• China trade: 5 takeaways from January-February data as exports made strong start in 2024
• [World] Images show N Korea sealing its border with China
• ‘Disgrace for civilisation’: China repeats call for Gaza ceasefire, peace talks on Middle East and Ukraine
• Chinese suspect to plead guilty in Singapore’s multibillion-dollar money-laundering case
• Hong Kong police hunt for 5 suspects behind HK$1 million robbery of mainland Chinese man
• Chinese venture capitalist Allen Zhu steers clear of mainland tech firms’ AI large language model frenzy
• China takes swipes at the US but also makes ‘direct appeal’ for cooperation
• ‘The next China is still China’: top diplomat pushes back against negative foreign sentiment
• South China Sea: Beijing poised for ‘long game’ with Manila over shoal dispute to avoid drawing in US, analysts say
• China’s C919 jet gets new route as development for widebody sibling rolls on
• China surrogacy debate hots up after housekeeping firm sparks controversy with advert offering cash to replacement mothers, prompts official probe
• China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: foreign supporters of Taiwan independence warned they will ‘get burned for playing with fire and taste a bitter fruit’
• South Korea probes consumer data practices of Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress, Temu
• Hong Kong secondary school amends textbooks after mainland Chinese customs stops 2 students over unofficial maps
• China urges EU cooperation over ‘bloc confrontation’ in bid to warm relations
• China pledges to deepen Russia ties and criticises US ‘obsession’ with suppressing Beijing
• South China Sea: Philippines’ Marcos Jnr warns risk of armed conflict ‘is much higher now than before’
• US has ‘serious concerns’ about Chinese-funded upgrade to Cambodian naval base, senior diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink says
• Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang calls for swift Article 23 legislation, says it will make Hong Kong ‘safer, more open and resilient’
• China stands ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Africa and supports its chosen development path: Wang Yi
• Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa says Chinese investments led to his downfall, in new book, The Conspiracy
• China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: what Foreign Minister Wang Yi had to say about US relations, Taiwan and wars in Ukraine and Gaza
• China girl, 16, forced by parents to quit school and work helped to resume studies by officials, gets free, safe-haven flat from online influencer
• China’s Mars sample return mission ‘progressing smoothly’ while Nasa struggles behind schedule
• China accuses US of devising tactics to suppress China despite improvement in relations
• Canada reaches settlement with Michael Spavor, one of ‘Two Michaels’ in China spy row
• Chinese scientist calls for more access to non-sensitive data like weather information
• 2 Chinese men charged over helping trio enter Singapore’s Taylor Swift concert without tickets
• US calls for Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Japan to tighten chip curbs on China, drawing resistance from allies
• China trade: exports start 2024 with 7.1% increase in January-February
• Australia and Vietnam upgrade relations to highest level amid US-China rivalry
• China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks to press as fate of predecessor Qin Gang remains a mystery
• China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: focus on work-life balance urged to stop workers being trapped by ‘invisible overtime’
• Wealthy clients turn to HSBC, Manulife, Bank of China amid heightened interest in Hong Kong’s cash-for-residency scheme
• China newlyweds take big ‘Double Happiness’ sign on European honeymoon, get blessings from countless strangers
• ‘A brand-new discovery’: Chinese scientists uncover genetic secret behind brown pandas
• Beijing ‘actively considering’ raising Hong Kong’s duty-free shopping allowance for mainland Chinese tourists
• Former Google AI engineer charged with trade secret theft for China firm
• Ex-Google engineer arrested for alleged theft of AI secrets for Chinese firms
• Can China pull itself out of the ‘middle technology trap’ and challenge US at the top?

China trade: 5 takeaways from January-February data as exports made strong start in 2024

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3254527/china-trade-5-takeaways-january-february-data-exports-made-strong-start-2024?utm_source=rss_feed

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China’s exports rose by 7.1 per cent from a year earlier to US$528 billion in combined figures for January and February compared to a year earlier.

It was the fastest rate of increase since May, and export volumes also reached a record high.

“The stronger-than-expected export growth was mainly led by robust exports to some of China’s emerging market trade partners, such as Africa, Latin America, India and Russia,” said analysts at Nomura, who also pointed to a higher base of comparison from a year earlier.

The reading beat expectations for a 3.9 per cent increase predicted by Chinese financial data provider Wind, and surpassed the 2.3 per cent rise in December.

China’s trade figures for January and February are combined to smooth out the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at different times during the two months in different years.

China’s imports increased by 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, compared to a 0.2 per cent growth in December - vaulting market projections of a 0.7 per cent decrease.

Imports also picked up during the first two months of this year in volume terms.

China’s exports start 2024 with 7.1% increase, leaving lower predictions behind

The upside was mainly driven by an improvement in processing trade, said analysts at Nomura.

“Import volumes rebounded, but they are likely to rise more gradually in the coming months, given limited potential for an uptick in fuel imports,” added analysts at Capital Economics.

China’s total trade surplus stood at US$125.1 billion in the first two months of the year, compared with US$103.8 billion during the same period last year.

China’s exports to Russia remained resilient, growing by 12.5 per cent year on year in the first two months of 2024, while imports rose by 6.7 per cent.

But analysts at Nomura do not expect a repeat performance in the near term, due to a high base and limited space for Chinese exporters to further expand their market share.

Shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – China’s largest trading partner – rose by 6 per cent, but exports to the European Union (EU) decreased by 1.3 per cent.

Exports to the United States increased by 5 per cent year on year, while imports dropped by 9.7 per cent.

“Exports to China’s traditional major trading partners all recorded either lukewarm growth (the US and Asean) or outright contractions (the EU, Japan and South Korea) in January-February,” analysts at Nomura added.

“However, these declines were offset by exports to both Africa and Latin America, Brazil in particular, as well as exports to India.”

Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING, said China’s trade data started the year on a relatively encouraging note, but conceded the readings were impacted by a weak base effect.

“The start-of-the-year data showed some encouraging signs, and the weak base effect from 2023 should lead to a mild recovery of year on year trade numbers in 2024,” Song said.

“We expect low-to-mid single-digit growth for both exports and imports in 2024, which will be an improvement in year on year terms from last year, but insufficient to be a major contributor to growth.”

Analysts at Nomura expect export growth to drop notably again in March, perhaps even into the negative territory, while they believe near-term growth momentum is likely to worsen further.

“While China’s export sector managed to withstand global downturn in goods demand by expanding its market share, this was helped by exporters slashing prices and currency weakness,” analysts at Capital Economics said.

In terms of imports, Capital Economics said supportive new fiscal plans indicated by the National People’s Congress during the ongoing “two sessions” would likely increase infrastructure spending to support metals demand.

[World] Images show N Korea sealing its border with China

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68499975

‘Disgrace for civilisation’: China repeats call for Gaza ceasefire, peace talks on Middle East and Ukraine

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254555/disgrace-civilisation-china-repeats-call-gaza-ceasefire-peace-talks-middle-east-and-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated calls for international peace talks on Gaza and Ukraine, while reaffirming Beijing’s support for Palestine as he faced the press during the annual meeting of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies.

Wang’s comments during the “two sessions” on Thursday came as the world closely watches how Beijing weighs in on the twin wars that have had international repercussions.

Describing the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as a “disgrace for civilisation”, Wang stressed the importance of the peaceful coexistence of “Arab and Jewish nations” as well as a stable European continent, while avoiding direct criticism of any side.

In response to a question from an Egyptian reporter on the situation in Gaza and the blocking of humanitarian aid to its besieged population, Wang said “an immediate ceasefire” was the “overriding priority”.

“It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilisation that today, in the 21st century, that this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped,” Wang said, as he called for all international humanitarian aid to be made available to the strip.

Wang also said China supported full UN membership for Palestine, while urging a political settlement to the crisis with Israel under the “two-state solution”.

“We support Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations,” Wang said, calling on “individual Security Council members to refrain from placing obstacles in its way” – in what was a veiled swipe at the United States.

China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: what foreign minister said on US, Taiwan and Ukraine

China advocates “the convening of a larger, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference” to implement such a solution, he added.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN said in January that they could seek full UN membership this year, after becoming a non-member observer state 12 years ago. Israel and the US, its main ally, were among nine countries that had voted against the status upgrade in 2012.

The US was also the only permanent Security Council member to have done so. This casts doubts on Palestinian attempts at becoming a full member as any vote on UN membership must be backed by the council before it is put to the General Assembly.

However, compared with other Chinese diplomats’ recent remarks urging Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, Wang appeared to cautiously avoid direct criticism.

China hopes Israel and Palestine can “coexist peacefully”, Wang said, the only time he mentioned the Jewish nation by its full Chinese name.

He also called for the release of all “detained people”, in an apparent reference to the hostages taken by Palestinian militant group Hamas during their deadly cross-border raid on October 7 that triggered the military response from Israel.

Regarding the Ukraine war, Wang once again called for an international peace conference to resolve the matter, while avoiding mention of any single party in the conflict.

China’s stable relations with both Russia and Ukraine and historical success at brokering a Saudi-Iranian diplomatic rapprochement last year have raised Beijing’s profile as a potential new global peacemaker.

Chinese envoys last year criss-crossed the conflict zones in a burst of unprecedented shuttle diplomacy. Li Hui, China’s special envoy for Eurasia, toured Ukraine and Russia in May, while Zhai Jun, the envoy for the Middle East, visited the region after the Gaza war erupted, although he did not stop in Israel.

Li, who is in charge of China’s shuttle diplomacy for the Ukraine war, set off on his second European tour last week.

Beijing has also published position papers on both conflicts, prioritising a ceasefire and peace talks in either case.

But a cautious approach and limited reach in both the Ukrainian and Gazan battlefields are putting Beijing’s real power as a rising mediator to the test.

Wang, as both foreign minister and director of the ruling Communist Party’s foreign affairs office, is the country’s most powerful diplomat in decades. However, while he has travelled to Russia, he has yet to visit Ukraine, Israel or Palestine.

In contrast, his US counterpart Antony Blinken has visited Ukraine and the Middle East multiple times in the past few months alone.

Meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last month, Wang said conditions were not yet right for peace talks and the concerns of both Russia and Ukraine should be taken into consideration.

On Thursday, asked when talks might take place to resolve the crisis that had lasted for more than two years, he said: “The end of any conflict is the negotiating table. The sooner you talk, the sooner peace will come.”

Chinese suspect to plead guilty in Singapore’s multibillion-dollar money-laundering case

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3254553/chinese-suspect-plead-guilty-singapores-multibillion-dollar-money-laundering-case?utm_source=rss_feed

A man who is among the 10 people charged in relation to a multi billion-dollar money laundering case in Singapore is set to plead guilty.

