• Chinese coastguard boarded Taiwan cruise ship after deadly boat incident
• Some stranded Russian Sokol oil cargoes begin to move to China and India, data shows
• Hong Kong’s biggest party asks mainland China to encourage companies to seek city stock exchange listings, says working group should be set up
• Why – after more than 3 decades – China’s foreign minister still starts the year with a trip to Africa
• JD.com considers takeover bid for UK electronics retailer Currys as China’s e-commerce giants look overseas
• Chinese EV maker Human Horizons suspends manufacture of luxury HiPhi brand for 6 months as market competition intensifies
• China offers to deepen security ties with Hungary
• China urges US to ‘stop harassing’ its students at the border ‘for no reason’
• Chinese scientists create a plasma stealth device to take military aircraft off the radar
• China’s would-be powerhouse Hunan wants officials to ‘emancipate their minds’
• ‘Natural’ for Japan to play larger Aukus role amid China threat, but likely not as partner
• Chinese smartphone vendors from Meizu to Oppo step up AI integration in their devices amid expected industry recovery in 2024
• ‘Blood purification’: China experts express health fears over trendy new ‘plasma cleaning’ therapy which claims to extend life by 20 years
• China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet takes wing in Singapore for international debut
• China, Germany should stick to ‘openness and free trade’ and keep policy ‘predictable’, Wang Yi says
• US rivalry with China expands to biotech. Lawmakers see a failure to compete and want to act
• EU-China relations: spectre of Trump hangs over Munich conference as Beijing looks for openings in Europe
• Auspicious, delicious Lunar New Year dragon dishes shaped by talented China social media users to bring good fortune
• Global Impact: what does China’s response to the Israel-Gaza war and Red Sea crisis say about its position as a world power?
• China’s climate goals: growing energy consumption, slow progress on decarbonisation pose challenges, says NEA director
• How many submarines does the Philippines need to deter Beijing amid South China Sea row?
• Hong Kong’s love affair with instant noodles, China’s railways and landscapes captured: 5 weekend reads you may have missed
• China-led research team pinpoints smallest star and its ghostly lone companion
• Dark history of Malaysia’s Chinese villages underscores fury over Unesco bid
• Why China prefers diplomacy to military pressure in the Middle East
• China’s economic powerhouses target top-tier industrial tech in national ‘high-quality growth’ drive
• China’s Lunar New Year holidaymakers head overseas to release pent-up post-Covid demand for travel
• China firm literally puts millions in cash ‘up for grabs’ in annual bonus money-counting game, lucky worker bags nearly US$14,000
• Chinese village construction in disputed zone outpaces China-Bhutan border talks
• Canada says China has role to play in keeping Red Sea safe

Chinese coastguard boarded Taiwan cruise ship after deadly boat incident

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3252490/chinese-coastguard-boarded-taiwan-cruise-ship-after-deadly-boat-incident?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese coastguard officials briefly boarded a Taiwanese ship on Monday, Taipei said, after Beijing said it would step up patrols following a boat incident in which two Chinese nationals died.

The boat was carrying four Chinese nationals when it capsized last week near Quemoy, a Taiwan-controlled group of islands also known as Kinmen, while pursued by the Taiwanese coastguard.

All four on board were thrown into the water and two of the crew later died. The two rescued were detained in Quemoy – a territory located just five km (three miles) from mainland China’s city of Xiamen.

Taiwan had defended its actions by saying the boat was in prohibited waters, while mainland China said it would increase “law enforcement patrol operations” in the area.

On Monday, Taipei’s coastguard announced that two Chinese coastguard boats near Quemoy had approached a Taiwanese cruise ship.

“Six mainland coastguard officers boarded the ship. After inspecting the ship’s voyage plan, ship certificate, the captain and crew’s licenses and the captain’s signature, they left the ship,” it said in a statement.

Taipei’s coastguard dispatched staff who arrived soon after their Chinese counterparts had left the cruise ship, which carried 11 crew members and 23 passengers.

They “accompanied the ship all the way back to Shuitou Port” in Quemoy, the coastguard said, urging China “to uphold peace and rationality”.

Beijing vows regular patrols in waters where 2 fishermen died after Taiwan chase

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council – which handles issues regarding Beijing – also announced late Monday that the families of the detained Chinese crew members involved in the capsizing are expected to arrive in Quemoy on Tuesday.

The Straits Exchange Foundation – a semi-official Taiwanese body handling that handles technical and business affairs with mainland China – said permits were issued on Monday to the families.

The foundation “will also send personnel to Kinmen to provide humanitarian care to the mainland family members who will arrive in Kinmen on February 20 and assist them in handling the aftermath,” it said.

The February 14 incident took place against a backdrop of heightened tensions between mainland China and Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.

Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and in recent years ramped up the rhetoric of “unification”.

It has stepped up military pressures on Taiwan by deploying warplanes and naval vessels around the island on a near-daily basis.

Taiwan also recently had a presidential election in January which saw the win of Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te – a candidate Beijing considers a “separatist”.

Some stranded Russian Sokol oil cargoes begin to move to China and India, data shows

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3252492/some-stranded-russian-sokol-oil-cargoes-begin-move-china-and-india-data-shows?utm_source=rss_feed

Three tankers with Russian Sokol oil that had been stranded at sea due to payment problems and Western sanctions have started to move towards China and India, data from Kpler and LSEG showed on Monday.

The backlog of Sokol tankers has become the biggest disruptions to Russia’s oil trade since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine.

More than 10 million barrels of Sokol have been floating in seaborne storage over the past three months due to payment difficulties and Western sanctions on shipping firms and vessels carrying the crude.

The three vessels – NS Century, NS Commander and Nellis – that had been sitting at sea since November – have finally moved, according to the data and traders. Russian state oil major Rosneft – the main exporter of the Sokol grade – did not respond to Reuters queries on Sokol oil sales.

Rising prices cap India’s thirst for Russian oil

NS Century and Nellis are carrying a combined 2.2 million barrels of Sokol to Chinese ports, according to data analytics firm Kpler. Both tankers are subject to fresh US sanctions for breaching a US$60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil.

Two trading sources told Reuters the buyers were private Chinese refiners. The traders declined to be named as the information is not public and did not name the buyers.

“China might be the solution to the problem [with Sokol sales] as at least two tankers that have been idling since November started moving towards Chinese territorial waters,” Viktor Katona, head of crude analysis at Kpler, said.

The Gabon-flagged tanker NS Commander, not subject to US sanctions, with some 600,000 barrels of Sokol oil on board was heading towards Jamnagar port in India, according to Kpler and LSEG data.

Some 7.5 million barrels of Sokol remained stuck at sea as of Monday, according to Kpler, down from more than 10 million barrels two weeks earlier.

Hong Kong’s biggest party asks mainland China to encourage companies to seek city stock exchange listings, says working group should be set up

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3252481/hong-kongs-biggest-party-asks-mainland-china-encourage-companies-seek-city-stock-exchange-listingsa?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong’s biggest political party has appealed to central authorities to encourage more mainland Chinese companies to choose the city for an outside stock exchange listing to help cement its status as an international financial centre and contribute to the country amid geopolitical tensions.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) on Monday said Hong Kong and Beijing’s securities regulatory bodies should form a working group to streamline the listing process.

The call was among the 30 proposals by the party to go before the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, which will hold its annual meeting on March 5.

Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, a DAB NPC deputy and lawyer who floated the proposal, highlighted Beijing’s pledge at the sixth national financial work conference last October to support Hong Kong’s role as a major international financial hub.

“I think it is the right timing to put forward the matter,” he said.

Wong suggested the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Securities and Futures Commission and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing could come up with ways to allow mainland companies to list in Hong Kong in a “faster and more convenient” way.

He told the Post that many “premium” A-share companies had not yet moved into Hong Kong’s stock market, such as those in the alcohol and tobacco industries, which could generate significant cash flow and profits.

Wong, however, did not identify any suitable companies by name.

A-shares refer to mainland China businesses that are listed on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges and quoted in renminbi.

They are only available to mainland citizens, which made it difficult for foreign investors to get into the market.

“I strongly believe that many A-share companies would have a keen interest in Hong Kong listing due to the foreign investment they could receive,” Wong explained.

He added a listing in Hong Kong would also help companies and brands to boost their international profiles.

‘Hong Kong to seek mainland support to expand scale of data coming into city’

The Hong Kong stock exchange has listed mainland companies since 1993 and so far there are around 1,400 mainland companies who use the city.

They account for more than 53 per cent of the total number of listed companies. A quarter of them are A-share companies and the others are mainland companies registered overseas.

Rock Chen Chung-nin, another NPC deputy from DAB, said the proposal would also allow Hong Kong to better help the country to develop into a financial powerhouse.

He said that many major Chinese enterprises which had been listed in the US, have been “delisted” in recent years as they were sanctioned because of heightened geopolitical tensions.

“If Hong Kong could serve as an alternative platform for these companies to be listed, then we are in control of our destiny,” Chen said. “We don’t need to rely solely on these overseas markets.”

Another proposal raised by the DAB was to build joint platforms in mainland Greater Bay Area cities to tackle Hong Kong’s solid waste disposal problems.

Starry Lee Wai-king, the city’s sole representative on the NPC Standing Committee, China’s top legislative body, said many cities and companies in the bay area had expressed a willingness to help neighbouring cities to manage solid waste.

“To ensure more efficient utilisation of resources, cities with surplus solid waste disposal capacity can assist other bay area cities to handle solid waste that they are temporarily unable to address with their own capabilities,” she added.

Hong Kong hits back at ratings agency Moody’s over credit outlook downgrade

Lee said Hong Kong generated about 16,000 tons of solid waste a day, and landfill sites were a temporary solution for waste disposal because of the city’s limited land mass and high population density.

The party also proposed an invitation to the People’s Liberation Army’s Hong Kong Garrison to introduce military history to city primary and secondary school pupils.

It also suggested making visits to military installations part of the school curriculum.

The idea is part of a bid to boost Hongkongers’ patriotism after the top national legislative body last year passed a patriotic education bill to enhance love of the country across the nation.

The DAB also suggested extensions to the opening hours for three cross-border checkpoints to 24 hours.

The party said longer hours at the crossing at Shenzhen Bay and the Futian and the Liantang checkpoints would help the flow of people across the border.

Officials also appealed to mainland authorities to look into the introduction of an electronic version of mainland travel permits, also known as home return permits, for residents of Hong Kong and Macau.

Why – after more than 3 decades – China’s foreign minister still starts the year with a trip to Africa

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3252446/why-after-more-3-decades-chinas-foreign-minister-still-starts-year-trip-africa?utm_source=rss_feed

When Qian Qichen, then China’s foreign minister, visited Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in January 1991, he set the ball rolling for what Chinese state media called an “unstoppable trend”.

Since then Chinese foreign ministers have chosen African nations as their first overseas stop each year, even after Qian left the role in 1998.

For 34 consecutive years the diplomatic convention has been followed through by every Chinese foreign minister, from Tang Jiaxuan to Li Zhaoxing, Yang Jiechi and Qin Gang.

Last month, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi again upheld the tradition when he visited Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Ivory Coast on his first overseas trip of the year.

Observers have viewed the preservation of the decades-long tradition as a diplomatic tool and China’s way of showing that Africa is consistently at the top of its diplomatic agenda – and likely to remain that way for years to come.

However, China’s engagement with the region has not always stayed the same. Instead, analysts said it had shifted from one that mainly centred on trade to focusing on Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence around the world.

Lina Benabdallah, professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University, said one of the most appealing aspects was “precisely the continuity and the track record of the tradition”.

“This has established a narrative of stability and of continuous prioritising of China-Africa relations.”

And from Wang’s recent regional swing, it appears China’s consistency is paying off.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said it was a “great pleasure” that his country was the first leg of the Chinese envoy’s Africa tour, a move he said showed the “solid and profound friendship” between the two countries.

In Togo, Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said Wang’s trip was of “special significance”, and that the West African nation “highly appreciates” Beijing’s tradition of sending its foreign minister to visit Africa at the start of each year.

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe, in a separate meeting with Wang, said: “The African people need a friend like China, who takes care of Africa’s realities, listens to Africa’s demands, and never imposes its will on others.”

According to Alessandro Arduino, an affiliate lecturer at the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, Africa “has been and still is a top priority for China”.

But he noted that China’s interactions with the continent had had a “more ideological focus” in the past. Now, its approach was a “strategic blend of geoeconomic pragmatism and Beijing’s ambition to lead the Global South narrative”.

Why Chinese bitcoin miners are flocking to Ethiopia

China – which classifies itself as a developing giant – has in recent years sought to cast itself as a champion and leader of developing countries and the so-called Global South.

“Over the past decade, China has worked strategically to position itself not only as an economic powerhouse but also as a security player in the region, evident in increased military and police force training provided to various African nations, as well as peacekeeping missions and security equipment transfers,” Arduino said.

China has been the region’s biggest trading partner for more than a decade, with 2023 customs data showing that total trade stood at US$282 billion.

China has footed the bill for massive projects in Africa, with most regional countries taking part in Beijing’s infrastructure flagship, the Belt and Road Initiative.

On the security front, China has been increasingly involved with peacekeeping, counterterrorism and anti-piracy efforts and other measures, given its extensive investments in the region.

It has also sought to expand its military footprint. In 2017, China opened its first foreign naval base in Djibouti and has been conducting drills and exercises with various African states since then.

Mandira Bagwandeen, a lecturer in political science at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said China’s ties with the continent had evolved into a “multifaceted and dynamic relationship” since 1991 when Qian kicked off the yearly tradition.

The ties, she noted, had initially been built on securing and maintaining a political alliance following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent crackdown that resulted in China being shunned by most of the international community.

Africa – rich in natural resources such as oil and critical minerals – then became a key resource supplier for China’s burgeoning economy in the early 2000s, after China launched its Go Out policy to promote Chinese investments abroad.

