiers and civilians rescued more than 900 American airmen during the war, or about 95 per cent of the American fliers who survived after bailing out or crash landing.

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Because of Japan’s blockade of the Chinese coast, nearly all Americans who were deployed to China had to enter the country via “the Hump” airlift, the perilous air support route over the Himalayas that connected Assam, India, to Yunnan province in southwestern China.

Joint efforts to recover the war remains of American soldiers started as early as the 1940s during Chiang’s rule and, after being suspended during the Chinese civil war, cooperation resumed soon after the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US in 1979.