He is the first in the group to make such an indication, with several others stating through their lawyers in previous court mentions that they would likely be claiming trial.

A date for Su Wenqiang to plead guilty was set for April 2, after a pre-trial conference was held in chambers on Thursday.

Authorities have seized more than S$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) in assets including gold bars, jewellery, 62 cars and 152 properties. The tally may rise, with many suspects still on the loose.

Massive laundering case reveals dark side of Singapore’s bid to lure super-rich

Su, 33, is listed as Cambodian in charge sheets but his passport states that he is from Fujian, China.

He faces a total of 11 charges, a mix of money-laundering, possessing proceeds from illegal remote gambling offences and lying to get work passes for himself and his wife.

The charges accuse Su of:

According to past court hearings, an investigating officer on Su’s case said he was wanted in China and worked as an executive in a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia.

He has passports from China, Cambodia and Vanuatu and moved his two young children to Singapore with the intention of living here permanently and having them educated here.

He has been remanded for more than six months since his arrest in August last year.

The group of nine men and one woman, mostly originally from China, were caught in an island-wide raid by police.

‘A wake-up call’: Singapore’s US$740 million laundering case exposes loopholes

The broader case revolves around a remote gambling operation based in the Philippines, targeting punters in China.

Some of the suspects were listed in wanted notices in China, but managed to set up shop in Singapore, with some running alleged shell companies from as early as 2019.

Checks of court records show that the other nine accused in the case are still at the pre-trial conference or case management conference stages.

This article was first published by

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

Hong Kong police hunt for 5 suspects behind HK$1 million robbery of mainland Chinese man

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3254566/hong-kong-police-hunt-5-suspects-behind-hk1-million-robbery-mainland-chinese-man?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong police are searching the city for at least five suspects involved in the robbery of HK$1 million from a mainland Chinese man at an industrial building in Hung Hom on Thursday.

Police said the hold-up took place in Hang Fung Industrial Building on Hok Yuen Street at around 5.14pm.

The victim was a 41-year-old man and held a two-way permit, a mainland-issued travel document that allows holders to enter Hong Kong, the force added.

According to the force, a preliminary investigation found the man had brought the money to the building’s ninth floor to take part in a cryptocurrency transaction.

A police spokesman said officers were looking for five men thought to be between the ages of 30 and 40, with two of the group carrying knives during the hold-up.

No casualties were reported in the incident, he added.

Robbery in Hong Kong is punishable by up to life in prison.

Police handled 97 robberies last year, an increase of 26 per cent from the 77 cases logged in 2022.

Chinese venture capitalist Allen Zhu steers clear of mainland tech firms’ AI large language model frenzy

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3254560/chinese-venture-capitalist-allen-zhu-steers-clear-mainland-tech-firms-ai-large-language-model-frenzy?utm_source=rss_feed

Venture capitalist Allen Zhu Xiaohu, known for his early investment in ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, said he has no interest in funding Chinese start-ups building large language models (LLMs), the technology behind ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) services.

Investing “makes no sense since those LLM start-ups have neither [the relevant application] scenario nor data” for such a business model to prosper, said Zhu, a managing director at GSR Ventures, in his recent interview with online news portal Tencent News. “How do you make money out of just developing an LLM?”

At GSR, which invests in early-stage technology companies in the United States, China and other markets in East Asia, Zhu is recognised for his track record of identifying and funding potential new unicorns, which are start-ups valued at more than US$1 billion.

“I believe in applications and those that can commercialise immediately,” said Zhu, who indicated that he did not invest in any LLM-focused company on the mainland last year.

His view echoes that of Baidu co-founder, chairman and chief executive Robin Li Yanhong, who described the repeated launch of various LLMs on the mainland as “a huge waste of resources” at the annual X-Lake Forum in Shenzhen last November.

Li pointed out that there were too many LLMs being introduced in mainland China, “but too few AI-native applications based on those models”.

In January, China approved this year’s first batch of LLMs. The latest approvals – a total of 14 LLMs and AI enterprise applications for commercial use – come after an initial number of generative AI services were allowed for release to the public last August.

The number of government-approved LLMs and related AI applications on the mainland currently total more than 40. But at present, there are more than 200 China-developed LLMs in the market.

Baidu CEO slams China tech firms’ frenzy over AI models as ‘waste of resources’

Zhu said in the Tencent News report that he had invested in two start-ups, an AI job interviewer and an AI advertising producer, before San Francisco-based OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022 to kick-start a worldwide AI frenzy.

Asked why some venture funds are still putting money on multiple LLM developers, Zhu said in the report that such bets were made based on a “fear of missing out”.

He indicated that Beijing’s antitrust campaign from late 2020 made it harder for investors to exit via mergers and acquisitions.

“If there were no antitrust efforts, I would love to invest in Wang Xiaochuan”, Zhu said, referring to the Sogou founder’s LLM start-up Baichuan.

China to create and implement national standard for AI models

The GSR managing director’s focus on commercialisation, however, has made it tougher for mainland entrepreneurs to raise financing for their AI development initiatives.

That situation has prompted Lu Zhiwu, an AI professor at Renmin University of China and adviser to start-up Metabrain AGI, to complain that investors “always ask me how to make money and how to beat Big Tech”, according to a June report by local media Jiemian.

Such a rigid evaluation criteria can become burdensome, as “investing in cutting-edge technology requires an open mind and belief in the technology”, said David Liu, founding partner at private equity firm Capital O, according to the same Jiemian report.

Zhu’s comments about the prospects of Chinese LLM start-ups come after reported major investments made by Alibaba Group Holding and other tech companies in new AI firms. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Alibaba said to lead new financing round for Chinese AI start-up MiniMax

Alibaba is said to lead the latest funding round for AI start-up MiniMax, which would value the Shanghai-based company at more than US$2 billion. A report by Bloomberg on Tuesday said MiniMax was looking to raise at least US$600 million.

That deal would mark Alibaba’s second major AI start-up investment this year after leading a funding round that raised more than US$1 billion for Beijing-based Moonshot AI, which was valued at more than US$2.5 billion.

Moonshot AI was founded last year by Yang Zhilin, a graduate of Beijing’s Tsinghua University and Carnegie Mellon University in the US.

MiniMax, founded by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, also counts social media and video gaming giant Tencent Holdings as well as creator miHoYo among its investors, according to local media chinastarmarket.cn, which first reported the new funding round.

GSR’s Zhu described both Sogou founder Wang and Moonshot AI’s Yang as “excellent technologists”, but indicated that these founders have not made commercialisation of their businesses clear to him, according to the Tencent News report.

China takes swipes at the US but also makes ‘direct appeal’ for cooperation

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254569/china-takes-swipes-us-also-makes-direct-appeal-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed

Problems and mistrust still stand in the way of warmer ties between China and the US, analysts said, after stern remarks from Foreign Minister Wang Yi – including that Washington was “obsessed” with suppressing Beijing.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, China’s top diplomat noted there had been “some improvements” in relations with the US after a summit between leaders Xi Jinping and Joe Biden last year.

But he said Washington’s “misperception towards China continues and US promises are not truly fulfilled”.

“The US has been devising various tactics to suppress China and kept lengthening its unilateral sanctions list, reaching bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity.”

Washington has in recent months pushed ahead with technology-related restrictions on China and sanctioned Chinese firms said to have aided Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In a reference to US curbs on China’s artificial intelligence sector, Wang said “attempts to create a ‘small yard high fence’ in AI would result in mistakes with historical consequences”.

That phrase was used by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan last year when talking about measures to protect Washington’s technologies, including placing restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology exports to China.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said the Chinese foreign minister’s remarks indicated that while the Xi-Biden meeting had eased tensions to some extent, “there are still some problems” and Beijing was dissatisfied with the outcomes.

But he said even amid the “suppression”, Wang Yi also appeared to be trying to dispel the narrative that China was a threat and to push for greater cooperation with American business.

From AI to EVs, how is the China-US rivalry in key hi-tech areas playing out?

“It is a direct appeal to the US, hoping that Washington can maintain good and healthy cooperation with Beijing,” he said. “If there is competition, it should be healthy competition.”

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said it could also have been an attempt to get the US to revisit, or possibly lift, its tech restrictions – though that was unlikely to happen.

He expected Washington and Beijing to continue keeping tensions in check, even with possible “complications” brought by this year’s US elections.

US sanctions have restricted Chinese access to key tools such as advanced graphics processing units from Nvidia, the world’s leading AI chip designer.

China’s AI industry – seen as a strong rival to that of the US – is increasingly anxious about the gap with American competitors after the launch of OpenAI’s Sora and ChatGPT.

Beijing is meanwhile pushing for self-reliance in science and technology to counter US moves to block China’s access to cutting-edge tech, as well as to transform the sluggish economy.

On Thursday, Wang Yi appeared to be reviewing ties with the US in the months since Xi and Biden met in San Francisco in November – talks that came as the two powers were seeking to improve relations. Since then, military-to-military communication has been restored.

“If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word ‘China’, where is its confidence as a major country?” Wang said.

Chinese venture capitalist stays clear of mainland’s AI model investment frenzy

“If it only wants itself to prosper but denies other countries’ legitimate development, where is international fairness? If it persistently monopolises the high end of the value chain and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness and competition?”

He added: “The challenge for the US comes from itself, not from China. If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.”

Of the 21 questions that Wang fielded, only one was on the US but he appeared to take multiple swipes at Washington’s actions on regional and global issues throughout the press conference.

One of those was in response to a question on the Israel-Gaza war. Wang called for an immediate ceasefire and said Beijing backed the Palestinian Authority in becoming a full UN member, but he urged “individual UN Security Council permanent members to stop erecting obstacles”.

The US – one of five permanent members alongside China – has long used its veto powers to block actions that Israel did not support, including recent UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Asked by Indonesian media about the South China Sea, Wang urged “certain countries outside the region not to make provocations … [or] stir up trouble and problems” in the disputed waters.

Beijing had repeatedly accused Washington of adding fuel to disputes in the region and undermining stability amid heightened tensions in the resource-rich waterway that China claims almost entirely.

China’s ‘two sessions’: Xi tells scientists to fight the tech battle well

Responding to a separate question on multipolarity, Wang also took aim at US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s earlier comment that “if you’re not at the table in the international system, you’re going to be on the menu”.

The foreign minister said China believed in a multipolar world with equal opportunities, and that it was “definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while some others can only be on the menu”.