“Political relations are still important, especially in the light of the current geopolitical climate. However, economic ties have grown from strength to strength over the years,” Bagwandeen said. “Africa is not just a simple resource supplier to China any more but a region of strategic importance.”

While resource interests would remain a mainstay for China’s engagements with the region, Bagwandeen said Beijing’s interest in playing a role in Africa’s industrialisation had added a new strategic-economic angle to the relationship.

She said the elevation of relations with Africa to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in 2015 indicated Beijing’s desire to deepen ties with the region on all fronts, from political to economic to security.

Benabdallah from Wake Forest University similarly noted that China needed “diplomatic support” on the international stage when it started the tradition to woo Africa in 1991. At that time, China also needed markets for its goods and raw materials for its production capacity.

While the degree of China’s needs might have changed slightly, Benabdallah said it was not likely that Beijing would walk away from Africa – especially against the backdrop of a heated geopolitical rivalry with Washington and Europe over influence in Africa.

“I don’t think we will see this tradition going away soon because the Chinese side recognises that it is very much appreciated by the African sides,” she said.

“As such, these visits are an important asset in the diplomatic toolbox of China’s foreign policymaking in Africa.”

Bagwandeen said China’s diplomatic tradition of keeping Africa as the first destination of its top envoy’s visit was significant for optics, particularly the way China would be perceived by African officials and in the wider Global South.

“China’s foreign minister’s first visit of the year to Africa showcases China’s continued commitment to deepening diplomatic engagement and cooperation with the region,” she said.

“The tradition showcases to the African audience and international community that China views Africa as a significant region in its foreign policy calculations.”

She said most trips made by Chinese foreign ministers in the past appeared to strike a geographical balance, covering every African region. But in recent years there seemed to be greater emphasis on West Africa, evident in Wang’s visits to Togo and Ivory Coast last month.

China’s prioritisation of West Africa could be related to the development of its Belt and Road Initiative, under which Beijing has committed to port projects in the region.

Bagwandeen suggested it also showed the increasing importance of West Africa to China’s geopolitical-economic calculation.

“Given strained relations with the French in the region, it’s an opportunity for China to strengthen ties, gain more influence, and expand its development-security approach,” she said, referring to the growing unhappiness among West African states over France’s influence in the region.

US is ‘all in’ for Africa, Antony Blinken says opening coastal tour

Bagwandeen said the geopolitical and strategic importance of Africa would only grow – especially when China faced increasing competition from the West and other powers that sought to strengthen relations with the region.

China, she suggested, was also aware of Africa’s influence in international institutions such as the United Nations, and it needed to ensure it had the support of the African vote when needed.

“So [China] will want to maintain and strengthen ties with the region and show that it really values relations with Africa,” Bagwandeen said.

“By prioritising the region as the year’s first visit shows Africans that China places immense importance on its ties with the region.”

JD.com considers takeover bid for UK electronics retailer Currys as China’s e-commerce giants look overseas

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3252464/jdcom-considers-takeover-bid-uk-electronics-retailer-currys-chinas-e-commerce-giants-look-overseas?utm_source=rss_feed

JD.com, founded by Chinese billionaire Richard Liu Qiangdong in 1998, is considering a bid for UK electronics retailer Currys as China’s e-commerce giants continue to look for overseas growth amid stagnant demand and rising competition at home.

JD said on Monday it is “in the very preliminary stages of evaluating a possible transaction that may include a cash offer for the entire issued share capital of Currys”. The UK retailer, which operates 823 stores globally with 28,000 staff, rejected a US$883 million bid from US investment firm Elliott at the weekend.

Currys, which formerly operated the Dixons and Carphone Warehouse brands in Britain before focusing on the Currys name, has struggled to grow profits in recent years as consumer spending has been squeezed by the pandemic, inflationary pressures and higher interest rates.

Beijing-based JD began life as an online white goods merchant and electronics remains a key area for the company. JD said in its statement that there is “no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made”.

JD.com founder warns staff not to ‘lie flat’, as rival PDD shines

Under UK takeover rules, Elliot – which already owns Waterstones bookshops in the UK – has until 5pm on March 16 to make a renewed offer for Currys or announce it is walking away.

Li Chengdong, founder and analyst at e-commerce consultancy Dolphin, said an acquisition of Currys by JD would allow the Chinese firm to “step up its branding and sales channels” in overseas markets.

If a deal transpires, it would mark a resumption of JD’s efforts to expand overseas after its withdrawal from Southeast Asian markets Indonesia and Thailand in early 2023, seen as a setback by analysts.

Amid rising competition at home from short-video platforms such as ByteDance’s Douyin, JD founder Liu has hit out at the e-commerce firm’s recent management and performance, calling for people to step up before there is “no way out”.

The takeover bid fits a template for JD, after it acquired domestic electronics chain Five Star Appliance in 2020 to explore the integration of online and offline sales.

Currys operates about 300 stores with 15,000 staff in the UK, and also has significant operations in Ireland and Nordic markets.

Chinese EV maker Human Horizons suspends manufacture of luxury HiPhi brand for 6 months as market competition intensifies

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3252473/chinese-ev-maker-human-horizons-suspends-manufacture-luxury-hiphi-brand-6-months-market-competition?utm_source=rss_feed

Human Horizons, a Chinese maker of luxury electric vehicles, has become the latest victim of the cutthroat market, halting production of its cars amid a capital crunch.

The Shanghai-based company told its employees on Sunday that it was implementing a six-month suspension of its luxury HiPhi brand, effective immediately, according to local financial media outlet Jiemian.

Human Horizons declined to comment when contacted by the Post on Monday.

Two sources with knowledge of the electric car maker’s operations said the company was not able to pay its employees their salaries in January.

The decision to stop assembling its expensive cars priced above US$80,000 came after Human Horizons failed to turn its business around amid a slowdown in the Chinese EV market that may force smaller carmakers to fold.

“HiPhi’s crisis exacerbates the bearish sentiment about Chinese EV companies’ performance,” said Chen Jinzhu, CEO of consultancy Shanghai Mingliang Auto Service. “More small players will have to close down their businesses as competition escalates.”

Human Horizons rose to global prominence last summer when it agreed to establish a US$5.6 billion venture with Saudi Arabia’s investment ministry to conduct automotive research, development, manufacturing and sales in the Middle Eastern country.

It is not clear whether the company’s problems in mainland China will affect its venture in Saudi Arabia, which has not started operations yet.

HiPhi, founded in 2017, currently builds and sells three models in China, all of them under the HiPhi brand name.

Ding Lei, founder and CEO of Human Horizons, told local media in 2022 that the company had more than 5,000 employees.

EU climate demands set to erode Chinese EV makers’ export edge: expert

HiPhi does not publish delivery data. It does not feature in lists of China’s top 15 EV makers by monthly sales, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

In October, the company denied a market rumour that it would cut its workforce by 20 per cent and said its operations remained normal.

EV makers sold 8.9 million vehicles to Chinese buyers last year, a 37 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the CPCA.

But sales growth in the country could slow to 20 per cent this year, according to a forecast by Fitch Ratings last November.

China is the world’s largest automotive and EV market, with sales of battery-powered cars accounting for about 60 per cent of the global total. But only a few makers, including BYD and Li Auto, are profitable.

According to calculations by the China Business News in September, at least 15 start-ups with a combined annual production capacity of 10 million units have either collapsed or been driven to the verge of insolvency as bigger players took the lion’s share of the market. That exceeds the 8.9 million EV sales on the mainland in 2023.

In October, embattled Chinese EV start-up WM Motor, once viewed as a potential rival to Tesla, filed for bankruptcy with its petition being reviewed by the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court. It normally takes six months before a court in China gives its verdict on a bankruptcy case.

WM said in an official post on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social-media platform, on October 10 that it would still aim for a rebirth funded by strategic investors from around the world.

---

China offers to deepen security ties with Hungary

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/19/china-offers-to-deepen-security-ties-with-hungary-orban

China has offered to deepen security cooperation with Hungary, underscoring Budapest’s warming ties with Beijing just as Hungarian officials snubbed a visiting delegation from Washington.

Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, met with China’s minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong, on Friday.

In comments published by China’s official Xinhua news agency over the weekend, Wang said he was hoping to “deepen cooperation in areas including counter-terrorism, combating transnational crimes, security and law enforcement capacity building under the Belt and Road Initiative”.

The aim, according to the Chinese minister, would be “to make law enforcement and security cooperation a new highlight of bilateral relations”.

Hungary is a member of both the EU and Nato, making China’s offer highly unusual.

Budapest, which also maintains closer links to Moscow than any other EU member, has been nurturing a relationship with Beijing. Last year, Orbán was the only EU leader to attend a forum of the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing. China’s electrical vehicle manufacturer BYD has said it will open its first European production factory in Hungary.

In a statement about Friday’s meeting with Wang, a spokesperson for Orbán said the prime minister had declared that “respect is increasingly missing from international diplomacy, but it has always remained between Hungary and China”.

“The negotiating parties drew attention to the importance of security and stability,” the spokesperson said.

The prospect of greater security cooperation between Budapest and Beijing comes at a time when Hungary’s relationship with its EU and Nato allies is at a low point.

While Hungary’s standing in western capitals has been deteriorating for years, for many officials Budapest’s decision to renege on a promise not to be the last to ratify Sweden’s Nato bid has further undermined trust.

Budapest’s isolation was demonstrated over the weekend at the Munich security conference, from which senior Hungarian officials were absent.

However, in a speech in Hungary on Saturday, Orbán signalled a shift, announcing that “we are on course to ratify Sweden’s accession to Nato at the beginning of parliament’s spring session”.

The continued strain was on full display over the weekend, as Hungarian officials refused to meet with visitors from Washington.

“Allies have been awaiting Hungary’s action on Sweden’s accession to Nato for 21 months,” the US ambassador in Budapest, David Pressman, wrote on social media.

“Regrettably, a range of senior Hungarian government officials and Fidesz parliamentary representatives declined to meet with the most senior US bipartisan congressional delegation to visit Hungary in years,” he added.

In his weekend speech, Orbán – who is facing domestic political pressure and protests amid a scandal that led to the resignation of the country’s president – made his preferences clear.

“We cannot interfere in other countries’ elections, but we would very much like to see President Donald Trump return to the White House and make peace here in the eastern half of Europe.”

China urges US to ‘stop harassing’ its students at the border ‘for no reason’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3252452/china-urges-us-stop-harassing-its-students-border-no-reason?utm_source=rss_feed

China has asked the United States to end the “unwarranted harassment” of its students, following renewed reports of interrogation and deportation at a key US airport.

The call from Wang Xiaohong, China’s public security minister, came during a meeting with his US counterpart Alejandro Mayorkas in Vienna on drug control and related law enforcement cooperation. Both sides described Sunday’s talks as “candid” and “constructive”.

According to state news agency Xinhua, Wang urged the US “to stop harassing and interrogating Chinese students for no reason, and ensure that Chinese citizens enjoy fair entry treatment and full dignity”.

He also said Washington should “lift visa restrictions on relevant Chinese institutions and personnel”, Xinhua reported.

Wang’s statement came some three weeks after China lodged a formal protest against the US for allegedly blocking Chinese students at the border.

The meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas was part of renewed bilateral engagement following an ice-breaking summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco in November.

Xinhua reported earlier this month that at least 11 Chinese students had been deported or had their visas cancelled on arrival since that summit.

Eight of those cases took place at Washington Dulles International Airport, with some students detained for more than 10 hours and barred from contacting anyone during that time, according to a statement from the Chinese embassy.

Washington should “take practical and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomatic and consular institutions and personnel in the US”, Wang told Mayorkas.

In January, the Chinese foreign ministry said that “tens” of Chinese nationals were being denied entry to the US each month.

This included Chinese students with valid papers, who had been subjected to “politically motivated” law enforcement, involving “abusive suppression and persecution, frequent interrogations, detentions, forced confessions, inducements and even deportations”, a ministry spokesman said.

China slams US for ‘persecuting’ Chinese students over national security

Wang’s remarks on the treatment received by Chinese nationals at US borders were not mentioned in the Department of Homeland Security’s readout of the meeting, which focused on cooperation with Beijing in the fight against the fentanyl crisis.

Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, and killed some 70,000 Americans last year. Washington alleges that China is the main source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the US – a claim denied by Beijing.

During Sunday’s talks in the Austrian capital, Wang urged the US to correct its “erroneous approach” of placing China on a list of major “drug source” countries or transit points, saying he hoped that obstacles to cooperation on narcotics control and law enforcement would be removed.

Wang and Mayorkas also met virtually in early January, shortly before the launch of a bilateral counternarcotics working group. The group aims to counter the “global manufacturing and trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs, including fentanyl”, the White House said on January 30.

The body’s creation was another sign of thawing diplomatic ties after Xi and Biden agreed to dial back tensions at their summit three months ago.

The US statement on the latest Wang-Mayorkas meeting said the two sides discussed “the steps needed to combat the spread of precursor chemicals and the transnational criminal organisations that profit off the production, distribution, and sale of illicit synthetic drugs”, as well as cooperating in the “fight to protect children from online sexual exploitation and abuse”.

Chinese scientists create a plasma stealth device to take military aircraft off the radar

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3251401/chinese-scientists-create-plasma-stealth-device-take-military-aircraft-radar?utm_source=rss_feed

A new-generation plasma stealth device that can make almost any military aircraft vanish from a radar screen is claimed to have been developed by a team of scientists and engineers from western China.

Unlike its predecessors, which generate a cloud of plasma draped over a plane, this innovation can be tailored to fit a sensitive section of a military aircraft – areas like the radar dome, cockpit or other spots that are most prone to enemy radar detection.

This “closed electron beam plasma stealth device”, which focuses on protecting key areas instead of the entire aircraft, can be switched on at a moment’s notice to fool radar operators.

It has many advantages such as “simple structure, wide power adjustable range and high plasma density,” Tan Chang, a scientist involved in the project, wrote in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese Journal of Radio Science in December.