Wu from the NUS also pointed out that Wang used parts of his briefing – both directly and indirectly – to single out Washington’s actions in global conflicts and “pinpoint US problems in international relations”.

He said that reflected how China viewed the US as its key competitor on global matters, and was also an effort to highlight Beijing’s role as a peacemaker in the unfolding conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.

Following its diplomatic success in brokering a peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia a year ago, China has sought to portray itself as a mediator.

It has sent special envoy Li Hui on a second European tour this week, in hopes of playing a bigger role in the Ukraine war.

“It’s a message to the US and the world but it is also an important message to the domestic audience that [China] is very strong. That they are not compromising with the US,” Wu said.

But even as Wang tried to send a strong message to the US on Thursday, he also stressed that the world’s two largest economies needed to coexist.

He said US-China ties were “critical to the well-being of the two peoples and to the future of humanity” and that Beijing approached the relationship with “a sense of responsibility”.

“Peaceful coexistence is the baseline because conflict and confrontation between two major countries like China and the US will have unimaginable consequences,” he said.

“Win-win cooperation is the goal. When working together, China and the US can do great things conducive to the two countries and the world.”

‘The next China is still China’: top diplomat pushes back against negative foreign sentiment

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254570/next-china-still-china-top-diplomat-pushes-back-against-negative-foreign-sentiment?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s leadership has doubled down on efforts to cast the economy in a positive light and reassure the international community that Beijing is committed to further opening to the world.

During the annual parliamentary gathering, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Thursday joined the chorus of painting a rosy picture of China’s economic outlook, insisting the nation had maintained “strong” growth momentum.

The foreign minister, who is a member of the country’s primary decision-making body, the Politburo, also pushed back on sceptical rhetoric about the world’s No 2 economy, warning that such views would end up “harming oneself” and result in “missed opportunities” during a sideline event of the “two sessions”.

The remarks came as Beijing tries to revive confidence at home and abroad about the Chinese economy amid diminished expectations among international business leaders and the nation’s private entrepreneurs, which were seen as likely to aggravate the economic challenges and geopolitical risks facing China.

“China remains strong as an engine for growth. The next China is still China,” Wang said during his press conference.

As it happened: Beijing defends GDP goal, vows crackdown on market defects

“Spreading pessimistic views on China will end up harming oneself and misjudging China will result in missed opportunities,” he said, adding that “China prospers through interaction with the world and the world is better off when China does well”.

The press conference came one day after a group of high-level Chinese officials, including the country’s top economic planner, finance minister, trade chief, top central banker and top securities regulator, struck the same positive tone on the economy while flagging more supportive measures.

China’s economy grew 5.2 per cent last year from 2022, slightly higher than the official target of around 5 per cent, according to official figures. Beijing has kept the goal the same for this year, in line with market estimates, but viewed as ambitious.

China is still grappling with a flurry of long-term challenges including a protracted property market crisis, falling exports, rapidly ageing demographics, lukewarm consumer spending, a jittery private sector, worried foreign investors and ongoing competition with the United States.

There has been growing speculation about whether China’s economic boom is over, and whether the Asian giant is losing its lustre as a choice place for business and investment.

Chinese official data showed that foreign direct investment in China fell by 13.7 per cent from a year earlier in dollar terms in 2023. The slump appeared as many multinationals held back from adding major new input into the country while many relocated parts of their operations.

China’s new securities chief hits out at illegal traders, market distorters

Foreign businesses are an important source for China’s technological expertise and a secondary line of communication for Beijing’s external relations.

The weak sentiment towards the Chinese economy, as growing worries suggested, might fuel restraint in economic ties with China through “de-risking” drives, and also influence broader assessments of the country by foreign decision makers, further straining Beijing’s external circumstances.

Last August, US President Joe Biden framed China’s economic situation as a “ticking time bomb”, saying the country was “in trouble” due to slowing growth.

But on Thursday, Wang said that China’s emerging industries are “booming”, its green transition had yielded “impressive results”, and social expectations were “improving steadily”.

As China pursues ‘new productive forces’, economic bubbles must be avoided: Xi

He said that the market of 1.4 billion consumers is unleashing opportunities for the world and China is “opening its door wider”, adding that the country is ready to expand the network of free-trade zones and keep the global supply chain stable and smooth.

He also said that China would continue to improve its business environment “to stabilise expectations and provide longer-term benefits to global investors”.

Wang’s comments on economic matters were rare for a Chinese foreign minister, and mirrored Beijing’s growing attention to overseas narratives on China’s economy.

Still, his press conference was one of the most watched events during this year’s two sessions, particularly after the earlier abrupt cancellation of Premier Li Qiang’s press conference on the final day of the event.

Wang announced that China will expand its pilot visa-free programme to include six new countries – Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg – starting from March 14.

The move was built on a series of initiatives to relax visa requirements in the second half of 2023 in a bid to woo more foreign tourists and investors.

“We hope more countries will offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation,” Wang added.

South China Sea: Beijing poised for ‘long game’ with Manila over shoal dispute to avoid drawing in US, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254571/south-china-sea-beijing-poised-long-game-manila-over-shoal-dispute-avoid-drawing-us-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed

China and the Philippines will remain at loggerheads over the disputed South China Sea as both sides double down on their positions in the strategically important waterway, observers have said.

But they also expect China to play the long game, to wear out Manila as Beijing seeks to avoid a wider regional conflict that might draw in the US, a Philippine treaty ally.

Beijing has warned against escalations in the South China Sea, where a collision between Chinese and Philippine coastguard vessels has triggered fears that any misstep could spark a wider crisis.

China will “legitimately defend” its rights in the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual National People’s Congress legislative meetings on Thursday.

“Abusing good faith should not be allowed. Distorting maritime laws cannot be accepted in the face of deliberate infringements,” he said.

“We will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law in face of unwarranted provocation; we will respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures.”

He also took a swipe at the Philippines and the United States for the spike in tensions over maritime disputes.

“We also urge certain countries outside the region not to make provocations, pick sides or stir up troubles and problems in the South China Sea,” Wang said.

The US on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to defend the Philippines in case of any armed attacks in the South China Sea. This came a day after Manila accused the Chinese coastguard of causing two collisions and the use of water cannon as Philippine boats carried out a resupply mission near the Second Thomas Shoal.

The disputed reef in the South China Sea has been occupied by a Philippine garrison stationed aboard a grounded landing ship since 1999.

Manila, which said four Filipino crew members were injured in the high-seas stand-off, summoned a Chinese diplomat in protest on Tuesday.

‘These are red lines’: Philippines won’t let China remove disputed shoal outpost

Beijing, meanwhile, claimed that the measures it took were “professional and standard” and that the Philippines should be held responsible for the “run-in”.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has warned that the risk of an armed Chinese-Philippine conflict in the disputed South China Sea is “much higher now than it was before”, citing a lack of efficient bilateral communication.

But Marcos, who has moved closer to the US and pushed back against China since taking office in 2022, ruled out triggering the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty over Tuesday’s incident.

Chen Xiangmiao, an associate researcher with the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in China’s Hainan province, said the recent incidents were “very serious” but avoiding an escalation would be Beijing’s priority.

“There’s a dilemma for China as its diplomatic approach fails to dissuade the Philippines, and it does not want the confrontations to further escalate,” he said.

“If the Philippines manages to build a permanent structure in the Second Thomas Shoal, or if it takes control of the [also disputed] Scarborough Shoal … that would be a scenario which would get out of hand for everyone.”

The Philippines is running out of ships for resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal, according to Vice-Admiral Alberto Carlos, chief of the Philippine military’s Western Command, who said the vessels were either limited in capability or under repair.

Collin Koh, a maritime security researcher at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Beijing’s strategy would be to wear the Philippines out.

“This is what I believe till now to be Beijing’s strategy – to play the long game, gradually wearing out Manila’s patience and ability to conduct these resupply runs and eventually compelling the latter to come to PRC terms,” Koh wrote on X, formerly Twitter, using the acronym for China’s formal name – the People’s Republic of China.

But while Beijing and Manila both refuse to back down, Chen said whether the US would wade in remained in question.

The US has repeatedly reassured the Philippines on their “ironclad” defence partnership, but it remained unclear under what circumstances it would come to Manila’s aid, Chen said, especially as US and Chinese officials have consistently stressed the importance of preventing any conflict between the rival powers.

He said one option was for Beijing and Manila to reaffirm “certain tactical agreements” reached under Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

Soon after Duterte took office in 2016, Beijing allowed resupply missions for humanitarian supplies to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine fishermen were also able to return to the Scarborough Shoal – a rich fishing ground in the middle of the South China Sea. Beijing took control of the shoal, which it calls Huangyan Island, after an intense stand-off with the Philippines in 2012.

“[A reaffirmation] is the best and most likely scenario,” Chen said. “Otherwise confrontations will continue because Beijing is unlikely to compromise.”

China’s C919 jet gets new route as development for widebody sibling rolls on

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3254558/chinas-c919-jet-gets-new-route-development-widebody-sibling-rolls?utm_source=rss_feed

China has launched a new route for the C919 – China’s home-grown narrowbody passenger jet – a move that will expand its commercial footprint, bolster the country’s push for self-reliance in civil aviation and contribute to its quest to meet economic targets for the coming year.

Beijing is also positioning its widebody C929 to break the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus, the current giants of the industry, with plans for construction of a manufacturing hub in Hangzhou for the in-development passenger aircraft this year. The project was officially unveiled by the city, capital of Zhejiang province, in an announcement issued last month.

The narrowbody C919, which first entered commercial operations last May, will start the new route on Friday, according to China Eastern Airlines’ online ticket booking system.

Two daily round trips will be flown by the aircraft between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Xian Xianyang International Airport, an addition to the plane’s route map made shortly after the airline added a fifth C919 to its fleet on Saturday.

This also marks the third new flight route for the jet since it began its first regular route between Shanghai and Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, with flights between Shanghai and Beijing added in January.

China has made the C919 its poster child for entry into the highly sophisticated and competitive civil aviation sector, part of an overall plan to demonstrate its capabilities in advanced manufacturing spurred largely by a wide-ranging technological rivalry with the US.

Developing the industry was identified as a major target for the new year in a work report by Premier Li Qiang, delivered on Tuesday during the annual meetings of the country’s top legislature and political advisory body, known as the “two sessions”.

While the C919 is currently only certified domestically, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in January at an industry meeting they would push for European certification of the jet this year.

And in an effort to boost international sales and exposure, the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the plane’s manufacturer, brought the jet to last month’s Singapore Airshow for its overseas debut.

China’s C919 spreads its wings in Singapore, international bow lands 40 orders

A two-week demonstration of the C919’s capabilities began Tuesday in Vietnam and will pass through four other Southeast Asian countries- Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia – highlighting Beijing’s ambition to gain access to the regional market.

However, industry experts present at the two sessions said Beijing still needs to step up its campaign for broader adoption of the aircraft, both domestically and internationally.

Li Yangmin, general manager of China Eastern Airlines and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, has submitted a proposal to the advisory body stating there needs to be “a continuous boost to the core competitiveness” of the C919 in the next phase of the jet’s commercial operations.

“There needs to be more comprehensive support to make Chinese aircraft competitive on a global level,” Li said, according to an official readout. “To be successful in the market, we need more effort in developing our repair system for aircraft parts, operation insurance and commercial operations.”

China Eastern Airlines has ordered 100 C919 jets, and Comac said a total of 1,200 jets have already been ordered.

One recent sale, agreed with Tibet Airways last month, involved a new variant of the C919 to suit high-altitude plateaus, a signal the company would be working on a wider range of models.

Shan Xiaoming of the Hunan Aviation Power Plant Research Institute – also attending the two sessions as a delegate to the National People’s Congress, the top legislature – shared similar views, saying sales of the C919 would be only a “first step” to access the global civil aviation market.

“For Chinese aircraft to be widely adopted, we need to work on the technology of the products and on the supply chain,” Shan said. “There needs to be autonomy in our development of engines, airborne systems, avionics systems, seating and even ground systems, so that we can drive related industries.”

While the C919 has been touted as a home-grown jet, many parts were produced by foreign suppliers. Officials said the jet was a demonstration of “win-win” cooperation through global collaboration, but the country now faces pressure to boost its capacity for next-generation manufacturing as Washington has imposed hefty trade curbs on top-end tech – aviation applications included.

To make progress on that goal, Comac said at an industry forum last December that it was aiming for half of the C929’s structural composite materials to be designed and manufactured domestically.

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China surrogacy debate hots up after housekeeping firm sparks controversy with advert offering cash to replacement mothers, prompts official probe

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3253765/china-surrogacy-debate-hots-after-housekeeping-firm-sparks-controversy-advert-offering-cash?utm_source=rss_feed

A housekeeping company in China is in hot water after it posted an advertisement online seeking surrogate mothers, sparking a discussion about the legally ambiguous practice in the country.

Based in Henan province in northern China, Huchen Housekeeping laid out a payment plan based on the age of potential surrogates.

“Surrogate mothers under the age of 28 can earn 220,000 yuan (US$30,600), while women between the ages of 29 and 30 will be offered 210,000 yuan,” the company wrote.

The financial compensation decreased as the potential surrogates aged, with the cut-off being women between 40 and 42 years old, who were offered 170,000 yuan.

When contacted by Dawan News, a mainland media outlet, employees at the company said: “We have operations in both Xinyang and Shanghai.”

The staff added that they offer bespoke services for families trying to find an ideal surrogate for their future children, but the outcome largely depended on “whether the client is willing to accept the price”.

The local health commission responded immediately to the advertisement and announced on February 26 that it was “investigating the incident”.

At present, China lacks specific legislation that outlaws that surrogacy. However, various government regulations do not allow the practice.

Legal loopholes often permit surrogacy practices within the country, and wealthier citizens can travel to countries like the US, where it is legal to have a surrogate baby.

Recently, online debates have intensified over the ambiguity of China’s legal position regarding surrogacy.

Reactions to the housekeeping advertisement were mixed, with many people expressing outrage at the bold marketing technique, claiming it exploited women.

One online observer said: “Are they insane? This is blatantly illegal and audacious!”

“If this is permitted, any one of us could be the next victim of human trafficking,” said another.

A third person said: “Please do not exploit women as tools for reproduction!”

The advertisement brought to mind a major controversy from 2021, when Chinese celebrity, Zheng Shuang, was accused by her ex-partner, producer Zhang Heng, of abandoning their two children born to US-based surrogate mothers after the relationship ended before they were born.

A voice recording, revealed by a friend of Zhang, caught the embattled celebrity saying: “The kids can’t be aborted, which is so annoying,” while her mother suggested the children should be given away or put up for adoption.

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China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: foreign supporters of Taiwan independence warned they will ‘get burned for playing with fire and taste a bitter fruit’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254536/chinas-two-sessions-2024-foreign-supporters-taiwan-independence-warned-they-will-get-burned-playing?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned that support for Taiwanese independence will be seen as a challenge to Beijing’s sovereignty and that those who play with fire will “get burned”.

Speaking at a press conference during the “two sessions” – the annual meeting of the national legislature and top political advisory body – Wang issued a strongly worded warning at a time when cross-strait tensions are running high following the death of two mainland Chinese fishermen after a chase with Taiwanese coastguards.

“Separatist activities seeking Taiwan independence remain the most destructive factor to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Wang said.

In a message to the international community, he added: “Whoever engages in Taiwan independence activities on the island will be held accountable by history and whoever in the world connives at and supports Taiwan independence will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own actions.”

But he also stressed that Beijing still hoped for a peaceful reunification, saying: “Our policy is clear. We insist on striving for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity.

Fatal fishing boat crash echoes earlier tragedy that tested Xi in Taiwan Strait

“Our bottom line is also crystal clear: We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the mainland.”

Beijing sees the self-ruled island as part of China that must be reunited with the mainland – by force if necessary.

Most countries, including the United States – the island’s informal ally and biggest arms supplier – do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. But many still maintain strong unofficial ties with Taipei, while Washington and others are opposed to any change to the status quo by force.

In recent years, the mainland military has been steadily increasing the pressure on the island with a series of exercises around Taiwan and repeated sorties by warplanes into its air defence identification zone.

The result has been increasing international expressions of concern about the risk of conflict and multiple visits to the islands by politicians from the US, Europe and Japan.

Wang’s comments echo those made earlier this week by Premier Li Qiang during his work report on Tuesday, when he warned against external influence in Taiwan’s affairs.

Although Wang did not refer directly to the US or other countries when discussing Taiwan, the comments highlight Beijing’s growing concern about international support for Taiwan.

Last month two mainland fishermen died after their boat capsized while being chased by the Taiwanese coastguard near the island of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, which lies just off the coast of the mainland province of Fujian.

Mainland China-friendly Taiwanese lawmaker tipped to lead democracy group

The two sides blamed each other for the incident, putting cross-strait relations under further strain after January’s presidential election was won by the Democratic Progressive Party’s William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has repeatedly denounced as a dangerous separatist and troublemaker.

He vowed to follow many of the policies of President Tsai Ing-wen and has adopted her formula that there is no need for Taiwan to declare formal independence because it is already a sovereign and independent country.

Lai will take office in May and his inaugural speech will be closely watched by Beijing as it looks for clues about what approach he will adopt over the next four years.

South Korea probes consumer data practices of Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress, Temu

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3254539/south-korea-probes-consumer-data-practices-chinese-e-commerce-platforms-aliexpress-temu?utm_source=rss_feed

South Korea’s personal data protection watchdog said on Thursday it is looking into consumer data practices of major overseas shopping platforms, as South Korean use of Chinese e-commerce platforms like Alibaba’s AliExpress and Temu jumped.

The Alibaba Group also owns the South China Morning Post.

The Personal Information Protection Commission said it has been investigating overseas e-commerce platforms since last month, after a parliament audit last year raised questions about data handling by platforms such as AliExpress and PDD Holdings’ international facing discount e-commerce platform Temu.

Alibaba’s AliExpress steps up investment in Spain and South Korea

It is checking the appropriateness of their personal information processing policies, overseas transfers, and safety measures, and will take steps if there are any violations of South Korean law, the commission said in a statement.

The announcement follows South Korea’s antitrust regulator, Fair Trade Commission (FTC), sending inspectors to the office of AliExpress’s South Korean unit last week to probe the platform’s consumer protection practices, according to Yonhap news agency.

The FTC, Alibaba and Temu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

South Koreans’ e-commerce purchases from China including from platforms like AliExpress and Temu rose 121 per cent on year in 2023 to 3.3 trillion won (US$2.48 billion), taking up nearly half of its total overseas e-commerce purchases, according to Statistics Korea data.

AliExpress, which began services in South Korea in 2018, invested about 100 billion won in the country in 2023 to expand its footprint, Daishin Securities analyst Lee Jee-eun said.

Investors are watching whether it and other Chinese e-commerce platforms’ fast user growth in South Korea will affect established players such as Naver Shopping and Coupang, although faster shipping and easy returns of local firms may keep the influence of Chinese platforms’ price competitiveness at bay, Seoul-based analysts have said.

Hong Kong secondary school amends textbooks after mainland Chinese customs stops 2 students over unofficial maps

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3254546/hong-kong-secondary-school-amends-textbooks-after-mainland-chinese-customs-stops-2-students-over?utm_source=rss_feed

A Hong Kong secondary school is replacing unofficial national maps in some of its textbooks after at least two cross-border students carrying a copy were stopped by mainland Chinese customs last month.

The Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School vowed on Thursday to “abide by the nation’s laws”, saying it would review all other textbooks that had similar maps and update them.

The controversy came to light on social media over claims that mainland customs officers had torn a page out of a Form Two student’s history textbook because it included a national map that was not “the standard one”.

Ma Siu-leung, supervisor of the Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School, confirmed on Thursday that the incident had taken place earlier this month and at least two students were involved.

The school would overlay the unofficial map in the Form Two Chinese history textbook with an updated one, he added.

“We have to abide by the nation’s laws. The simplest way is we have already downloaded the most updated version and will help students replace [the other map] … we will do it by today,” Ma said.

“The Education Bureau said this approach was very good.”

The incident first came to light when a Facebook page called “Edu Lancet” posted about it earlier this week.

According to the page, mainland customs officers had said the textbook’s maps of China failed to conform with “the standard one” as the Diaoyu Islands were written as “Diaoyutai”, a phrase preferred by Taiwan, and lacked an up-to-date “10-dash line”.

China last year added the extra dash to the area near Taiwan when it updated its standard map, with observers saying the move was part of Beijing’s efforts to demonstrate its sovereignty rights.

The latest map includes all disputed areas that China considers to be its territory, such as Taiwan, the Indian-claimed Arunachal Pradesh and most of the South China Sea, which is contested by countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

A check by the Post found the Form Two textbook was published in 2021.

According to the Facebook page, the student mentioned in the post was scared by the incident and was told to affix his fingerprint on a copy of the pages being checked.

Ma on Thursday said he was not aware of whether either of the students had been required to provide fingerprints or their feelings during the incident.