This novel technical solution could soon find its way onto various military aircraft to meet China’s rapidly growing demand for superior military capabilities, said Tan and his colleagues from the Plasma Technology Centre of the Xian Aerospace Propulsion Institute under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the nation’s biggest aerospace defence contractor.

Chinese scientists say they can use foreign military radar to track ships

Plasma, composed of electrically charged particles, interacts with electromagnetic waves in a unique way. When electromagnetic waves – such as those emitted by radar – interact with plasma, they cause the particles to move rapidly and collide, dissipating the waves’ energy and reducing the strength of the reflected signal.

This interaction converts the energy of the electromagnetic waves into mechanical and thermal energy of the charged particles, diminishing the waves’ strength and subsequently weakening the radar signal reflected back. Even a conventional fighter jet, not designed for stealth, can significantly reduce its radar signature with this plasma stealth device – potentially game-changing in aerial combat.

The concept of plasma stealth technology traces back to the Cold War era, where both the United States and the Soviet Union poured resources into its research and development. However, due to technological constraints, it never progressed beyond the laboratory phase. Today’s stealth aircraft, like the F-22 and F-35, rely on radar-absorbent coatings and distinctive geometric designs for stealth, often at the cost of aerodynamic performance. The F-22, for instance, struggles in close combat, while the F-35 cannot maintain supersonic cruise speeds. These stealth fighters also come with a hefty price tag.

China’s foray into plasma stealth came late. In the early days, some experts believed that if Western countries could not achieve a breakthrough, China would not succeed either. However, as the Chinese hi-tech sector flourished, with a booming electronics and telecommunications industry, its military also made leaps in electromagnetic control technology.

Plasma can change the frequency of reflected signals, causing enemy radar to detect incorrect data for aircraft position and speed, and obtain false signals. It can also serve as an invisible “shield” against high-power microwave weapons.

An increasing number of Chinese military researchers believe that this technology will play a crucial role in future confrontations between major military powers.

Two types of plasma stealth devices have already been put to the test, according to Tan’s team. One device coats the aircraft’s radar-prone areas with a radioactive isotope, which emits high-energy rays that ionise the surrounding air. This creates a plasma layer, thick and dense enough to cover the surface and scatter radar signals. The other device uses high-frequency high-voltage electricity to activate and ionise the gas medium outside the aircraft, creating a plasma region.

“Both of these methods for achieving stealth via low-temperature plasma have undergone flight tests and proven successful,” Tan’s team wrote in the paper.

Chinese scientists have even extended this technology into space, using an alkali metal jet plasma generator to form a plasma cloud, achieving stealth for weapon platforms like intercontinental missiles or military satellites, they added.

However, the existing plasma stealth technology has some drawbacks. When exposed to the open environment, the plasma is difficult to shape precisely, and maintaining a consistently high density is also a challenge. Gaps in the plasma can allow electromagnetic waves to reflect back, revealing the aircraft’s position.

Many researchers in China, including the air force, are now trying to build on existing achievements and develop a closed plasma stealth technology, according to Tan’s team. This would confine the plasma within a sealed cavity, making it easier to generate high-density plasma and change its characteristic parameters to absorb multi-band electromagnetic waves. This would give additional protection to vital areas targeted by enemy radar, “such as the radar dome and pilot cockpit”, the scientists said.

Tan’s team has developed one such device that uses electron beam discharge to generate large confined areas of plasma, a method that was disclosed to the public for the first time. Compared to other reported techniques like closed radio frequency plasma discharge devices, this approach separates the plasma from the generator, providing greater flexibility in cavity design to fit different aircraft structures.

The team said that plasma generated by electron beams offers superior adjustability of physical properties, higher energy efficiency, reduced power demands from the aircraft, and lighter weight, making it ideal for practical applications.

Prototype tests conducted on the ground have displayed the feasibility of their design. However, not everyone can build this machine, as there are many technical challenges behind its seemingly simple structure. For instance, accurately measuring plasma within the cavity poses a significant hurdle with existing methods, according to the Chinese researchers.

The project’s development involved numerous technological innovations, some of which were shared by Tan’s team in the paper, including techniques for regulating inert gas density within the cavity.

They emphasised that adapting this technology to specific engineering applications requires careful consideration of the aircraft’s structural characteristics.

“We anticipate the real-life implementation of this technology in China soon,” Tan and his colleagues added.

China’s would-be powerhouse Hunan wants officials to ‘emancipate their minds’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3252412/chinas-would-be-powerhouse-hunan-wants-officials-emancipate-their-minds?utm_source=rss_feed

Communist Party officials in Hunan province in central China have kicked off a campaign which recalls Beijing’s reversal of the Maoist political and economic doctrines of the last century, in a move that analysts say will have limited political implications.

According to a notice made public on Sunday, provincial cadres at all levels are taking part in the campaign, which started in early February and will continue until the end of March.

The campaign’s name – “large-scale discussions on emancipating the mind” – was a clear reference to the party’s efforts to kick off much-needed market reforms after the death of leader Mao Zedong in 1976.

President Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2013, revived the slogan to call for effective local governance and it was also in evidence on Sunday in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, where top cadres used it in a pledge to drive growth.

Deng Xiaoping, who took over as leader in December 1978, made “emancipate the mind” his signature slogan as he paved the way for more than 40 years of reform and opening up.

Xi highlights importance of innovation in ‘Chinese-style modernisation’

Later Chinese leaders also used the slogan to urge the country to reflect on the lessons of Mao’s governance, especially during the Cultural Revolution – a decade of political and social upheaval that almost paralysed the national economy, and only ended after his death.

The latest “emancipating the mind” campaign is fundamentally different from the 1970s and 1980s, according to Chen Daoyin, a political commentator and former professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.

“The biggest difference is their political orientations: the emancipation of the mind movement by Deng Xiaoping was to break the 10-year ideological imprisonment of the Cultural Revolution,” Chen said.

“Now in Hunan, it basically aims to strengthen Xi’s Thought and better serve Xi’s goals.”

Chen noted that the Hunan campaign adopted only the first part of Deng’s three-part proposition – “emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts, unite and look forward”.

As such, the campaign would not make a major difference because all discussions were confined within existing policy priorities, without seeking more fundamental breakthroughs, he said.

The Hunan notice placed strong emphasis on effectively reviving the economy, as well as paying homage to Xi’s teachings.

The discussions, taking place throughout the province, address problems with local cadres, including “lack of confidence in development” and “insufficient spirit of responsibility”.

At the same time, the campaign aimed to fundamentally reverse the “addiction” that leads to many officials simply relying on GDP growth for evaluations, the notice said.

Through the discussions, problems such as raising loans regardless of risks, investing blindly on projects, cheating on data, and “lying flat” to evade making mistakes should be resolved, it said.

What is ‘lying flat’, and why are Chinese officials standing up to it?

Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, said Hunan’s campaign was “a tactical attempt” to re-energise China’s massive bureaucracy.

Many officials have been accused of “lying flat” – the phenomenon commonly known in the West as “goblin mode”, which describes workers who put in just enough effort to keep their jobs and no more.

“After a decade of anti-corruption and disciplinary campaigns, many officials are in risk-aversion mode,” Xie said.

They were unwilling to take responsibility, push development initiatives or incentivise private sector growth “as they are afraid of making mistakes or facing supervision checks”.

“It seems that Hunan is trying to trailblaze a way to give its officials more freedom to act and more tolerance of their probable mistakes,” he said.

How Hunan’s African trade hub could help province catch up with China’s coast

China’s economy is facing multiple challenges, including a prolonged property market downturn, a local government debt crisis, and weak demand, as well as heightened geopolitical tensions.

The International Monetary Fund expects the Chinese economy to grow by 4.6 per cent this year, before slowing to 4 per cent in 2025, despite last year’s higher than expected growth of 5.2 per cent.

Hunan – which has ambitions to become the most “important advanced manufacturing highlands of the country” – achieved 5 trillion yuan (US$702 billion) in economic volume last year at a GDP growth rate of 4.6 per cent.

Bumper US$3 billion trade boost in Hunan bid to become China-Africa hub

The province – which has set a growth target of around 6 per cent for this year – is at a “critical stage of comprehensively deepening reform and opening up and promoting high-quality development”, according to the notice.

“More than at any time in history, Hunan needs to break the ice with ideas to lead reform breakthroughs.”

According to the notice, discussions should abide by the guidance of the party’s Central Committee and Xi, as general secretary, and focus on removing obstacles that hinder development, as well as other issues to “prevent and resolve various major risks”.

‘Have courage’: Xi stresses action, compliance in China’s economic policymaking

The notice also called on the province’s cadres to create a better business environment for private enterprises, and to help them solve funding and payment delays, as well as other difficulties.

The notice said the campaign was taking in all levels of the party, starting with the grass-roots members and spreading to county, city and provincial levels of the party’s organs, as well as companies and schools.

At the upper echelons, Hunan’s senior provincial officials would hold discussion panels and make inspection tours, it said.

‘New productive forces’: empty rhetoric, or engine for China’s future growth?

Alfred Wu, an associate professor with the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said that under Deng the slogan “emancipate the mind” was about relaxing socialist thought and adopting international norms.

But now, he said, it meant that officials would try every possible avenue to deliver the high-quality growth Xi wanted.

According to Wu, the specific mention of inflated growth numbers and a “lying flat” attitude among officials in the announcement could be a signal from Hunan party boss Shen Xiaoming.

Wu said Shen could be signalling that he had the political will to address these stumbling blocks, but also that he wanted the province’s officials to come up with workable ideas.

‘Natural’ for Japan to play larger Aukus role amid China threat, but likely not as partner

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3252435/natural-japan-play-larger-aukus-role-amid-china-threat-likely-not-partner?utm_source=rss_feed

Australia’s defence minister has said Canberra is keen for Tokyo to play a larger role in the development of defence technology under the Aukus security partnership, but he stopped short of suggesting Japan should join a pact that presently brings together Australia, Britain and the United States.

The latest comments by Richard Marles could mark disappointment for Tokyo, given that Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on a trip to Canberra last November had proposed that Japan be added to the grouping to form “Jaukus”, and counter a “long marathon” posed by China’s security threat.

Analysts said while Japan’s bilateral relationship with Australia and multilateral ties with Aukus had undoubtedly drawn closer in recent years amid tensions with Beijing, Tokyo was unlikely to become a member in the foreseeable future because of complications in the sharing of nuclear information.

“What defence minister [Marles] is rightly saying is that the Australia-Japan security partnership has developed and become clearer, and there is a desire for deeper cooperation,” said Ben Ascione, an assistant professor of international relations at Tokyo’s Waseda University.

Marles, who also serves as Australia’s deputy prime minister, earlier said in an interview with Kyodo News that his country sought to “work more closely with Japan” on the development of cutting-edge security technology, due to Tokyo’s reputation for innovation.

“I think it is natural that we would be talking about a greater level of cooperation between the three countries – the US, UK and Australia – and Japan, in terms of joint collaborations,” Marles said.

Ascione from Waseda University said: “I do not think there is any intention to engage Japan in what is known as the ‘first pillar’ of Aukus, which is the delivery of nuclear submarine technology to Australia by the US and UK, because it would be very difficult to convince them to release that technology to another country, while there are also domestic constraints in Japan on nuclear technology.

“But there appear to be growing opportunities to cooperate beyond the ‘first pillar’, on artificial intelligence, hypersonic missiles and elsewhere.”

Japan joining Aukus: the ‘logical choice’, but would it be a full partner?

The move would align with Japan’s plans to develop a missile counterstrike capability, such as the purchase of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US. In his interview, Marles suggested that Japanese forces would be welcome to use Australia’s vast military ranges to test its long-range missiles.

Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo, said there had already been “positive developments in Japan-Australia security cooperation” over more than a decade, but that was unlikely to translate into Japan formally joining Aukus or any of the other regional security arrangements, such as the Five Eyes intelligence pact or the Quad.

“There has been a lot of progress in bilateral ties, but there are lot of complexities in Japan joining a broader multilateral framework,” he told This Week in Asia.

Aukus is “quite a specific alliance” that is primarily focused on the delivery of advanced nuclear submarine technology to Australia, said Hinata-Yamaguchi, adding: “So it would not be as simple as Japan just joining automatically.”

Similarly, suggestions for the creation of an Indo-Pacific version of Nato were unlikely to progress, he said.

“A lot of people have been talking about it, but the effort that would be needed would be huge and there would be many, many issues that needed to be addressed, all of which takes time,” he said. “Nato and the EU took years to set up, but the Asia-Pacific needs to be addressing its security concerns right now.”

Hinata-Yamaguchi said he believed the growing network of alliances across the region, including Japan being asked to cooperate with Aukus on developing new weapons, was a faster and equally effective way of countering challenges, rather than attempting to institutionalise a vast, multinational organisation.

During a visit to Canberra in November, Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso expressed deep concern about the possibility of Beijing invading Taiwan, and urged closer cooperation between Tokyo and the three member states of Aukus.

Claiming that dealing with China would be a “long marathon”, Aso proposed that Japan be added to the agreement to become a so-called Jaukus.

Beijing has pushed back firmly against the development or enlargement of the alliances set up among its rivals in the region, with an editorial in the state-run Global Times newspaper in late October warning against Japan being invited to join Aukus.

Describing Japan as the “most obedient ally” of Washington, the article claimed that should Tokyo join the alliance it “will create more strategic instability for the whole Asia-Pacific region, and regional countries should be highly vigilant toward Tokyo’s intention in this regard”.

It added that Washington would have little compunction in using Japan “as a front-line military base against China and Russia” and “sacrifice Japan’s interests in a bid to safeguard its homeland security and defend its hegemony”.

Waseda University’s Ascione said China was likely to respond to suggestions of a closer collaboration between Japan and Aukus through its state-run media, if it perceived Tokyo’s purchase and deployment of a counter-missile capability as an effort to change the balance of Beijing’s nuclear deterrent capability.