The school would check whether any similar maps were featured in textbooks for other subjects.

“If there are teaching materials which are not coherent with the nation’s laws, we have to review and abide by the law,” he said.

New history textbooks for Hong Kong students ‘compress events of 1989 crackdown’

An Education Bureau spokeswoman said local authorities had contacted the school after learning about the incident and would offer suitable assistance.

The two national maps from the school’s textbook, published by the Modern Educational Research Society several years ago, were inconsistent with the new version released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources last year, she said.

“The Education Bureau will notify the publisher of the update as soon as possible and will also notify other publishers to review the published textbooks,” the spokeswoman added.

She also reminded publishers to contact the bureau for further clarification if outdated maps were found.

The Post has contacted the Modern Educational Research Society for comment.

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China urges EU cooperation over ‘bloc confrontation’ in bid to warm relations

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254547/china-urges-eu-cooperation-over-bloc-confrontation-bid-warm-relations?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on Europe to choose “mutually beneficial cooperation” over “bloc confrontation”, a phrase Beijing often uses to describe Washington’s effort to rally allies amid rising US-China competition.

“As long as China and Europe cooperate in mutually beneficial ways, there will be no room for bloc confrontation,” he said on Thursday during an annual foreign policy press conference at the country’s “two sessions”.

He added that the European Union and China should jointly defend multilateralism and reject “anti-globalisation”.

Wang said he hoped relations with Europe will have a “green light all the way”, describing the continent as a “partner” instead of a competitor or rival.

EU blacklists Chinese firms for first time in latest Russian sanctions package

“There is no fundamental conflict of interest between China and Europe, nor is there any geostrategic contradiction. The common interests of both sides far outweigh their differences,” Wang said.

“The correct positioning of China-EU relations should be that of partnership, the mainstream tone should be cooperation, the key value should be independence, and the development prospects should be win-win.”

The EU labelled China as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival” in its China strategy in 2019, which Wang said brought “unnecessary disruption and obstacles” to bilateral ties.

China’s EU relations have come under strain due to a lack of exchanges during the Covid-19 pandemic and Beijing’s stance on the Ukraine war, in particular, its increasingly close relations with Moscow.

European countries have also been under immense pressure from Washington to respond to what they have called an “increasingly assertive” China, with measures that include imposing economic and technological restrictions against Beijing over their “national security concerns”.

The EU has also called for a “de-risking” approach to reduce economic dependence on China, a major trade partner with which it has a €400 billion (US$435.8 billion) trade deficit.

Last year, Italy, the only G7 participant in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, pulled out of the infrastructure scheme, delivering a major diplomatic blow to Beijing in a move largely seen as falling in line with the EU’s de-risking strategy.

China has repeatedly urged the EU to uphold its “strategic autonomy”, an idea championed by European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron to become the “third pole” of the world, amid an intensifying US-China rivalry.

China is now stepping up efforts to rebuild trust with Europe. High-level exchanges have resumed after China relaxed its Covid-19 restrictions at the end of 2022. European leaders, including Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have all since visited China.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Europe this year.

Wang also announced during his press conference that six more European countries – Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg – will qualify for visa-free entry to China from March 14.

Despite the gestures, trade disputes and Beijing’s closer ties with Moscow continue to cast a shadow over China-EU ties.

China’s US$28 billion overseas EV investment holding a charge despite backlash

The EU started customs registrations of Chinese electric vehicles on Thursday, a move allowing for possible retroactive tariffs on vehicles following a probe into subsidies in the Chinese industry.

Last month, for the first time, the EU included four Chinese companies on its sanctions list over their roles in aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

China has insisted it is neutral in the war and has pushed for negotiations for a ceasefire, despite scepticism from the EU.

On Thursday, Wang said China will continue to play a “constructive role” in pushing for a political solution to the conflict as Beijing’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui makes a second peace tour in Europe.

“The earlier we start talking, the sooner peace will come,” Wang said. “China looks forward to the early restoration of peace and stability on the European continent.”

China pledges to deepen Russia ties and criticises US ‘obsession’ with suppressing Beijing

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/china-pledges-to-deepen-russia-ties-and-criticises-us-obsession-with-suppressing-beijing

China’s top foreign affairs official has accused the US of trying to suppress China and has vowed to deepen relations with Russia, as Beijing continues to assert the importance of what it calls a “multipolar” world order.

Foreign minister Wang Yi accused the US of imposing sanctions on Chinese companies to a “bewildering” and “unfathomable” level, referencing Beijing’s opposition to “unilateralism and protectionism”, complaints that have become buzzwords in China’s official statements of late.

Speaking on Thursday, Wang said the relationship between China and the US was “critical” but that it was the relationship with Russia that would be deepened and strengthened in the coming months.

Wang praised the “strategic guidance” of China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin for strengthening the relationship to the point that bilateral trade hit a record $240bn last year. Wang noted that Russian natural gas was fuelling Chinese households, while Chinese cars were driving on Russian roads.

Russia’s gas exports to China have surged since the start of the war in Ukraine, helping it withstand the economic pain caused by falling shipments to Europe because of sanctions.

China sold more than 841,000 vehicles to Russia last year, making it the top export market for China’s carmakers. Overall exports to Russia increased 54% compared with 2022.

Meanwhile, Wang accused the US of failing to fulfil promises and said it was “obsessed” with suppressing China.

Wang stressed the importance of mutual respect. “It is unacceptable that certain countries are at the table while others are on the menu,” he said.

Relations between the US and China have thawed slightly since Xi met President Joe Biden in November. Wang noted that Biden had promised not to back Taiwanese independence, and added that countries that did so would be “burned for playing with fire”.

Taiwan is a self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory. In January, voters in Taiwan elected Lai Ching-te from the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party as president, to Beijing’s anger.

In his annual press conference, Wang discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as China’s relationship with Europe. Throughout, he emphasised the “trend” towards a multipolar world, one that Beijing says is no longer dominated by Washington hegemony.

This has been an important part of the “no limits” friendship that China and Russia declared in February 2022, shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has supported Moscow diplomatically and economically since the invasion, to the frustration of western leaders. “The China-Russia relationship moves ahead along the trend of multipolarity,” Wang said on Thursday.

As part of this emphasis on multipolarity, China’s foreign policy increasingly focuses the importance of the global south. Wang said China “is, was, and will be a crucial member of” that group of countries.

“The global south is no longer the silent majority, but the force for reforming the international order”.

Wang was speaking on the sidelines of the Two Sessions, China’s annual parliamentary and political advisory meetings. The rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, is the forum in which new government appointments are announced.

Observers had expected a new foreign minister to be revealed, as Wang had been seen as a temporary stopgap since his predecessor, Qin Gang mysteriously fell from grace and was fired last year. But the agenda for this year’s meetings did not include any mention of personnel changes.

Wang is also director of the Chinese Communist party’s foreign affairs commission, a position that holds more power than foreign minister.

South China Sea: Philippines’ Marcos Jnr warns risk of armed conflict ‘is much higher now than before’

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3254512/south-china-sea-philippines-marcos-jnr-warns-risk-armed-conflict-much-higher-now?utm_source=rss_feed

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has warned the risk of an armed conflict between his country and Beijing in the disputed South China Sea “is much higher now than it was before”, as he urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to expedite the setting up of a hotline to help limit rising tensions.

“We worry in the Philippines because it could come from, not a strategic decision by anyone saying, ‘OK, we’re going to war,’ but just by some servicemen making a mistake, or some action that’s misunderstood,” Marcos Jnr said on the sidelines of the three-day Asean-Australia special summit in Melbourne that ended earlier this week.

“That’s why the ongoing attempt is always to try and lower the temperature down [when] the rhetoric is up.”

Marcos Jnr also pushed for a faster roll-out of a direct communication line with Xi to peacefully resolve the maritime discord that has seen the Philippines frequently accusing the Chinese coastguard of confronting its ships in the hotly contested sea, including firing water cannons at them.

In the latest incident on Tuesday, Manila said China’s coastguard vessels caused two collisions with Philippine boats and water cannoned one of them during a resupply mission near Second Thomas Shoal.

China said it “took control measures” against Philippine ships’ “illegal intrusion” into its waters.

During his meeting with Xi in Beijing in January last year, Marcos Jnr said he had proposed “a kind of hotline between us, so that if there is a message that needs to be sent from one president to another, we can be assured that that message will reach them”.

When asked if the plan had materialised, he said: “Not yet, I’m afraid.”

Marcos Jnr added the slow progress on the hotline would not deter the country from protecting its sovereignty, which should not be construed as countering the military power of any country, The Manila Times reported.

“Our sovereignty is sacred. We will not compromise it in any way,” he said.

Marcos Jnr also ruled out triggering the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty over Tuesday’s incident, saying it was neither the time nor reason to invoke the pact.

The 1951 accord obliges Washington to come to Manila’s defence in the event of an armed attack.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entirety of the South China Sea – where the Philippines and several other Southeast Asian nations have competing claims – and has rejected a 2016 international decision that ruled in favour of Manila and found China’s assertions have no legal basis.

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US has ‘serious concerns’ about Chinese-funded upgrade to Cambodian naval base, senior diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254497/us-has-serious-concerns-about-chinese-funded-upgrade-cambodian-naval-base-says-senior-diplomat?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States has expressed “serious concerns” to Cambodian officials about the Chinese-funded upgrade of a Cambodian naval base, a senior US diplomat said.

During a digital press briefing on Thursday, Daniel Kritenbrink, an assistant US secretary of state, said he raised issues surrounding the China-funded Ream naval base during his visit to Phnom Penh last week.

Kritenbrink, who last week visited five Southeast Asian nations – Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei – said while his meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet was “very productive, very positive and very candid”, he also addressed matters that worried Washington.

“The United States and a number of countries in the region have expressed serious concerns about the intent, the nature and the scope of construction around [the Ream] naval base, as well as the role that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] military is playing in this process, and in the future use of the facility,” Kritenbrink said.

“I underscored, whether it was related to Ream or a range of other issues … America’s approach to the region is to ensure that our partners continue to have choice, and that partners continue to be able to preserve their own sovereignty.”

Ream naval base in southern Cambodia was upgraded with Chinese investment in 2022-23, which sparked concerns from Washington about the transparency of the port’s intended purpose and the role of the Chinese military.

China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: what foreign minister said on US, Taiwan and Ukraine

In December, Chinese naval ships visited the upgraded naval base to take part in a joint exercise with the Cambodian military – the first known case of a foreign navy using the new pier at Ream naval base.