Chinese smartphone vendors from Meizu to Oppo step up AI integration in their devices amid expected industry recovery in 2024

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3252439/chinese-smartphone-vendors-meizu-oppo-step-ai-integration-their-devices-amid-expected-industry?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese smartphone vendors from Meizu to global top five-ranked Oppo are accelerating efforts to integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology into their handsets to boost sales, as the industry expects to recover this year from a lengthy slump.

Meizu, which was acquired in 2022 by carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, on Sunday announced that it will “terminate new projects on traditional smartphones” to pursue an “all in AI” strategy over the next three years, according to a statement posted in the firm’s WeChat account.

Headquartered in Zhuhai, a city in southern Guangdong province, Meizu said it will develop devices and a customised mobile operating system that would be open to all large language models (LLMs) – the technology used to train generative AI services – including those from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT.

“Meizu will build an ecosystem to fully open its AI devices to leading global LLM providers, including OpenAI, to jointly promote AI innovation and development,” the company said.

Increased AI integration in Chinese smartphones shows how a new tech arms race in the industry is heating up, several weeks after Samsung Electronics unveiled its new Galaxy S24 handsets with AI features based on Google’s Gemini technology.

Oppo – the world’s fourth-largest smartphone vendor in 2023, according to research firm IDC – also announced on Sunday the start of its “AI phone era”, as it pushes forward the development of its own LLM called AndesGPT, according to an internal letter from company founder and chief executive Tony Chen Mingyong.

“The new wave of AI technology, powered by LLMs, is restructuring the future of the mobile phone industry,” Chen said. “The impact of AI on the handset industry in the next five years is comparable to when smartphones replaced feature phones.”

He said Oppo is preparing itself for this new era by focusing more resources on AI, including its establishment of a dedicated AI centre.

Samsung puts Google AI in new flagship phones to fight Apple

Weeks before Samsung launched its Galaxy S24 handsets, tech research firm Counterpoint already forecast global shipments of generative AI-enabled (GenAI) smartphones to reach more than 100 million units this year, up from about 47 million in 2023, and rapidly expand to 552 million by 2027.

GenAI handsets, a subset of AI smartphones, use generative AI technology to create original content, rather than just provide preprogrammed responses or perform predefined tasks, according to Counterpoint. These devices will run AI models natively and come with certain hardware specifications.

“AI has been a feature of smartphones for the last few years,” Counterpoint vice-president and research director Peter Richardson said in the report published on December 20.

“We now expect to see the emergence of smartphones optimised to run generative AI models,” Richardson said. “The likely use cases will include creating more personalised content, smarter digital assistants with unique personalities and conversation styles, content recommendations, and more.”

China to persist with AI development in 2024 despite US chip curbs: UBS

Meizu on Sunday said its pivot to AI was caused by a combination of factors, including a prolonged smartphone upgrade cycle and intensified industry competition.

Oppo, which unveiled its AndesGPT LLM late last year, has pledged to enhance its own smart assistant Breeno to conduct more natural conversations and perform content- generation tasks.

Meanwhile, Samsung last month teamed up with Baidu to integrate the Chinese firm’s LLM into its Galaxy S24 handsets. Their strategic tech partnership, however, has drawn lukewarm interest from consumers in mainland China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, according to a South China Morning Post report earlier this month.

In January, an IDC report said global smartphone shipments declined 3.2 per cent year on year to 1.17 billion units in 2023. While that marked the lowest full-year volume in a decade, the research firm indicated that “growth in the second half of the year has cemented the expected recovery for 2024”.

‘Blood purification’: China experts express health fears over trendy new ‘plasma cleaning’ therapy which claims to extend life by 20 years

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3251230/blood-purification-china-experts-express-health-fears-over-trendy-new-plasma-cleaning-therapy-which?utm_source=rss_feed

An emergent beauty trend in China known as “blood purification”, which resembles kidney dialysis and is marketed by beauty salons as being able to extends life by 20 years, has raised health concerns among experts and online observers.

The treatment, which is heavily pushed on mainland social media platforms like Xiaohongshu using the keywords “blood purification” and “ozone therapy,” is purported to boost the metabolism, regulate immunity and detoxify the body.

It is portrayed as a rejuvenation tool and has gained particular popularity among the affluent.

Users describe the treatment as a step-by-step process.

First a syringe needle is inserted to draw blood which is then infused with ozone before re-injecting it into the body.

The most noticeable change is the colour of the blood from dark to bright red after oxygenation This is interpreted as a sign of improved health.

One user of the treatment detailed the experience in a social media post.

“I’m not really afraid of needles, but it still hurts. For the second step, they drew 100cc of blood. I’m not faint when it comes to blood and I’m quite brave, so I watched the whole process by myself.

“My blood was a darker red, not bright red, almost like unhealthy menstrual blood. Afterwards, the nurse showed me the colour of my blood before injecting ozone to begin purifying it,” the person said.

Some people even travel abroad for the service.

On Xiaohongshu, a woman said that she spent over more than 700,000 Japanese yen (US$4,700) on her father’s blood purification in Japan.

“In the end, more than half a bag of impurities was expelled. You never know how dirty your blood is until you try it!” she said.

However, the popularity of the treatment, medical experts have expressed safety concerns.

Luan Jie, vice president at the Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, told state media CCTV.

“Its safety is questionable. Also, there’s no scientific evidence to prove that this purification method can extend life or rejuvenate youth,” said Luan.

“The most effective blood therapy known in medicine is dialysis. In cases of kidney failure, dialysis is used to filter out toxins from the blood that the kidneys are unable to expel. This is the true form of blood detoxification,” Luan added.

Many people online expressed shock and criticised the treatment.

“Those who dare to try this have a lot of courage but lack common sense,” said one person.

While another added”: “Isn’t this just blood dialysis? It costs around 800 yuan per session in hospitals and is meant for patients with kidney failure. Normal people don’t undergo dialysis. The government should strictly regulate this.”

“I should start a new medical beauty treatment, brain purification,” joked a third person.

A fourth online observer said: “It’s not cleaning your blood, it’s cleaning out your wallet.”

China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet takes wing in Singapore for international debut

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3252436/chinas-home-grown-c919-passenger-jet-takes-wing-singapore-international-debut?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s home-grown narrowbody passenger jet, the C919, took to the Singapore skies on Sunday to prepare for its first-ever international display – a move that may help its developer promote the aircraft as a viable option for overseas buyers and aid Beijing in its crusade to become a global player in aviation.

The plane, bearing the livery of manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), had touched down at the city state’s Changi Airport a few days earlier according to the Aviation Week Network, concluding the model’s first journey outside its home country.

It will “meet the public” during this week’s Singapore Airshow 2024 and take part in “demonstrations”, said the official Xinhua News Agency.

Another C919, operated by China Eastern Airlines, arrived in Singapore early Saturday morning after a nonstop 4,200km (2,610 miles) flight that took about six hours, the airline said.

Five Comac planes will be present at the air show in total – the two C919s, as well as three ARJ21 regional jets.

The C919, which started commercial operations at the end of May last year, carried out practice flights near the airport on Sunday for longer than other planes headed to the air show, Xinhua added.

Thursday’s Singapore sojourn marked the first time the aircraft has flown over international airspace across at least two air navigation service providers, Aviation Week Network said.

The model made its first trip outside mainland China last December with a demonstration flight to Hong Kong.

At the Singapore Airshow, slated to run from February 20 to 25, the aircraft is expected to grab attention, analysts and Chinese media reports said.

Organisers for the show, Asia’s largest event for the aviation sector, expect about 1,000 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors, including government and military representatives.

China’s plane “is kind of like a milestone, and it’s the storyline for the show,” said Brendan Sobie, founder of the Singapore-based aviation consultancy Sobie Aviation.

Airlines worldwide are now looking for a “third option” because of delivery delays by Airbus and safety concerns about some Boeing aircraft, Sobie said.

That presents an opening for Comac and its C919, the product of 15 years of development. It also aligns with Beijing’s goals for its aviation industry, as the country aims to break the duopoly of the US-based Boeing and the EU’s Airbus over the long run.

However, John Grant, a senior analyst with the British aviation intelligence firm OAG, expressed doubt over whether this showing will be a watershed moment.

“It will obviously get some interest and the PR machine will be working overtime to promote its operating characteristics,” he said.

“But in reality I can’t see this breaking into the market – aside from politically-led trade deals with other countries where local carriers are struggling and [need] access to hard US dollars, which the aviation market requires [and] are hard to come by.”

Only China’s aviation regulator has certified the C919. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said in January it would promote certification of the C919 in Europe this year to raise its international profile and help it compete with models from the two Western giants.

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines is the only operator with commercial routes for the C919, with regular flights between Shanghai and Chengdu running since last May.

The airline also temporarily chartered the aircraft for its busiest route between Shanghai and Beijing.

Comac has said that its orders already exceed 1,000, with most requests coming from Chinese airlines.

The C919’s appearance at the air show represents “an opportunity for Comac to go to the next stage in terms of marketing” even if it makes no sales during this week’s show, Sobie said.

China has invested heavily in commercial jet manufacturing to increase self-reliance in an industry historically linked with the global sourcing of components – an effort to trim imports at a time of rising competition with the United States over market share in advanced technology.

China, Germany should stick to ‘openness and free trade’ and keep policy ‘predictable’, Wang Yi says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3252411/china-germany-should-stick-openness-and-free-trade-and-keep-policy-predictable-wang-yi-says?utm_source=rss_feed

China and Germany should “adhere to openness and free trade” and keep the policy environment “predictable”, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said, amid growing calls in Europe to de-risk from Beijing.

In talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Munich on Saturday, Foreign Minister Wang also offered support for Berlin to “play a bigger role in international and regional affairs” and called for the two nations to “work together to provide more stability and certainty for the world”.

Wang also noted that China and Germany this year mark the 10th anniversary of their “all-round strategic partnership”, and said they should learn from this experience to strengthen cooperation, according to a Chinese readout released on Sunday night.

Wang Yi raises Taiwan, trade and anti-Chinese ‘harassment’ in Antony Blinken talks

“The two sides should remove interference, continue to adhere to openness and free trade, give full play to the role of economic and trade cooperation as a ‘ballast stone’, and provide a predictable policy environment for this,” he said.

In response, Scholz – who is reportedly planning to visit China in April – said Berlin was against protectionism and decoupling and that it was willing to provide a “quality business environment to other countries’ enterprises in Germany”.

“The current international situation is facing a difficult time, and Germany is willing to work with China to play an active role in maintaining peace and stability,” Scholz said, according to the Chinese readout.

Wang also held talks on Saturday with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who called for more cooperation “in areas of common interest”.

“Germany is willing to work with China to … carry out consultations on regional affairs, and strengthen cooperation in addressing climate change and smooth international trade routes,” Baerbock said.

It comes at a time of strained relations between China and Germany – the world’s second and third largest economies, respectively.

The Scholz government in July unveiled its first ever China strategy, which labelled the country as a “systemic rival”, echoing the European Union’s language that China was “an economic competitor and a systemic rival”.

It also urged German companies and investors to de-risk their economic dependence on China, the country’s single largest trading partner.

The new policy also raised concerns over what Foreign Minister Baerbock called “unfair competition” from China, and called for a “level playing field” for German and Chinese businesses.

Beijing has rejected calls in the West to reduce dependency on China, with Premier Li Qiang in June saying it was a “forced proposition”.

But despite concerns over geopolitical tensions and the Chinese economy – and pressure from Chinese rivals in industries once dominated by Germany like carmaking – German investment in China actually increased last year.

German direct investment in China rose by 4.3 per cent to a record €11.9 billion (US$12.8 billion) in 2023, according to a report by the German Economic Institute based on data from the Bundesbank. It concluded there was “no trend” of diversification away from China.

China was also Germany’s most important trading partner in 2023 for the eighth consecutive year, with goods worth €253.1 billion traded between the two countries, according to official German data.

US rivalry with China expands to biotech. Lawmakers see a failure to compete and want to act

https://apnews.com/article/us-biotechnology-biotech-china-congress-communist-party-c892d9d18d8f38dad7e955fa8038e7d6FILE - Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., listens during a hearing of a special House committee dedicated to countering China, on Capitol Hill, Feb. 28, 2023, in Washington. Members of Congress are raising alarms about what they see as America's failure to compete with China in biotechnology, with risks to U.S. national security and commercial interests. But as the countries' rivalry expands into the biotech industry, some say that shutting out Chinese companies would only hurt the U.S. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

2024-02-19T05:07:38Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers are raising alarms about what they see as America’s failure to compete with China in biotechnology, warning of the risks to U.S. national security and commercial interests. But as the two countries’ rivalry expands into the biotech industry, some say that shutting out Chinese companies would only hurt the U.S.

Biotechnology promises to revolutionize everyday life, with scientists and researchers using it to make rapid advances in medical treatment, genetic engineering in agriculture and novel biomaterials. Because of its potential, it has caught the attention of both the Chinese and U.S. governments.

Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to bar “foreign adversary biotech companies of concern” from doing business with federally funded medical providers. The bills name four Chinese-owned companies.

The Chinese Embassy said those behind the bills have an “ideological bias” and seek to suppress Chinese companies “under false pretexts.” It demanded that Chinese companies be given “open, just, and non-discriminatory treatment.”

The debate over biotechnology is taking place as the Biden administration tries to stabilize the volatile U.S.-China relationship, which has been battered by a range of issues, including a trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity and militarization in the South China Sea.

Critics of the legislation warn that restrictions on Chinese companies would impede advances that could bring a greater good.

“In biotech, one cannot maintain competitiveness by walling off others,” said Abigail Coplin, an assistant professor at Vassar College who specializes in China’s biotech industry. She said she was worried that U.S. policymakers would get too obsessed with the technology’s military applications at the cost of hindering efforts to cure disease and feed the world’s population.

In a letter to senators sponsoring the bill, Rachel King, chief executive officer of the trade association Biotechnology Innovation Organization, said the legislation would “do untold damage to the drug development supply chain both for treatments currently approved and on market as well as for development pipelines decades in the making.”

But supporters say the legislation is crucial to protecting U.S. interests.

The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a group created by the U.S. Senate to review the industry, said the bill would help secure the data of the federal government and of American citizens and it would discourage unfair competition from Chinese companies.

The commission warned that advancement in biotechnology can result not only in economic benefits but also rapid changes in military capabilities and tactics.

Much is at stake, said Rep. Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, introduced the House version of the bill and last week led a congressional delegation to Boston to meet with biotech executives.

“It’s not just a supply chain battle or a national security battle or an economic security battle; I would submit it’s a moral and ethical battle,” Gallagher said. ”Just as the sector advances at a really astronomic pace, the country who wins the race will set the ethical standards around how these technologies are used.”

He argues that the U.S. must “set the rules of the road” and if not, “we’re going to live in a less free, less moral world as a result.”

Both the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, have identified biotech as a critical national interest.

The Biden administration has put forward a “whole-of-government approach” to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing that is important for health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture and supply chain resilience. A stated goal is to maintain U.S. technological leadership and economic competitiveness.

The Chinese government has plans to develop a “national strategic technology force” in biotech, which would be tasked with making breakthroughs and helping China achieve “technological independence,” primarily from the U.S.

“Both the Chinese government and the Americans have identified biotech as an area important for investment, a sector that presents an opportunity to grow their economy,” said Tom Bollyky, the Bloomberg chair in global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. He said any restrictive U.S. measures should be tailored to address military concerns and concerns about genomic data security.

“Naturally there’s going to be competition, but what’s challenging in biotech is that we are talking about human health,” Bollyky said.

Ray Yip, who founded the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention office in China, also worries that the rivalry will slow medical advancements.

The benefit of coming up with better diagnostics and therapy is beyond any individual country, Yip said, “and will not overshadow the capacity or prestige of the other country.”

What concerns Anna Puglisi, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, is Beijing’s lack of transparency and its unfair market practices. “Competition is one thing. Unfair competition is another thing,” she said.

Puglisi described BGI, a major Chinese biotech company identified in both the House and Senate bills, as “a national champion” that is subsidized and given favored treatment by the state in a system that “blurs private and public as well as civilian and military.”

“This system creates market distortions and undermines the global norms of science by using researchers and academic and commercial entities to further the goals of the state,” Puglisi said.

BGI, which has stressed its private ownership, offers genetic testing kits and a popular prenatal screening test to detect Down syndrome and other conditions. U.S. lawmakers say they are concerned such data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.

The Defense Department has listed BGI as a Chinese military company, and the Commerce Department has blacklisted it on human rights grounds, citing a risk that BGI technology might have contributed to surveillance. BGI has rejected the allegations.

In raising its concerns about BGI, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology says the company is required to share data with the Chinese government, has partnered with the Chinese military, and has received considerable Chinese state funding and support.

State subsidies have allowed BGI to offer genomic sequencing services at a highly competitive price that is attractive to U.S. researchers, according to the commission. The genomic data, once in the hands of the Chinese government, “represents a strategic asset that has privacy, security, economic, and ethical implications,” it said.

BGI could not immediately be reached for comment.

Also named in the bills is WuXi AppTec, a Chinese pharmaceutical and medical device company. The legislation states that the company presents a national security threat because of its ties to the Chinese military and its involvement in a Chinese plan to develop technologies for both civilian and military use.

WuXi AppTec said in a statement that it abides by the laws in the countries where it operates and does not pose a security risk to any country. “In fact, we serve as a valued contributor to the global pharmaceutical and life sciences industries,” the company said in a statement.

___

Associated Press journalist Dake Kang in Beijing contributed to this report.

EU-China relations: spectre of Trump hangs over Munich conference as Beijing looks for openings in Europe

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3252393/china-eu-relations-beijing-delegations-work-room-munich-conference-trump-and-nato-preoccupy?utm_source=rss_feed

Opened in 1841 and almost completely destroyed by British bombs in 1944, the old Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich has seen its fair share of ghosts.

Over the last weekend, however, it was haunted by the possibility of a different sort of spectre.

Donald Trump, the former US president and presumptive Republican nominee for November’s US election was not at the 60th Munich Security Conference but his absence loomed over it, percolating through tense conversations about Ukraine, Gaza and Europe’s ability to provide for its own security.

On Friday, United States Vice-President Kamala Harris tried to reassure Europeans rattled by Trump’s potential comeback and following his vow on February 10 that he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of Nato who had not met their financial obligations.

“In these unsettled times, it is clear: America cannot retreat. America must stand strong for democracy. We must stand in defence of international rules and norms, and we must stand with our allies,” Harris said.

On Sunday, however, an alternative picture of the future was painted by J.D. Vance, a Republican Senator for Ohio, who said he “can’t speak for Donald Trump … but I think that [Trump] agrees with what I’m going to say”.

“I don’t think we should pull out of Nato and no, I don’t think we should abandon Europe. But yes, I think that we should pivot, the United States has to focus more on East Asia. That is going to be the future of American foreign policy for the next 40 years, and Europe has to wake up to that fact,” Vance told the conference known as the “Davos of Defence”.

Against this backdrop, China fell down the summit’s agenda and its officials were less visible than in previous years. Nonetheless, a sizeable Chinese delegation worked the margins at Munich, taking part in private and public events, looking to capitalise on Europe’s horror at America’s potential retreat from the continental theatre.

“No matter how the world changes, China is a responsible major country [that] will keep its major principles and policies consistent and stable … In a turbulent world China will be a force for stability,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the audience on Saturday.

While the speech was loaded with thinly-veiled barbs directed at the US and implied threats not to cross China’s red line, Taiwan, observers thought it was softer in tone than that given by Wang a year earlier, owing to a relative thaw in bilateral ties.

People in the room said that when Wang talked about “promoting China-US relations along the lines of mutual respect”, his gaze was fixed on American officials in the audience.

“We’re at a moment where we see cooperation, competition and rivalry in different doses but all across the agendas,” former Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the event.

“You can say on China’s behaviour vis-à-vis Russia there was a bit of different tonality from Wang Yi here … he did not talk about an unlimited partnership with Russia.”

Beijing sent three delegations to the Bavarian capital, sources said, one led by Wang, a second group of military officials and a third group of think tankers and academics spearheaded by Fu Ying, a former foreign vice-minister.

In a diplomatic flurry, Wang met at least 10 foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba, and a number of world leaders, with Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Serbia’s Alexander Vucic among them.

Behind closed doors, other Chinese delegates met and spoke alongside European academics and lawmakers who have been sanctioned by Beijing, and in some cases discussed ways in which the sanctions might be lifted.

In a dimly lit room deep in the belly of the Bayerischer Hof, the state-backed Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG), a think tank, hosted a round table encouraging “Climate Cooperation in an Era of Great Power Politics”.

Europe must strengthen its ability to defend itself, says Germany

This discussion on how China, the EU and US can “embrace trilateral climate cooperation … in the current tense geopolitical environment” was attended by a gaggle of Western officials and academics, including Germany’s special envoy on climate Jennifer Morgan, and noted historians Niall Ferguson and Graham Allison.

“I think the climate is probably the most common threat to mankind and I hope we can go beyond the geopolitical differences … we have to work together,” said Huiyao Wang, president of the CCG.

Hildegard Bentele, a German member of the European Parliament who has previously spoken out against Europe’s dependence on China for critical minerals, said she would “advocate at the European Union … to go more actively for global cooperation, also with China”.

“I hope there will be more activities in international negotiations, and also on a permanent basis with China,” Bentele said.

Above ground though, things were a little testier.

The co-chair of the German Social Democratic Party, Lars Klingbeil, became embroiled in a heated exchange with former diplomat Fu when warning Beijing not to attack Taiwan.

“Attacking Taiwan will completely change our relationship with China, and we’re absolutely clear on this,” Klingbeil said.

“You said Taiwan and Ukraine are different questions, and I would agree, but I think both are about the question: do we have a multilateral rules-based order?” he told Fu.

“Is it normal to change borders with military action? That has to be a clear ‘no’, it’s not OK to change borders by military action.”

His remarks earned a stern rebuke from Fu, who said: “I need to start by correcting Mr Klingbeil, between the mainland and Taiwan is not an international border.”

Foreign Minister Wang dismissed questions from a moderator on Taiwan and the South China Sea, laughing in his face when he asked if China would accept a “code of conduct” for the region.

In private events too, discussions got heated over the self-governing island. In one instance, a prominent EU lawmaker became involved in a full-throated dispute with a Chinese academic over the issue, according to people present.

On another sensitive subject, Fu was asked whether she knew the whereabouts of former foreign minister Qin Gang, who disappeared from public view in June before being stripped of his role.

“Since you are from The Washington Post I guess you know him better than I do,” Fu told the reporter. “And since you are a journalist I am sure you’ve heard the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson response, you don’t need me to repeat it.”

China’s close ties with Russia were a subtext to many of the conference’s discussions.

“In the conversations that I have had, geopolitics is absolutely front of mind. China is part of that, Russia is part of that … I find that they are very nuanced in how the different global players are being seen,” EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

China and ‘good friend’ Hungary shore up policing and security ties

Despite Wang’s meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba, in which he vowed not to “sell lethal weapons” to either side in the war with Russia, China’s relationship with Moscow was invoked as a red flag throughout the weekend.

A series of European officials, including the commission president Ursula von der Leyen, warned that China was watching whether the West remained united on Ukraine.

“All the other autocratic adversaries ... are watching very closely whether the democracies stand united,” she said.

As well as geopolitics, Gonzalez, the former Spanish foreign minister, said overcapacity in the Chinese economy was a major barrier to cooperation with China.

“There is a space for everyone because we need to decarbonise the world, but if there’s no fairness in the trading conditions, it will be done in an uncooperative manner, which will result in unilateral measures being taken to manage that,” she said.

“This is the message the EU has been sending to China, [do something about overcapacity] or we will have to use the instruments at our disposal to fight against what Europe perceived as unfair conditions.”

Auspicious, delicious Lunar New Year dragon dishes shaped by talented China social media users to bring good fortune

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3251344/auspicious-delicious-lunar-new-year-dragon-dishes-shaped-talented-china-social-media-users-bring?utm_source=rss_feed

Dragons are revered in Chinese culture. The mythical creature is considered an auspicious symbol, bringing good luck, power, honour and success. As a result, depictions of it can be seen everywhere.

With the Year of the Dragon under way, mainland social media is brimming with ideas for creating limited edition dishes presented in the shape of the legend.

Recipes that represent fortune, prosperity and happiness are hugely popular, hopefully guaranteeing a favourable year ahead.

On the mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu, a person using the handle @xiaoxiangdemama, made a dragon dish with ingredients that included spinach, white sesame, sesame oil, soy sauce and salt.

With the cooked spinach, she created the shape of the legendary creature, and made its eyes with small pieces of cheese and some nori. Then she garnished it with clouds made from cheese slices to reflect the auspicious symbolism of dragons riding clouds.

Another person, @shangcha, made a fruit dragon using red wine, oranges, pears, lemonade, rock sugar and preserved plums.

She arranged the sliced orange in the shape of the dragon’s body, shaped its head and horns with the pear that had been poached in red wine, and used a piece of chocolate for the eyeball placed on a head made out of plums.

Another, @niuxiaobodianziduo, designed a dragon using home-made dumplings, which have long been included in Chinese culture for celebrations, family reunions and to bring happiness.

Another inventive cook on social media, @mianshige, created a noodle dragon from strips of raw dough, using his hands and a pair of scissors to shape the body parts, which he then steamed.

Many mainland social media users were captivated by the dragon-inspired dishes.

“That is fabulous. I want to try and make dragon food now,” one said.

“The dragon foods they make are brilliant, and they look delicious,” said another.

“How can they be so creative? They will be blessed by dragons,” someone else said.

Global Impact: what does China’s response to the Israel-Gaza war and Red Sea crisis say about its position as a world power?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3252365/global-impact-what-does-chinas-response-israel-gaza-war-and-red-sea-crisis-say-about-its-position?utm_source=rss_feed

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world. Sign up

As two conflicts continue to ravage the Middle East – the Israel-Gaza war and the attacks in the Red Sea – China’s response has been closely scrutinised by the world.

Since the war erupted in October, Washington and its Western allies have put pressure on Beijing to step up and use its influence in the region to do more.

But what exactly has China done so far? For a start, it embarked on a , including hosting foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries last year, with an aim to “cool” the conflict.

It also , Zhai Jun, to the Middle East in an attempt to defuse tensions, and engaged with Iran – which backs the Hamas militant group – multiple times in recent months.

This included and a meeting between senior officials from both sides that saw .

Apart from that, that called for a ceasefire, while urging the UN Security Council to draw up a concrete timeline for a two-state solution.

That position has been firmly held by Beijing as the war stretches on, with tens of thousands killed.

It was the case when China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, met with Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide in Beijing earlier this month, with both sides in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian assistance.

“All parties need to work together to prevent the conflict from spilling over, and [we] call for the immediate release of all detained persons,” said a statement on the meeting from China’s foreign ministry.

While China has sought to play a role in resolving the conflict, diplomatic observers have suggested that .

China can achieve that, they said, by first condemning the Hamas militant group – something Beijing has avoided – and using its leverage over Iran to prevent a spillover.

“Israel definitely expects a more balanced position from China,” said Efraim Inbar, professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, adding that Beijing’s approach has “clearly estranged” Israel.

There’s more that China could possibly do.

Support for a two-state solution – meaning Palestine would become an independent state – has grown in recent months within diplomatic circles in the West. And .

“Beijing enjoys excellent relations with the two sides of the conflict, with almost all of the relevant regional players and international players,” said Nidal Foqaha, director of the West Bank-based Palestinian Peace Coalition-Geneva Initiative.