In Southeast Asia, despite increasing military tensions over the South China Sea between China and the Philippines involving vessel collisions and the use of water cannons, Cambodia, which has no claims to the waters, has been a bystander.

Beijing and Phnom Penh have close military and economic ties and many Chinese state-owned firms have invested in transport, agriculture, mining and energy infrastructure in Cambodia, with Hun Manet describing China-Cambodia ties as an “ironclad friendship” during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.

Kritenbrink said he also discussed the South China Sea during his trip to Southeast Asia where he said claimant states were “especially concerned” about the situation in the disputed waters.

“So our goal … is to promote peace and stability, security and prosperity, promote respect for international law, peaceful resolution of disputes … if we do that, we maximise our chances of preventing miscalculation and conflict and again, promoting peace and stability,” Kritenbrink said.

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

“I think we’ve seen in a number of instances where the People’s Republic of China has taken a number of steps in the South China Sea that both run counter to international law, but that also utilised coercion to intimidate partners in ways that we find deeply unacceptable, and destabilising.”

Kritenbrink added that in the Indo-Pacific the US was focused on investing in the “collective capacity of partners,” stressing that Washington would provide diplomacy, maritime capacity investment and US military presence for its Southeast Asian partners in response to the situation in the South China Sea.

Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang calls for swift Article 23 legislation, says it will make Hong Kong ‘safer, more open and resilient’

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3254522/chinese-vice-premier-ding-xuexiang-calls-swift-article-23-legislation-says-it-will-make-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed

Swift enactment of Article 23 legislation will make Hong Kong “more open and resilient” and shift its focus to economic development, Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang has said, calling on city delegates to the country’s top legislature to address concerns and fight smears.

Ding, the head of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, also told the financial hub to maintain its internationalisation and open economy with the help of the new legislation and the common law.

Ding was referring to Hong Kong’s ongoing attempt to enact its domestic national security law, a requirement under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, during a two-hour closed meeting with National People’s Congress Hong Kong deputies in Beijing on Thursday morning.

The coming legislation, sitting alongside the Beijing-imposed national security law, will target five new types of offences – treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, and theft of state secrets and espionage.

“Completing the legislation as soon as possible is necessary for Hong Kong society to move forward burden-free, making the city safer, more open, and more resilient,” Ding was quoted as saying by deputy Chan Yung.

“Ding said only [with the legislation] can Hong Kong shift its primary focus to economic development, enhancing people’s livelihoods, and embarking on a road to prosperity,” Chan, who is also a lawmaker in the city, told reporters after the meeting.

The vice-premier also urged delegates to take the initiative to further explain the proposed law to society while “fearlessly” refuting deliberate attempts to smear and spread false information concerning the legislation, according to Chan.

Hong Kong leader vows to enact domestic security law ‘as soon as possible’

Hong Kong wrapped up a one-month public consultation on the legislation last Wednesday and the government said about 98.6 per cent of the 13,489 submissions had voiced support.

But some foreign countries have raised concerns over the coming law, including claims from Washington’s top envoy in Hong Kong who said some American companies had to use burner phones and laptops when visiting the city due to connectivity issues and data security concerns.

Another Hong Kong NPC deputy, Rock Chen Chong-nin, said Ding had called on the deputies to address concerns and unfounded reports about the city and the country, citing examples, such as “China threat theory”, “the coming collapse of China” and those concerning Hong Kong losing its financial centre status.

“Ding told us to have unwavering confidence [about the country] … History has proven that such statements are baseless and will collapse in the light of the facts,” Chen added.

The deputy, who has more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry, also shared Ding’s calls for Hong Kong to remain a “highly international” city by not only maintaining good relations with its old acquaintances, such as the United States and Europe, but by also meeting new friends.

Chan said he understood that the new friends Ding referred to were from Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Deputy and Basic Law Committee member Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said Ding mentioned the common law several times at the meeting. She said Ding expressed hopes for the city to safeguard its status as a financial hub with the use of the common law and the coming national security legislation.

According to the attendees, Ding praised Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu “more than once”.

Chinese premier urges Hong Kong to ‘play to its strengths’ under bay area plan

Ding, the sixth-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, leads the top decision-making institution on Hong Kong affairs and directly reports to the ruling party.

Thursday’s meeting is Ding’s second with the Hong Kong delegation during the annual “two sessions”, or lianghui. The meeting was also attended by Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong and his deputy Zhou Ji.

Ding delivered a speech that lasted for around 50 minutes and heard suggestions and views from six deputies, according to deputy Ma Fung-kwok who presided over the meeting.

On the same occasion last year, the NPC delegation met with Zhao Leji, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Zhao urged deputies to “resolutely protect” national security and oppose acts that intervene in and damage the stability of the “one country, two systems” governing principle, according to delegates.

China stands ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Africa and supports its chosen development path: Wang Yi

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254525/china-stands-shoulder-shoulder-africa-and-supports-its-chosen-development-path-wang-yi?utm_source=rss_feed

Africa and China have fought “shoulder to shoulder” against imperialism and colonialism, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday, as he pledged Beijing’s continued support for African development.

Wang said Africa should not be marginalised and urged “all sides” of the global community to support the continent with “real actions” and a respect for Africa’s own development approaches.

“African countries are experiencing a new awakening. Models imposed from outside have brought Africa neither stability nor prosperity,” he told the press during the annual “two sessions” of China’s top legislature in Beijing.

“African countries need to explore development paths suited to their national conditions and keep their future and destiny firmly in their own hands,” he said.

Wang also said that the multilateral Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) would return in the autumn as an “in-person” event. The triennial summit’s eighth instalment in 2021 was moved online because of the pandemic.

How China merges funding and diplomacy in push to lead the Global South

China will support an Africa that is “truly independent in thinking and ideas” in a “new historical process”, Wang said, reiterating Beijing’s continued insistence on the continent’s freedom from external pressures.

It has long been Africa’s position that the global governance system disproportionately favours the West – a view shared by Beijing, which supported last year’s successful African bid for a seat at the G20.

“China always holds that Africa should not be marginalised. While China-Africa cooperation thrives, other major countries have again turned their eyes to Africa – China welcomes that,” Wang said.

He added that China has remained Africa’s biggest trading partner over the past 15 years.

“We have fought shoulder to shoulder against imperialism and colonialism, we have supported each other in pursuit of development, we have always stood for justice in a changing international landscape.”

Turning to the summit, Wang said Chinese and African leaders will discuss development and cooperation, as well as exchange governance experiences. “I believe that through this summit, China and Africa will enhance their long-standing friendship.”

He added that the summit would also “deepen unity and collaboration to open up new vistas for faster common development and start a new chapter for the China-Africa community with a shared future”.

“China will continue to support Africa in its self-driven development and faster modernisation, and hopes that all sides will pay more attention to, and increase input for Africa’s development, as China has done.”

Wang visited four African countries – Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Ivory Coast – as well as Brazil and Jamaica in the Americas in January. The year before, former foreign minister Qin Gang visited five African countries and the African Union.

How the political seeds of China’s growing Africa ties were planted long ago

“Chinese foreign ministers start their overseas visits every year with a trip to Africa … a tradition that has continued for 34 years, Wang told the press.

“This is unique in the history of international exchanges. It is so because China and Africa are brothers, treating each other with sincerity and sharing a common future,” he said.

President Xi Jinping has also made frequent visits to Africa, with 11 trips between 2014 and 2023. Last week, he welcomed his Sierra Leonean counterpart Julius Maada Bio to a state visit in Beijing.

The two leaders committed to strengthening their cooperation at the UN Security Council so they could “jointly safeguard the interests of Africa and developing countries”.

Sierra Leone is a non-permanent member of the council, representing the interests of African countries, while China is a permanent member with veto power. Beijing also supports greater representation for Africa on the UN security body.

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Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa says Chinese investments led to his downfall, in new book, The Conspiracy

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3254528/sri-lankas-rajapaksa-says-chinese-investments-led-his-downfall-new-book-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa ended a long silence over his ouster on Thursday by releasing a book claiming “geopolitical rivalry” between China and other countries was responsible for his downfall.

Rajapaksa was forced into temporary exile after protesters stormed his official residence in 2022, following months of street protests over the island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis.

In a self-published account of his downfall, The Conspiracy, Rajapaksa defends his government’s economic policies, which forced an unprecedented foreign debt default and saw months of severe food and fuel shortages.

Sri Lanka’s Chinese ship ban shows limits of small nations in big-power rivalry

Instead, he said, “Chinese funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka after 2006 brought in an element of geopolitical rivalry” that precipitated his overthrow.

“It would be extremely naive for anyone to claim that there was no foreign hand in the moves made to oust me from power,” Rajapaksa wrote.

Rajapaksa did not name specific countries, but the United States had in the past repeatedly warned Sri Lanka it risked falling into a Chinese debt trap by signing a raft of infrastructure deals.

At the time of his ouster, the 74-year-old was initially flown out of Sri Lanka aboard a military aircraft and emailed his resignation from Singapore, but he has since returned home.

In the book, Rajapaksa claimed that protesters who took to the streets as the economy ground to a halt in the final months of his tenure had “foreign funding”, without offering evidence.

Beijing has funded several development projects in Sri Lanka, including a rarely-used convention centre and airport in Rajapaksa’s hometown Hambantota, which critics have slammed as white elephants.

China is also Sri Lanka’s biggest single bilateral lender, owning around 10 per cent of the island’s foreign debt.

Rajapaksa was once esteemed among the Sinhala Buddhist majority for helping end Sri Lanka’s long civil war in 2009 while serving as the top defence official during his brother Mahinda’s presidency.

He was elected in a landslide in 2019, but his popularity crashed in tandem with Sri Lanka’s economy less than three years later, as supermarket shelves stood empty and days-long queues formed at petrol stations.

Economists blamed the sudden downturn on ill-advised tax cuts by Rajapaksa’s government that left it unable to respond to the collapse of foreign exchange reserves following the coronavirus pandemic.

Are China-backed mega projects causing Sri Lanka to face ‘Chinese debt trap’?

Political commentator Kusal Perera said Rajapaksa’s downfall was due to his own inept handling of the economy.

“He was popular as a Sinhala-Buddhist leader thanks to media hype, but he was simply unable to deliver,” Perera said.

Rajapaksa’s successor Ranil Wickremesinghe has brokered an International Monetary Fund rescue package and sharply raised taxes to restore government finances.