This month, Wu Sike, China’s former special envoy for Middle East affairs, said and stressed the need to advance the peace process. Spillovers from the armed conflict, he said at a forum, posed a serious threat to regional security.

And there has already been a spillover – in the Red Sea, a crucial maritime corridor.

In what was a response towards Israel’s military operation in Gaza, Yemen-based Houthi rebels began with drones and missiles, particularly targeting Israeli ships or those heading to Israel.

The attacks were met with a fierce response from the United States, as it banded together a group of countries to launch multiple attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Yet again, there were global expectations that Beijing would tap into its influence to urge Iran to rein in the Houthis, as they are believed to have been supported and trained by Tehran.

It was not unexpected that China didn’t join the Washington-led coalition, and Beijing appears unlikely to deploy its naval forces in the Red Sea, as .

Analysts reasoned that China’s reluctance to get more involved in quelling the Red Sea attacks could be because Chinese vessels have not been thoroughly threatened, even though some shipping firms have .

Beijing has also used the conflict to flag Washington’s failure in the region.

. The caution, analysts warned, could reflect a lack of leadership.

“The situation in the Red Sea has exposed China in its real size: economically very significant in the region, yet a far stretch from actually being a world power,” said Ori Sela, an associate professor at Tel Aviv University.

Is there a chance that things could change? Some progress has been seen recently.

When US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Chinese foreign minister Wang last month, it was expected that .

While official statements from both sides left out discussions over the Red Sea, Chinese officials have reportedly pressed Iran to rein in the Houthis “or risk harming business relations with Beijing”.

It remains to be seen if China’s diplomatic efforts will suffice. But one thing is for sure: China’s response to the conflicts, and what it does next, will continue to be closely examined as it seeks to establish itself as a world power.

60-Second Catch-up

China, Norway urge ‘immediate’ Gaza ceasefire, stronger backing for Palestinian Authority

China should boost Middle East ties to push peace process, tackle ‘great power’ rivalry, ex-envoy says

Video: Yemen’s Houthi fighters behind Red Sea attacks threaten to disrupt global trade

China, Russia and Iran to hold navy drills aimed at ‘regional security’, admiral says as Middle East tensions flare

Opinion: As Red Sea shipping attacks continue, pressure grows for China to act

No official mention after US-China talks but progress ‘likely’ to have been made, observers say

China spotlights drones at Saudi defence show to lure Middle Eastern buyers as conflicts in Gaza and Red Sea escalate

Video: US-led coalition strikes Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen

Deep dives

For about two months, Iran-backed, Yemen-based Houthis have been attacking merchant ships in the lower Red Sea with drones and missiles.

The rebel group says the action is in response to the Israel-Gaza war and it is only targeting Israeli-linked vessels or those heading to Israel.

Read more

Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month that a “two-state solution” was the fundamental way out from “the cycle of conflicts” between Israel and Palestinians.

Xi’s remarks, made during an online Brics summit on the Israel-Gaza war last month, reiterated China’s long-held position that Palestine should become an independent state, and its people should enjoy the right of “nationhood, life and return”.

Read more

In the past month or so China has stepped away from the sidelines of the Israel-Gaza war and towards the fray.

In mid-November, foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries stopped in the Chinese capital in their shuttle diplomacy to find an end to the conflict.

Read more

Shipping prices between Europe and China have continued to soar amid the Red Sea crisis, weighing on China’s fragile export growth and pushing its companies to seek contingency plans to fortify their supply chains ahead of the Lunar New Year.

The average rate for the second week of January was about US$5,400 for a 40-foot container, up from US$1,500 a week earlier, according to Container xChange, an online platform for container logistics and operations in Germany.

Read more

As global shipping giants are forced to divert container ships via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in the wake of attacks by the Houthi militants in the Red Sea, shipping prices between China and Europe have shot up amid concerns over supply chain disruptions.

“The price of the Mediterranean route is soaring now,” said Xia Xiaoqiang, a Tianjin-based freight forwarder.

Read more

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world.

Sign up now!

China’s climate goals: growing energy consumption, slow progress on decarbonisation pose challenges, says NEA director

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3252406/chinas-climate-goals-growing-energy-consumption-slow-progress-decarbonisation-pose-challenges-says?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s growing energy consumption, faltering progress on decarbonisation, and limitations on new energy capacity installation pose major challenges for the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter’s climate goals, according to the head of the National Energy Administration (NEA).

The country’s energy transition faces difficulties including greater-than-expected growth in energy demand which has increased the need for transformation, according to Zhang Jianhua, director of the NEA in a post on the state agency’s official WeChat account on Sunday.

The average annual growth in energy consumption from 2021 to 2023 was 1.8 times that of the previous five years, an increase which was equivalent to the energy consumption of the United Kingdom every year, according to the NEA, which cited Zhang’s comments in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Daily, a state-run newspaper.

“It is expected that rigid growth will be maintained in the future, making it more difficult to coordinate energy security and achieve a low-carbon transition,” said Zhang.

Energy conservation and carbon reduction on the consumer side need to be urgently strengthened, he added.

China’s energy consumption intensity is 1.5 times the world average, with six major industries, including petroleum, chemicals, electric and heat power, accounting for 75 per cent of the nation’s energy consumption, according to the NEA.

The progress in reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP during the 14th five -year plan from 2021 to 2025 is lagging behind expectations, said Zhang.

“The subsequent potential for energy substitution has gradually narrowed, and it has become more difficult to substitute clean energy for end-use,” he said.

The construction of major projects also faces many constraints in terms of resources.

“There is insufficient contiguous land and sea space for concentrated new energy development, making it difficult to coordinate the construction of hydropower, nuclear power, transmission channels and other projects with ecologically sensitive areas,” said Zhang.

“The price mechanism for new energy storage and solar thermal power generation is not yet adequate, and joint efforts on energy transition policies need to be strengthened.”

China, the world’s largest consumer of coal, aims to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.

In order to accelerate the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, Zhang recommended that 70 per cent of new energy consumption be supplied by non-fossil sources before 2030.

Non-fossil energy accounted for more than 40 per cent of total new energy production in 2023.

Zhang also recommended strengthening innovation in the fields of green and low-carbon technology to consolidate the development of China’s new energy industry.

How many submarines does the Philippines need to deter Beijing amid South China Sea row?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3252264/how-many-submarines-does-philippines-need-deter-beijing-amid-south-china-sea-row?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines should acquire at least three military submarines to ensure effective deterrence against China amid mounting maritime tensions between both countries, analysts have said, after Manila confirmed it would start buying such vessels.

While the numbers may be small as compared to Beijing’s, experts say these vessels play an “outsized effect” on the battlefield, as they can put other countries’ surface warships at risk and even alter an adversary’s naval strategy.

Manila is perceived to be slow to adopt submarine deterrence compared with other littoral states in Southeast Asia, due to its focus on ground troops.

Earlier this month, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr approved the third phase of the military’s modernisation, which includes the purchase of the country’s first submarine, to defend its maritime sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea.

While Roy Trinidad, navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, did not say how many submarines Manila intended to acquire, he indicated that “definitely more than one” would be bought.

In recent months, tensions have risen between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, with forces on both sides engaging in numerous confrontations while officials traded accusations of sowing conflict.

Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said the Philippines would need to acquire at least three vessels if one submarine were to be operational at all times.

“Three is the magic number,” Storey said, adding that this applied to all types of military equipment, “one in operation, one in training and one in refit or maintenance”. He noted that Vietnam, for instance, had six submarines, which ensured that at least two were operational at any time.

But since the Philippines has never operated submarines, Storey said the process of acquiring and integrating them would take at least a decade, as infrastructure would need to be built, including bases, piers, dry docks and other support services.

“Once delivered, it will take years of training and exercises for the Philippine Navy submariners to gain the operational experience necessary to proficiently use the boats,” Storey said.

If the Philippine placed orders for two to three submarines, it would take “at least” until the mid-2030s before they can be effectively operated, he added.

Joshua Bernard Espeña, vice-president at the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank in Manila, said two or three submarines would not be enough to deter China since the Southern Theatre Command – one of five People’s Liberation Army commands – might have more than 30 diesel-electric submarines in the South China Sea.

So the Philippines would have to ensure its small fleet “adds value” and would be able to “generate a strategic effect” through integrating the country’s combat management systems with its surface and naval aviation platforms.

Agreeing that three was the “ideal” number, Felix Chang, senior fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute think tank, said if Manila only had the one submarine, and a Chinese satellite detected it in port, “then the Chinese navy knows the Philippines has no submarines at sea”.

“But if the Philippines has two submarines and a Chinese satellite detects one submarine in port, then the Chinese navy does not know where the second submarine is and must deploy a guard against it,” Chang said.

Submarines have an “outsized effect” on the naval battlefield, as they can “cost-effectively put an adversary’s surface warships at risk”, he added.

Has the South China Sea emerged as a battleground for China and its neighbours?

“The mere existence of a small number of hard-to-detect submarines could alter how large numbers of surface warships operate,” Chang said, adding that submarines are effective at sea denial, or preventing an adversary from controlling a certain sea space.

In the case of the Philippines, a few submarines, “if stealthy”, could alter how China operates in the South China Sea, such as through the deployment of additional warships to defend against such submarines.

It might even require the Chinese navy to change its strategies in the region, Chang said, though this would not deter Beijing from challenging Manila’s maritime claims or stop its incursions into Philippine waters, especially if China uses its coastguard or maritime militia vessels.

“But Philippine submarines would likely alter China’s mindset that its maritime forces can act with complete impunity in the waters disputed between Beijing and Manila,” Chang said.

It would also “compel Chinese maritime forces to act with greater caution and think about the consequences of their actions in a way they had not needed to do in the past,” Chang added.

While other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore already own submarines, the Philippines is late in acquiring the vessels.

This is partly due to Manila’s history of internal struggle with communist and Islamic rebellions, which has long forced the authorities to focus its limited resources on the ground forces, said Benjamin Blandin, maritime security expert and network coordinator at the Japan-based non-profit Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies.

Submarine acquisition was not a decision to take lightly, given the direct and indirect costs.

Apart from the cost of the vessels, the Philippines also needed funds for maintenance, weapon systems and ammunition, and training needed “to turn these vessels into a credible deterrent”, Blandin said.

Indonesia walks ‘political’ tightrope with China over weapons trade with Manila

“These costs, unless the overall military budget were to grow accordingly, would certainly impact the Horizon Phase 3 target acquisitions for either or both of the ground forces and Air Force and even possibly the coastguards,” Blandin said.

“The political and military authorities would have to make hard decisions,” he said. “Could the navy maintain its objective to grow its surface fleet while acquiring submarines, and for the coastguard to double in size by 2035? That is, in my view, a major question that remains to be clarified.”

Horizon 3 is the third phase of the Philippine military’s 15-year modernisation plan. It includes the purchase of multirole fighter jets, radars, two more frigates of the Jose Rizal class, missile systems, helicopters and the nation’s first submarine fleet.

Blandin added that the final decision to select between the Spanish, Korean, Japanese and French options will be based on a choice between the best possible political, industrial and military alliance.

As Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Chang noted, the submarine acquisition is likely to be the capstone to the Philippine navy’s modernisation programme.

“It is a capability that the Philippine navy has long sought and is critical for all modern navies, due to the greater vulnerability of surface vessels to increasingly accurate anti-ship missiles,” Chang said.

Hong Kong’s love affair with instant noodles, China’s railways and landscapes captured: 5 weekend reads you may have missed

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3252361/hong-kongs-love-affair-instant-noodles-chinas-railways-and-landscapes-captured-5-weekend-reads-you?utm_source=rss_feed

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

China-led research team pinpoints smallest star and its ghostly lone companion

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3252327/china-led-research-team-pinpoints-smallest-star-and-its-ghostly-lone-companion?utm_source=rss_feed

A China-led team of astronomers has detected an exotic binary system which is home to the smallest star ever discovered.

Known as a hot subdwarf, the star is just seven times the size of Earth and is smaller than Saturn, according to researchers from Tsinghua University, Yunnan Observatories as well as Australia, Europe and the US.

The tiny star and its larger white dwarf companion are about 2,760 light years from Earth. It was detected with the Tsinghua University-Ma Huateng Telescope for Survey (TMTS), according to the study published last week in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The researchers said the star, dubbed TMTS J0526B, had a mass one-third the size of our sun and burned helium with a surface temperature of 2,500 Kelvin, or 2,226.85 degrees Celsius (4,040.33 Fahrenheit).

According to the study, the star and its companion, J0526A, which is too dim to be observed directly, orbit each other every 20 minutes.

Einstein Probe: China launches powerful space X-ray observatory

“While J0526A is invisible to the telescope, we know that it exists because, for one thing, it is so dense that its gravitational pull deformed J0526B from a spherical to egg-shaped structure,” the researchers said, in a statement on Tsinghua’s website.

“Such a unique binary system, including ultra-small, ultralight stars and an extremely short orbital period, had been … predicted to exist but was never detected before. Now our work [offers] the first direct, observational evidence.”

The finding supports a theory proposed by Chinese astronomers two decades ago, which predicted that tiny, lightweight stars could come into being via mass exchange within a binary system, according to the paper.

The TMTS uses an array of four optical telescopes to continuously search for transient objects in one or two areas of the sky every night. It was built at Xinglong Observatory near Beijing in 2019, with funding from the Ma Huateng Foundation and Tsinghua University.

By 2023, TMTS had obtained the photometric data of more than 27 million stars. The research team identified J0526 for further study, because it has the fastest brightness variation, making it stand out from the rest.

The researchers confirmed their TMTS observations with larger telescopes, including the Keck-I telescope in Hawaii and the Gran Telescopio Canarias in Spain’s Canary Islands.

China’s trailblazing telescope ready to train giant eye on night sky

The researchers said they expected the next generation of space-based gravitational wave detectors being built in Europe and China would be able to detect the exotic binary system.