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China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: what Foreign Minister Wang Yi had to say about US relations, Taiwan and wars in Ukraine and Gaza

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254484/chinas-two-sessions-2024-what-foreign-minister-wang-yi-had-say-about-us-relations-taiwan-and-wars?utm_source=rss_feed

Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that conflict between China and the United States would have “unimaginable consequences” when he faced the world’s media on Thursday.

In a press conference during the “two sessions” – the annual meeting of the national legislature and top political advisory body – he fielded more than 20 questions on global issues ranging from Taiwan and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the relationship between the two superpowers.

China’s AI gap with US is widening: ‘we are all very anxious’

Here are some of the key takeaways from his hour-and-half appearance.

Wang told the press conference: “If there is conflict or confrontation between two major countries like the US and China, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

Although he said relations have improved since the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden in California last year, Washington’s misperceptions about China still linger and its promises have not been fulfilled.

“The US has been devising various tactics to suppress China,” he said. “If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?”

He also responded to recent comments by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken – who told a security conference in Munich that “if you’re not at the table in the international system, you’re going to be on the menu” – by saying Beijing cannot allow “a few big countries to monopolise international affairs”.

On this most sensitive of issues, Wang repeated Beijing’s mantra that it would strive for peaceful reunification, but warned that those who support Taiwanese independence will “get burned for playing with fire”.

The status of the island is a major source of contention with the US and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring it back under its control. The US, in common with most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as independent but opposes any forcible change to the status quo.

Wang said China’s partnership with Moscow has been moving forward on a “high-level”, with deepening trust and fresh opportunities ahead. He stressed that deepening this relationship was “not targeted at any party”.

In response to a separate question about the Ukraine war – now in its third year – he said China has an objective and impartial position, and supported the idea of holding a peace conference involving both Moscow and Kyiv. “The earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will come,” Wang added.

He said differences in the disputed waters should be properly managed through dialogue and that disputes should be resolved by negotiations between claimant states.

China claims most of this key international waterway, but several other countries have competing claims, and Wang’s comments follow a series of recent clashes with the Philippine coastguard centred on the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippines accuses China of ‘deliberately stirring up trouble’ in disputed sea

Wang did not not mention any specific country in his response but warned that countries outside the region should not become disrupters in the South China Sea.

Wang called for a broad-based and authoritative international peace conference to come up with a road map to end the crisis.

He called on the international community to act promptly to promote an immediate ceasefire and repeated China’s support for a two-state solution.

He said China and Europe should be “defenders of multilateralism”, adding that cooperation should define their relationship.

One of the main questions in the mind of many observers beforehand was the fate of the previous foreign minister Qin Gang, who was abruptly removed from his post last year just months after succeeding Wang. To little surprise, Wang did not take any questions or offer any explanation about Qin’s disappearance.

Although Wang fielded 21 questions there was nothing that touched specifically on two of China’s biggest neighbours India and Japan, with more focus on China’s relations with developing nations in other parts of the world.

China girl, 16, forced by parents to quit school and work helped to resume studies by officials, gets free, safe-haven flat from online influencer

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3253631/china-girl-16-forced-parents-quit-school-and-work-helped-resume-studies-officials-gets-free-safe?utm_source=rss_feed

A 16-year-old girl in China, who was forced by her parents to drop out of secondary school because they considered studying “useless”, has highlighted the gender issues still prevalent in the country.

Liu Qiping, from the central province of Hunan, confided her desire to return to school with an online influencer @Modisijixushifu, on the mainland video sharing platform Bilibili.

In the video, that attracted 1.3 million views, Liu said that, despite ranking among the top five in her class at the best secondary school in her city, her parents forced her to quit a year ago, just before her second year.

They asked her aunt to take her to southern China’s Guangdong province to work and make money for the family.

Liu said she dreamed of going to the Hunan Normal University, a top academic institution in China, and had not given up on her dream even while working at a breakfast shop.

She had to get up at 3.30am every morning to make steamed buns and soybean milk, earning just 2,000 yuan (US$280) in Guangzhou city where the average salary is 9,000 yuan.

She used some of the money to buy textbooks so that she could continue studying by herself after work each day.

Last October, after working at the shop for about six months, Liu ran away from her aunt and returned to her hometown. She dared not go home, so instead she rented a flat for 300 yuan a month.

She said her mother was frequently violent towards her and believed school was a waste of money.

Liu said her mother would beat her, hide her clothes, lock her in the flat, and not give her any money, to prevent her from attending school.

“If they did not want to raise their kid well, why did they give birth to me?” Liu said.

To the delight of social media followers, the local educational bureau responded to Liu’s request to allow her to return to school, and she resumed her studies at her former secondary school, which reduced her tuition fees.

In addition, the relevant local government department promised to visit her parents and try to persuade them to treat their daughter well and support her in her studies.

A volunteer helped Liu seek government assistance and found her a better flat for 500 yuan a month, which is closer to her parents’ home, but guarantees her freedom from her mother’s control.

Liu’s story resonated with many people online, who confessed they had similar experiences and highlighted how daughters in China are often forced to make sacrifices to spare resources and financially support their male siblings.

According to official statistics, the gender ratio among Chinese teenagers from 15 to 19 years old was 115.77 males to every 100 females by the end of 2021.

Female students accounted for only 46.7 per cent of all those in secondary school in 2022.

China’s Mars sample return mission ‘progressing smoothly’ while Nasa struggles behind schedule

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3254491/chinas-mars-sample-return-mission-progressing-smoothly-while-nasa-struggles-behind-schedule?utm_source=rss_feed

China is on track with its plan to collect Martian rocks and bring them back to Earth around 2030, a senior space official said during the “two sessions” meetings in Beijing.

All key technologies needed for the Tianwen-3 mission were “in place” and work was “progressing smoothly”, said Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft and a National People’s Congress deputy who is attending China’s annual legislative sessions this week.

Tianwen-1 enabled China to be the second country after the United States to make a soft landing on the red planet in 2021.

“So far, no country has implemented a sample return from Mars yet,” Sun told state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday, adding that China must overcome two major challenges for Tianwen-3 to be successful.

“One is to retrieve rock samples and then take off from the Martian surface. The second is an in-orbit rendezvous and transfer of the samples to the return capsule. They require our spacecraft to be highly intelligent at the system-design level,” he said.

Analysing the retrieved rocks with state-of-the-art instruments here on Earth, scientists could better answer fundamental questions such as if there was still water on Mars and whether it had hosted any form of life in the past, he said.

Surveillance on the moon? China to take its mass camera network to outer space

China is increasingly likely to become the first country to carry out a Mars sample return mission – though the US has a much longer history exploring the red planet that goes back to the 1960s.

In the past few months, Nasa’s work on the Mars Sample Return (MSR) project has slowed after budget uncertainty emerged and an independent review called the project timeline “unrealistic”.

MSR was set to gather Martian rocks, which are now being collected by Nasa’s Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater, and return them to Earth around 2031. The total cost risen from an initial US$4 billion and is likely to end up passing the US$10 billion mark.

There are also problems with the mission’s technical readiness. The probability of Nasa and its European partners getting the spacecraft ready for launch by 2028 – so it can catch the return window in 2030 – is “near zero”, according to the independent review.

In February, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which is Nasa’s leading MSR developer, laid off 8 per cent of its staff because of potential spending cuts from the US Congress, especially for the MSR project.

Despite delays and uncertainties, scientists still hope to see the MSR programme happen because its sampling sites are diverse and carefully selected for high scientific value.

As China’s economy undergoes ‘structural upgrade’, tech becomes a top priority

In comparison, China’s Tianwen-3 is more likely to be limited to collecting and retrieving materials within the immediate reach of the lander.

Besides Tianwen-3 and the American MSR, India and Europe are also sending missions to the red planet soon. Their respective spacecraft – Mars Orbiter Mission 2 and ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover – are set to launch in 2024 and 2028 but are not designed to retrieve samples.

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China accuses US of devising tactics to suppress China despite improvement in relations

https://apnews.com/article/china-us-russia-wang-yi-ukraine-taiwan-31542adc730f1b34444decc8bd6cc95eChinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference on the sideline of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

2024-03-07T03:44:13Z

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister accused the U.S. on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress China’s rise and criticized the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of China’s legislature, said that relations with the U.S. have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but that America has not fulfilled its promises.

“If the U.S. always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the U.S. gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word ‘China,’ where is its confidence as a major power?” he said. “If the U.S. is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.”

Wang, a 70-year-old veteran diplomat who has earned Xi’s trust, returned to the foreign minister’s post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job. Wang is also the ruling Communist Party’s top foreign affairs official, a more senior position that he moved to when Qin became foreign minister at the end of 2022.

Analysts had speculated the Communist Party might use the weeklong meeting of the National People’s Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.

Wang accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea. China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian neighbors.

The Philippines and the U.S. have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.

“For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures,” Wang said. “We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.”

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in China’s domestic affairs. Most countries, including the United States, don’t have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by U.S. lawmakers to the island and U.S. sales of military equipment for its defense.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price. Most Taiwanese prefer to remain separate from China without antagonizing it. They fear Chinese rule could endanger their freedoms and democracy, particularly after China’s crackdown on Hong Kong.

“Our bottom line is also very clear,” Wang said. “That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.”

Wang praised China’s growing ties with Russia, noting that trade between the two reached $240 billion last year, beating a target to hit $200 million in trade by the end of 2024.

The U.S. and EU say that China is giving Russia an economic lifeline at a time when they are trying to pressure its government with sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a devastating war that has continued for more than two years.

“Russian natural gas has entered thousands of households in China, and Chinese cars are driving in the streets of Russia, which fully demonstrates the strong resilience and broad prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation,” Wang said.

Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Wladyslaw Bartoszewsk, told a Chinese diplomat the country should not provide political, economic and military support to Russia, a Polish government statement said. Bartoszewsk made the comment at a meeting on Wednesday with a Chinese diplomatic envoy, Li Hui, who is is visiting several European countries this week for talks on the conflict.

The U.S. and EU expanded sanctions on companies and individuals from China and several other countries two weeks ago for allegedly aiding Russia’s war effort.

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Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.

Canada reaches settlement with Michael Spavor, one of ‘Two Michaels’ in China spy row

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3254468/canada-reaches-settlement-michael-spavor-one-two-michaels-china-spy-row?utm_source=rss_feed

Ottawa on Wednesday reached a settlement with a Canadian who was jailed in China for nearly three years and claimed he had been unwittingly used for intelligence gathering.

Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were detained by Beijing in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for the arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, on a US warrant.

After all three of them were freed in September 2021 Spavor blamed Kovrig for his detention.

Spavor, a businessman with connections to high-ranking members of the North Korean government, said he was arrested by China because he passed along information to Kovrig – who then passed that information on to the Canadian government, unbeknown to Spavor.