They pointed out that the system could radiate gravitational waves at millihertz frequency as its component stars orbited around each other.

Red dwarfs were previously believed to be the smallest of all stars. They are also the most common type of star in the Milky Way.

According to a 2017 study led by University of Cambridge researchers, the smallest red dwarf ever measured was EBLM J0555-57Ab, 600 light years away and just a little bigger than Saturn.

---

Dark history of Malaysia’s Chinese villages underscores fury over Unesco bid

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3252286/dark-history-malaysias-chinese-villages-underscores-fury-over-unesco-bid?utm_source=rss_feed

A proposal by the Malaysian government to seek Unesco heritage status for a cluster of “New Villages” in Selangor has sparked heated debate between the Malay and Chinese communities over whose culture is pre-eminent in a country where historical racial wounds are still festering.

Despite the name, the so-called New Villages – Kampung Baru in Malay – are commonly associated with the Chinese community and relics of the country’s past dating back to when Peninsular Malaysia, then called Malaya, was besieged by guerilla warfare launched by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).

MCP had sought to establish a communist state following the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and just as the British colonial authorities were returning to resume their control of Malaya.

Malaysia’s Unesco plan for Chinese villages triggers fury among Malay groups

These villages, numbering more than 400 across the peninsula, were essentially a euphemism for concentration camps set up by the British military to corral the Malayan population, particularly ethnic Chinese who might be sympathetic to the communist cause.

PK Voon, a researcher at the Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies, said the resettlement programme was to “gather and protect” families from “bandit influence”, the official description of anti-British armed insurgents.

“The special origins of the New Villages are attributed to a key strategy of the British colonial administration to reassert political control over Malaya. One of the core military actions adopted was aimed at isolating the scattered and often armed anti-colonial units,” Voon said.

At its peak in 1954, over 573,000 people – predominantly, but not limited to Chinese – were relocated into these compact villages, which were encircled by barbed-wired fences with curfews and strict movement control imposed.

Largely successful in its mission, these villages have grown into epicentres of Malaysian Chinese communities. Among them are several in Jinjang in north Kuala Lumpur and Seri Kembangan in its south, which are predominantly Chinese townships.

The idea to submit these villages to Unesco for its World Heritage sites list was first mooted last June by Local Housing Development Minister Nga Kor Ming, who announced that seven of the New Villages have been earmarked for that proposal. If the submission were to go through and become successful, it would be the country’s fourth Unesco cultural site after Malacca, Penang and the Lenggong Valley archaeological site.

What Kelantan’s upended sharia push reveals about PAS’ Islamist politicking

While the recognition of Malacca and Penang in 2008 – two maritime hubs with a history dating back to the 14th and 18th centuries, respectively – was largely uncontroversial, the latest proposal for the New Villages struck closer to home for Malaysia’s Malay majority. Throughout the decades, Malay traditional villages have often been sidelined, deteriorated into slums and bulldozed in the name of progress.

Under the shadows of the Petronas Twin Towers in central Kuala Lumpur is one such village – Kampung Baru. The Malay settlement founded in 1899 is similar in name to the British-mandated New Villages and predated them by 50 years.

Housing pockets of traditional wooden Malay homes alongside stalls and restaurants selling local delicacies, the residents of Kuala Lumpur’s Kampung Baru have repeatedly been told that their way of living is on the way out, with the government’s development board for the village stating that the land acquisition of the village “must continue”.

Parts of the village have given way to luxury condominiums and hotels but some residents have mounted legal battles that dragged on for years.

The country’s two largest Malay nationalist parties, Umno and Bersatu, were both critical of the Unesco plan.

Umno sees the proposal as challenging the special rights and position of the Malays as the country’s indigenous community.

“When an area is recognised as a World Heritage site, then automatically people who inhabit the area will be considered as the original people,” argued the party’s secretary general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

Minister Nga, from the multiracial but Chinese-led Democratic Action Party, dismissed such claims, saying he welcomed others to nominate Malay villages or any other historical places as Unesco heritage sites. Nga said his proposal for the New Villages was “not a zero-sum game”.

Despite being in the same government, Umno and DAP have had a long history of bickering, with each seeing the other as racial chauvinists.

Even some in the Chinese community have questioned the merit of such a move.

Former MP and director of the human-rights organisation SUARAM, Kua Kia Soong, argued that the proposal was an insult to Malaysians involved in the fight against the British authorities, who had inflicted many injustices upon the marginalised Chinese community.

Malaysian boycotters hail win as FamilyMart says it does ‘not deal with Israel’

“These villages were not established out of benevolence by the British colonial power, but born from a nefarious agenda of containment and control,” Kua said.

While remembered today as part of the Chinese community, the New Villages were not as homogenous as many believe, said historian Meor Alif Meor Azalan, whose thesis on the villages was published by the London School of Economics.

“[New Villages] are generally identified with the Chinese community, but this is a misapprehension fed by the British narrative of the conflict as one against ‘Chinese Communist Terrorists’,” Meor Alif said.

His study shows the existence of multiracial New Villages, some with ethnic Chinese in the minority. Among them are villages with predominantly Siamese, Malay, Indian and Indigenous communities, such as the Malay-majority Sungai Buloh New Village in the state of Negeri Sembilan.

Recounting the village’s history, retired police officer Abdul Hamid Hussin, who grew up in the Sungai Buloh New Village, wrote in a Facebook post in 2020 that residents were relocated to a guarded compound, which he likened to a “cow pen” in 1950. The residents were only able to move more freely from 1952 when restrictions were relaxed.

“At night there is a curfew, and you can’t leave the house until 6 in the morning before you can go out to the orchard or tap rubber to earn a living,” he said, adding that strict inspections were carried out every time the residents leave the compound.

“It hurts. It hurts, but we survived,” said Abdul Hamid, who died in 2022 aged 77.

Why China prefers diplomacy to military pressure in the Middle East

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3252195/why-china-prefers-diplomacy-military-pressure-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States is reportedly considering deploying two more aircraft carriers to its western Pacific fleet, which already consists of three carriers. These potential deployments, along with recent naval exercises involving Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea and the expected visit of US senators to Taiwan this week, underline Washington’s dedication to prioritising its strategic interests in the region.

This commitment persists even as the US remains involved in safeguarding commercial ships in the Red Sea amid tensions with Yemen’s Houthis. These developments are happening on the back of a recent meeting between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bangkok, aimed at establishing guard rails on bilateral relations.

The top issues that the Chinese readout of the meeting mentioned were Taiwan and Washington’s alleged politicisation of economic issues for national security – in other words, restrictions on the export of advanced technology to China.

The security issue in the Middle East was mentioned tangentially with a reference to global and regional issues in places including Ukraine, Myanmar, the Korean peninsula and South China Sea. The statements from the two sides did not even refer to the Red Sea crisis, including the Houthi attacks on commercial vessels or the recent killings of US soldiers in Jordan.

These interactions highlight that the Middle East security issue is not a top agenda item for US-China talks, yet other reports suggest Washington has reached out to Beijing asking it to influence Iran in restraining its proxy militia activities in the region.

Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea, disrupting maritime trade and increasing shipping costs, including for China. In response, Beijing has criticised the harassment and attacks on civilian vessels, as well as the disruption of supply chains and the global trading regime, without specifying the responsible party.

There is no evidence to suggest Beijing made these calls in response to US requests. Beijing’s reported discussions with Tehran on this issue have been specific on the potential attacks on Chinese vessels and its adverse effects for bilateral business ties.

Some analysts have claimed China is freeloading on US-provided security in the region, is being risk-averse or lacks the political clout to shape outcomes in the Middle East, and is prioritising geopolitics over addressing regional security concerns. Such claims, however, fail to provide a compelling account of Beijing’s military strategy and diplomatic approach in the region.

For starters, Beijing’s top priorities are unification with Taiwan, national unity, and defending its claims over disputed continental and maritime regions. Additionally, safeguarding Chinese people, businesses and investments along its maritime superhighway – extending from coastal China through the South China Sea and Malacca Strait to the Arabian Sea and East African coast – is a key concern.

China’s military is primarily committed to protecting these interests and asserting sovereignty and control over the disputed regions. If there is any chance of military confrontation with another country, it would be likely to occur along the disputed land border in the Himalayas or maritime regions in the South and East China seas.

The western Pacific is a region where China is largely devoted to trying to deny the United States any military advantage. In conflicts with neighbouring countries, China describes the US as an outsider and accuses it of unwarranted interference. It also claims other regional countries’ assertiveness is a result of US influence.

In addition, China has condemned US support of Israel in the Gaza war and its recent strikes against Iran-backed groups. Beijing strongly opposes Israel’s actions against Palestinians and seeks a ceasefire and a two-state solution under the banner of its stated commitment to peace.

That helps explain China’s lack of military presence in other regions as a cornerstone of its foreign policy. Fudan University professor Chuchu Zhang and Sujata Ashwarya, an assistant professor at India’s Jamia Millia Islamia, note China’s perception of the Middle East as a high-risk region. So, instead of assuming a security role like that of the US, China calls on regional actors such as Saudi Arabia and Iran to unite and address the Palestinian issue.

Why China won’t join US-led fight against Houthi Red Sea attacks

This underscores a crucial reason for China’s non-involvement in the Red Sea conflict with the Houthis. Beijing does not worry that doing so would buttress the US position or look like it was bowing to US influence. Rather, it stems from the recognition that such involvement would fail to address the underlying causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or further China’s regional interests.

While the Houthi attacks have not had as large an impact on Chinese interests in the region, China has cautioned Iran of potential repercussions to their business relations should such attacks occur. Contrary to popular belief, Beijing has significant influence over Tehran, given that crude imports from Iran constitute just 10 per cent of China’s overall energy imports but represent 90 per cent of Iran’s crude exports.

Tehran cannot afford to jeopardise its ties with Beijing, especially as China deepens its connections throughout the Middle East. If China can safeguard its people, businesses and investments in the region through diplomatic channels, there is little reason to pursue military pressure against Iran or its proxies, particularly as their primary focus is countering US influence in the region.

Finally, the Middle East arguably holds no direct link to China’s core interests or feature prominently in the daily lives of average Chinese citizens. Public sentiment in China isn’t significantly swayed by Middle East crises in the same manner as relations with other regional countries or major powers. Beijing’s stance towards other nations is thus viewed as a necessary means to bolster nationalism.

China’s economic powerhouses target top-tier industrial tech in national ‘high-quality growth’ drive

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3252339/chinas-economic-powerhouses-target-top-tier-industrial-tech-national-high-quality-growth-drive?utm_source=rss_feed

Top officials in China’s economic heartlands got back to work on Sunday with a series of tech and investment-centred conferences across the country, signalling Beijing’s focus this year is firmly on the economy.

In a State Council meeting attended by vice-premiers, state councillors and ministry chiefs, Premier Li Qiang called for “quick results” in tackling domestic economic problems.

“All departments must … quickly enter into work mode and pay close attention to implementation,” state news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying. “[We must] take pragmatic and powerful action to boost the confidence of the whole society.”

In the southern province of Guangdong, the country’s biggest regional economy, major provincial leaders and municipal heads met on the first day after the Lunar New Year holiday to find ways to foster innovation and industrial development.

“As a pacesetter, Guangdong should take the lead in reaching the level of a moderately developed economy and an innovative economy by 2035, but there are still large gaps and deficiencies,” Guangdong Communist Party chief Huang Kunming said.

“The key to achieving these goals is technological innovation, industrial development, and the continuous liberation and development of productive forces.”

Similar meetings were held in Shandong, Anhui and Liaoning provinces.

They follow central government orders for the country’s economic powerhouses to do more to raise economic growth.

The Chinese economy has had a bumpy recovery since the country’s zero-Covid policy was abandoned in December 2022, with the private sector and wage earners particularly hard hit in the past year.

National GDP came in at a higher-than-expected 5.2 per cent in 2023 but it failed to lift market sentiment and reassure investors about job and income uncertainties, the property crisis, US tech curbs and deflation concerns.

Many provinces are already aiming for higher growth this year, including Guangdong which is targeting 5 per cent growth after 4.8 per cent real expansion last year.

Speaking at the conference on Sunday, Huang said the province would focus on industrial science and technological innovation, improving cooperation with Hong Kong and luring more talent.

“We need to help businesses adopt new technology, new equipment, new materials, and new processes to improve product quality and production efficiency,” he said.

He said the province would launch a number of new major scientific research projects this year, as well as help 9,000 industrial enterprises undergo tech overhauls. It would also promote the “digital transformation” of 9,200 industrial enterprises.

In addition, Guangdong authorities had earmarked 1 trillion yuan (US$138 billion) for more than 1,500 investment projects in 2024, including information technology, high-end manufacturing and new materials, Ai Xuefeng, director of the Guangdong Development and Reform Commission told the conference.

The pledges reflect the national push for “high-quality development” to help advance the country through the quality of economic growth instead of rapid expansion.

To do so, it is turning to technology, advanced manufacturing, and green industries rather than old drivers like real estate and financial speculation.

In the eastern province of Shandong, the third-biggest in economic size, cadres addressed the theme of “high-level opening up, high-quality investment promotion”.

To the southeast in Anhui province and northeast in Liaoning, officials concentrated on how they could improve the business environment and promote high-quality development of the private economy.

Shanghai, China’s economic hub, also released an action plan on Sunday to create a “first-class business environment”.

Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, said the provincial gatherings showed the urgency of stabilising the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Peng said Guangdong’s underperformance in recent years was “somewhat a microcosm of the difficulties faced by the national economy”.

“In the past couple years, Guangdong’s economic growth has been lower than the national average,” he said.

“Real estate is a serious drag on economic growth; the decoupling of technology [from the US] has put a lot of pressure on China’s technology and innovation strategies.”

Shifts in export supply chains and declining investment had also lowered market confidence.

“Guangdong must make breakthroughs, and ‘high-quality development’ is a flag into which all solutions can fit,” he said.

Beijing is widely estimated to set “around 5 per cent” growth target for this year, a harder-to-achieve target given the diminishing base effect.

The official target will only be released when the government work report is delivered to the annual legislative session early next month.

China’s Lunar New Year holidaymakers head overseas to release pent-up post-Covid demand for travel

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3252345/chinas-lunar-new-year-holidaymakers-head-overseas-release-pent-post-covid-demand-travel?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese tourists set foot in more distant corners of the world during the Lunar New Year holiday, with travel one of the few bright spots in the country’s consumer sectors.

Online travel agency Qunar said international flight bookings for the eight-day break were up 14-fold compared with the same holiday last year, taking Chinese tourists to 1,754 cities in 115 countries.

Overseas hotel bookings quintupled, it said.

Domestic travel also saw a resurgence over the festive season, in some cases surpassing highs from 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic halted both domestic and overseas trips altogether.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, domestic tourists collectively spent 632.7 billion yuan (US$87.7 billion) during the holiday, or about 50 per cent more than they did during the 2023 Lunar New Year break.

A total of 474 million domestic trips were made across the country, marking a 34.3 per cent year-on-year increase and a 19 per cent rise compared with 2019, according to ministry data.

In addition, about 6.83 million international trips were made, the ministry said.

Lunar New Year is one of the longest public holidays in China and an opportunity for people across the country to return to their hometowns.

It is also a popular time for spending and authorities were hoping the festive season could give a much-needed lift to the tepid post-Covid recovery. Millions of middle-class and lower-earning groups alike are tightening their belts, not daring to spend amid job and income uncertainty.

Tourism, however, has been one of few rays of hope as people look to satisfy pent-up desire for travel after being stuck at home for three years.

Neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore continued to be popular destinations, especially as Chinese passport holders can now enjoy visa-free stays in Thailand and Singapore.

According to data from online travel services provider Fliggy, holidaymakers are also going farther afield with a surge in interest in places like New Zealand, Russia, France, the United States and Egypt.

Fliggy is owned by Alibaba, which also owns the South China Morning Post.

The number of overseas transactions via WeChat Pay nearly doubled compared to the same holiday in 2023, with Southeast Asia remaining the preferred destination for most travellers.

The number of WeChat payments to buy public transport tickets in Bangkok as well as Tokyo also rose, the service’s operator said on Sunday.

Alipay – a third-party service established by Alibaba – said the number of overseas payments made by its users was also on par with the same holiday in 2019, and up by 140 per cent on 2023.

However, analysts said the data published omitted the actual amount spent compared to pre-pandemic levels, making the recovery hard to gauge.

Zhou Mingqi, founder of tourism consultancy Jingjian Consulting, said Lunar New Year travel was down by a quarter on 2019 levels if rail, road, water and civil aviation options were combined.

“Railway and air passenger transport have seen notable increases, indicative of travel among middle-class and higher-income individuals. These volumes were still unable to offset the substantial decline in long-distance bus travel,” Zhou said.

“The impact of economic downturns is always felt from the bottom up, with the poorest individuals being the first and most heavily affected. High-end tourism remains a relatively promising sector.”

China firm literally puts millions in cash ‘up for grabs’ in annual bonus money-counting game, lucky worker bags nearly US$14,000

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3251491/china-firm-literally-puts-millions-cash-grabs-annual-bonus-money-counting-game-lucky-worker-bags?utm_source=rss_feed

A company in China has come up with a novel way for its employees to “earn” their year-end bonus by creating a game in which they can take home as much money as they can count.

An extravagant party held by the Kuangshan Crane Company in central China’s Henan province ahead of the Lunar New Year on February 5, has stunned many online observers.

On a 50-metre-long table in the centre of the venue, a sea of 100-yuan notes awaited fevered staff who were told to grab as many as they could and count how much cash they were holding in their hands.

According to the mainland media outlet Star Video, employees could take home what they had counted in given time slots that ranged from 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 minutes, decided by drawing a lottery.

The game also has a rule that 1,000 yuan (US$140) is deducted for each note incorrectly counted. The firm arranged for 20 money counters to check.

The company’s entire workforce of 5,000 was invited to join the game, with the overall bonus reaching 100 million yuan (US$14 million). One of the “jackpot” winners bagged 97,800 yuan, and said it felt “awesome”.

It is not the first time the company has gone viral for its generous year-end bonus scheme.

Last year, it gave 61 million yuan to 40 employees with the best performance, with three top salespeople each receiving five million yuan in cash.

A member of staff, surnamed Feng, said each of the three salespeople had sold more than 100 million yuan worth of products in the last year.

The news has attracted hundreds of job applications with the company.

The firm had also been holding annual filial piety feasts for employee’s parents, and the firm’s boss, Cui Peijun, has been given the title “China’s most generous boss”.

“I admire the staff at this company for having such a generous boss,” one online observer said.

“The staff in the finance department mastered this game,” another joked.

Although China’s labour law does not require companies to give year-end bonuses, 74 per cent of companies did so in 2022, according to a survey by the CIIC Management Consulting Company.

The average bonus per person was 21,900 yuan. The average annual salary in China’s urban non-private units was 114,029 yuan, while in private companies it was 65,237 yuan.

Chinese village construction in disputed zone outpaces China-Bhutan border talks

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251394/chinese-village-construction-disputed-zone-outpaces-china-bhutan-border-talks?utm_source=rss_feed

In a remote village in the Himalayas, inside a border zone that has long been disputed by China and Bhutan, 18 new Chinese residents stood waiting to enter their newly built homes.

Each carried a freshly framed portrait of China’s President Xi Jinping – large enough to leave only their heads and lower legs exposed – while behind them a bright red banner welcomed them in Chinese and Tibetan script.

It was December 28 and they were the first batch of people – made up of 38 households from the Tibetan city of Shigatse – to move in to the newly expanded Tamalung village, the Tibet Federation of Industry and Commerce said on WeChat.

The village is one of at least three built by China inside the disputed zone. Local governments in the Tibet autonomous region led a rapid expansion of border villages last year, with Tamalung doubling in size in the latter half of 2023.

Satellite imagery – taken by US-based Maxar Technologies seven days before the residents moved in – shows 147 new houses.

Local media reports said the village expansion was designed to accommodate 235 households, in addition to the 200 people who were living there in just 70 homes at the end of 2022.

The villages were part of China’s state-led poverty alleviation scheme to provide better living conditions but they double as “citadels” to strengthen national security, officials have said.

Lhozhag county – which administers Tamalung – spent an estimated 26 million yuan (US$3.6 million) on infrastructure for the village, according to its 2023 funding report on poverty alleviation.

The allocation funded the reinforcement of a stream bank, two bridges and paved roads. Satellite imagery shows the works were completed within six months.

Bhutan’s capital Thimphu has so far downplayed the controversy posed by these villages, but its closest partner India is keeping a close eye on developments in the disputed border area of around 495 sq km (191 square miles).

To the east of Tamalung, another border village Gyalaphug also doubled in size last year after around 16 sq km (10 square miles) was razed to make way for more than 150 houses.

Satellite imagery shows the new homes sitting next to an existing four rows of dwellings and a Communist Party community centre with a small library and other amenities.

According to Chinese state media, Gyalaphug was established in 2007 with just two homes and no water or electricity. It was developed into a model village from 2016-18 as part of President Xi Jinping’s “moderate prosperity” poverty alleviation campaign.

Party mouthpiece People’s Daily reported that more than 620 “border moderate prosperity villages” were established by the end of 2021, Xi’s deadline for the party’s centenary goal to alleviate poverty in the country.

Local officials and state media have described the dual function of the villages – to provide modern housing and defend the border – as coming from the very top of the party.

Why so much interest in new village near the China-Bhutan-India border?

Lhozhag county party secretary Zhao Tianwu told his officials in 2020 that “moderate prosperity villages” in the border areas needed to be promoted as a show of special care by the party leadership.

He also said Xi’s ideology about border governance and “stabilising Tibet” was the crux of the village policy. Xi raised Tibet’s national security role in 2013, at his first parliamentary session as party chief.

Construction tender documents show that Lhozhag county’s development and reform commission tendered much of the roads and housing works in the disputed border zone.

These included a 22km (14 miles) paved road linking the two villages in the mountainous region. Dozens of other houses were also built along the road, none of which could be attributed to any village in the Chinese government’s official list of administrative divisions.

Tourism, farming and crafts: China’s villages seek a blueprint for revival

Some of the projects were funded by other provincial governments and state-owned enterprises under the central government, including the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, through their aid funds for Tibet.

According to Lhozhag county’s 2020 annual report, the company invested 20 million yuan (US$2.7 million) to build border villages and health facilities, while Hubei province in central China tipped in 28 million yuan (US$3.9 million).

Last year, Tibet authorities offered up to 12,800 yuan (US$1,780) as an incentive to residents in other parts of the region to resettle in the border area, according to budget papers.

Tibetan herders get used to their new lives as China tackles poverty

The Shannan city government, which administers Lhozhag county, has also said it will establish a trial scheme of “professional border residents” to increase the size of the defence team and speed up the “deep cooperation between the military and civilians”.

State media reports said that immigration police and village leaders already patrolled the borders, often carrying Chinese flags and spraying words and images – including the characters for “China” and the national flag – on rocks and tree trunks.

In its 2023 annual report, Lhozhag county stressed the need for cooperation “between the party, the government, the police and civilians to secure the border, strengthen frontline patrols and make sure that no one can get in and no one can get out”.

Bhutan and China do not have formal relations, but have been in boundary talks since 1984, achieving partial progress over the years on some of their territorial disagreements. In 1998, they agreed to avoid unilateral change to the boundary’s status quo.

Why Bhutan’s tilt towards China may ‘significantly change’ regional dynamics

Negotiations speeded up after China’s post-pandemic reopening, with Bhutanese and Chinese officials establishing a joint technical team to mark out the border at their 13th expert group meeting in Beijing last August.

And in October, the two countries’ foreign ministries held their 25th round of official border talks, seven years after they last convened in 2016.

Last March, then prime minister Lotay Tshering told Belgian newspaper La Libre that the villages were not built on Bhutanese soil and his government did not “make a big deal” out of them.

Tshering said China and Bhutan were nearing the end of their “three-step road map” to resolve the dispute – from marking the border on paper, through visiting the demarcated area, to formally declaring the agreed boundary.

India keeps wary eye on Bhutan polls amid kingdom’s warming ties with China

Tshering lost his seat in the country’s January election but his successor Tshering Tobgay is unlikely to drastically change Bhutan’s stance, according to research fellow Amit Ranjan.

“Bhutan is not going to do anything which harms Indian interests because it’s a small country. It is very close to India – politically very close, economically very close,” said Ranjan, from the National University of Singapore’s South Asian Studies Institute.

While Bhutan is dependent on India for trade and investments, New Delhi has not dictated Thimphu’s foreign policy since 2007, when both countries agreed to a more independent Bhutanese voice over its external affairs.

But New Delhi “has been very wary” about a possible border settlement and formal diplomatic ties between Beijing and Thimphu, according to an editorial by The Hindu newspaper in October.

India fears Bhutan will cede land to China. Can a king’s visit calm nerves?

Nitasha Kaul, an international relations professor who specialises in Bhutan from the University of Westminster, noted that Bhutanese diplomacy had always been quiet, patient and sensitive to the interests of its neighbours.

“It is also important to respect the Bhutanese position on their own interests, instead of ventriloquising on behalf of Bhutan as international media sometimes does,” she said.

While land swaps could not be ruled out in any negotiation, it was hard to speculate on specifics over the border issue, Kaul said, adding that entrenched India-China rivalry made the dispute’s resolution “existentially important” to Bhutan.

China’s foreign ministry did not respond when asked if it was consulted before the authorities in Tibet went ahead with the villages, nor whether their presence may be harmful to border negotiations. Its Bhutanese counterpart also did not respond to a request for comment.

But while officials continue to hold border talks, Lhozhag county has already announced plans in its 2023 annual report to further expand Gyalaphug and Tamalung villages into towns.

Canada says China has role to play in keeping Red Sea safe

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3252355/canada-says-china-has-role-play-keeping-red-sea-safe?utm_source=rss_feed

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Sunday said China should play a role in keeping the Red Sea safe for commerce because Chinese ships are at risk there as well, and urged Beijing to stop helping Russia sidestep international sanctions.

In an interview, Joly said she told China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a bilateral meeting on Saturday that Beijing needs “to help to influence the Houthis to keep the Red Sea open.”

“It’s in China’s interests as an exporter,” Joly told Reuters by phone on the last day of the Munich Security Conference.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have staged a series of attacks in the Red Sea on commercial vessels, including the oil tanker M/T Pollux that US officials said was hit by a missile on Friday.

The attacks, which the Houthis say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, have raised the cost of shipping and insurance by disrupting a key trade route between Asia and Europe used widely by ships from China. The US and Britain have both urged China to intervene through Iran to rein in the attacks.

Joly also said she spoke to Yi about making sure that Western sanctions against Russia hold as the war in Ukraine drags on.

“We need to put maximum pressure on Russia,” Joly said. “Our sanctions are strong, but China cannot be the loophole in our sanction system.”

Last year Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia to become China’s top crude oil supplier as the world’s biggest crude importer defied Western sanctions to purchase vast quantities of discounted oil for its processing plants.

In Munich, China defends ties with Russia, warns West on Taiwan ‘red line’

Chinese refiners use intermediary traders to handle the shipping and insurance of Russian crude to avoid violating Western sanctions.

After the Saturday meeting with Joly, Yi spoke of the need to “rebuild trust” with Canada after years of diplomatic tensions.

China-Canada relations turned icy in late 2018 when Canadian police detained Chinese telecommunications executive Meng Wanzhou. Shortly after, Beijing arrested two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on spying charges.

Relations remained strained for most of last year as Canada’s parliament investigated alleged Chinese meddling in its elections, a claim China has repeatedly denied.