Canadian foreign ministry spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said Wednesday that the government “is committed to supporting (the two Michaels) in their efforts to turn to a new chapter in their lives based on their individual circumstances and impacts, and in acknowledgement of their ordeal and the suffering caused by their arbitrary detention by China.”

Spavor’s lawyer John Phillips said simply that “the matter has been resolved”.

China says Canada is distorting facts over jailing of ‘Two Michaels’

No details were provided, but the Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Canadian government agreed to pay Spavor C$7 million (US$5 million).

Kovrig, who previously acknowledged to the Globe and Mail that he was in talks with Canada’s government over compensation. didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

At the time of their detention, Ottawa rejected spying charges levelled against the two Michaels.

Last November, when it was revealed that Spavor was seeking compensation from the Canadian government for his detention, the government maintained both men’s innocence.

Spavor lived in China near the North Korean border and was among only a handful of Westerners who has met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

He ran a tourist travel business, helping arrange visits including by former basketball star Dennis Rodman to the isolated country.

Kovrig served as a diplomat in Beijing from 2012 to 2014, and would have in the course of his duties collected information on security and stability issues in China.

Ottawa does not consider this to be covert intelligence work.

Kovrig was on leave from his job as a diplomat and working for the International Crisis Group when he was arrested in China.

In the past, Kovrig told the Globe and Mail that he acted properly in his dealings with Spavor and followed the “standard of laws, rules and regulations governing diplomats”.

Canada does not have a covert spy agency operating abroad, such as the American CIA, but the information gathered by diplomats is often shared with Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

Chinese scientist calls for more access to non-sensitive data like weather information

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3254433/chinese-scientist-calls-more-access-non-sensitive-data-weather-information?utm_source=rss_feed

A leading Chinese academic has called for more access to non-sensitive scientific data such as meteorological information to support research and development.

Scientists encounter “a lot of difficulties” trying to get hold of public data in China, according to Chen Songxi, a maths and statistics professor at Peking University and academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the “two sessions” in Beijing on Tuesday – the annual gathering of the legislature and the country’s top political advisory body, of which Chen is a member.

Chen said while Chinese researchers could download some real-time public data from websites, they usually could not get access to historical data.

“Public offices [in China] could take the lead to share more [non-sensitive] public data,” he said.

“That sharing is needed to improve our self-reliance on scientific data, especially in areas where most research is based on foreign datasets such as geoscience and public health.”

Chen said many Chinese researchers relied on datasets from elsewhere, such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), an independent intergovernmental organisation, and Nasa, which also hold Chinese data.

“If our access to this data is denied, we won’t be able to train large models,” he said.

Large language models, or LLMs, are a type of artificial intelligence program that can recognise and generate text, among other tasks. They are trained on huge sets of data and built on machine learning.

Chen said he had submitted proposals to the political advisory body – the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – calling for public data to be opened up and for China to build its own datasets in areas such as the air, oceans, atmospheric environment and the Earth’s surface.

The proposals will go to the new National Data Administration. The NDA has been operating since October and was set up to oversee data governance as Beijing seeks to rise up the industrial value chain and drive growth while navigating US-led technology choke points.

One of the NDA’s key missions is to integrate the massive data resources owned by various entities in China. Several ministries and more than a dozen local governments have their own data centres or bureaus to which outsiders have limited access because of security concerns.

Chen said a system was needed to rate public data so that it can be opened up in an “orderly” way – rating whether the information is sensitive and concerns the country’s core interests, or if it is something non-sensitive such as meteorological data.

He made the remarks the same day Premier Li Qiang, in his government work report, said Beijing would pave the way for the “development, opening up, circulation and use of data”.

Li also said “basic systems” would be improved to facilitate innovation and develop “new quality productive forces”, referring to sectors that depend on advances in science and technology – from new-energy vehicles to biomanufacturing and commercial space flight.

2 Chinese men charged over helping trio enter Singapore’s Taylor Swift concert without tickets

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3254454/2-chinese-men-charged-over-helping-trio-enter-singapores-taylor-swift-concert-without-tickets?utm_source=rss_feed

Two men were charged on Wednesday with allegedly helping three people who had no tickets get into a Taylor Swift concert at the Singapore Sports Hub.

The two men, 29-year-old Yang Chenguang and 45-year-old Li Xiao Wei, were each charged with abetting three persons to cheat the event organiser, Kallang Alive Sport Management. Both are from China.

Court documents stated that the two men allegedly abetted three individuals, Shangguan Linmo, Hu Zhijun, and Yang Junhao, to gain unauthorised entry to a Taylor Swift concert on Monday at around 6pm.

This was the third show of the American singer-songwriter’s sold out Eras Tour in Singapore, held over six nights at the National Stadium with the Singapore Sports Hub.

Yang allegedly talked to security staff members stationed at the entrance of the sports hub to distract them.

Li was said to have held onto a turnstile at the entrance to allow the trio to go through, even though they did not have tickets.

Philippine lawmaker wants probe on Taylor Swift’s Singapore-only concert deal

In a separate media release, the police said that they had arrested three men aged between 29 and 45 for their suspected involvement in a case of cheating.

Two other men and two women between the ages of 21 and 25 were also being investigated for criminal trespass.

At around 7.40pm on Monday, the police received a report that several people had entered the concert at Singapore Sports Hub without permission.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the three men were allegedly involved in facilitating the unauthorised entry for the group of four individuals who were not in possession of legitimate concert tickets,” the police said.

TODAY understands that the third man who has yet to be charged is under investigation and that the trio named in the charge sheets for entering the concert are among the four people referred to by the police in their news release as not having legitimate tickets.

Apart from the two men charged on Wednesday, police investigations against the other persons are ongoing.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, Kallang Alive Sport Management and the Singapore Police Force said that the security presence at the Singapore Sports Hub on event days was stepped up from March 2, in anticipation of large crowds for Swift’s concerts.

On March 4, Singapore Sports Hub’s security personnel detained several people who tried to trespass into the National Stadium.

“Kallang Alive Sport Management and the police will continue to work closely to ensure the safety and security of the public at events at the Singapore Sports Hub.

“The police would like to remind the public to only purchase tickets and merchandise from authorised sellers and to only enter the venue with a valid ticket,” the statement added.

The event organiser thanked patrons who came forward with their observations that helped the security team and authorities close in on the alleged trespassers.

Singapore PM Lee shakes off Asean neighbours’ complaints over Taylor Swift deal

Yang Chenguang and Li Xiao Wei will return to court on March 13. Both men were remanded further to assist with investigations.

Anyone convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to three years or fined, or punished with both.

The penalty for criminal trespass is a jail term of up to three months or a fine of up to S$1,500 (US$1,121), or both.

This story was first published by

US calls for Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Japan to tighten chip curbs on China, drawing resistance from allies

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3254458/us-calls-netherlands-germany-south-korea-japan-tighten-chip-curbs-china-drawing-resistance-allies?utm_source=rss_feed

The US government is pressing allies including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan to further tighten restrictions on China’s access to semiconductor technology, a controversial effort that is drawing resistance in some countries, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Biden administration’s latest push is aimed at plugging holes in export controls it has levied over the past two years and restraining China’s progress in developing domestic chip capabilities, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

For example, the US is urging the Netherlands to stop ASML Holding from servicing and repairing sensitive chip-making equipment that Chinese clients bought before limits on sales of those devices were put into place this year, said the people.

The US also wants Japanese companies to limit exports to China of specialised chemicals critical for chip-making, including photoresist, they said. Japan is home to several leaders in photoresist, including JSR and Shin-Etsu Chemical.

Tokyo and The Hague have responded coolly to Washington’s latest push, arguing that they want to assess the impact of their current curbs before considering tighter measures, some of the people said. US Commerce Department officials raised the issue in Tokyo during a meeting on export controls last month, according to one of the people.

Representatives at ASML, the Dutch trade ministry and Japan’s Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry declined to comment. In Washington, the National Security Council and the US Commerce Department also declined to comment.

The Biden administration has taken aim at China’s semiconductor industry since 2022, imposing sweeping controls on the export of advanced chip-making machines and sophisticated chips like those used to develop artificial intelligence. Japan and the Netherlands, the two key countries where chip-making equipment is developed, joined the US effort last year.

But holes remain, particularly in the ability of Japanese and Dutch engineers to continue doing some equipment repairs, and in the flow of spare parts that are used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

US officials got a shock last August when China’s Huawei Technologies unveiled a smartphone powered by a home-made chip that is more than a generation ahead of where the US had sought to halt the Asian country’s progress.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has vowed to take the “strongest possible” action following the Huawei breakthrough, while Republican lawmakers have called for a complete block of Huawei and its chip-making partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation’s access to US technology.

The latest US push includes an effort to tighten existing limits. ASML needs a licence to service and repair restricted gear in China, but the Netherlands has been somewhat lax about approval, according to one of the people. The US wants the Netherlands to take a more stringent approach, the person said.

The US also wants to draw more countries into its export-control blockade. The Biden administration is trying to bring Germany and South Korea into an agreement that already includes Japan and the Netherlands, since all four countries are home to key firms in the semiconductor supply chain, according to the people.

For Germany, one of the critical players is Carl Zeiss, a specialised glassmaker that supplies ASML with the optical components necessary for advanced chip production. The US wants Germany to get Zeiss to pull back from shipping such components to China, the people said.

Dutch officials also hope that Germany will join the export control group, according to the people, and the Biden administration is pushing for an agreement before the G7 summit in June.

Berlin last year mulled over whether to restrict exports of chip chemicals to China, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is slated to visit China in April, has not yet taken a stance on the issue, according to the person. Scholz’s deputy Robert Habeck, meanwhile, is visiting the US this week and will meet Raimondo during his trip.

In addition, the US has held talks with South Korea on chip export controls, given the country’s leading role in producing chips and supplying spare parts for chip-making equipment.

The two countries launched a structured dialogue in February after US officials asked their counterparts in Seoul to join the multilateral group last year, according to some of the people.

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China trade: exports start 2024 with 7.1% increase in January-February

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3254465/china-trade-exports-start-2024-71-increase-january-february?utm_source=rss_feed

China reported a solid rebound in exports in the first two months of the year, although the world’s second-largest economy is still facing the grave challenges of subdued overseas demand and geopolitical tensions.

Exports rose by 7.1 per cent from a year earlier to US$528 billion in combined figures for January and February, according to customs data released on Thursday.

The reading beat expectations for a 3.9 per cent increase predicted by Chinese financial data provider Wind, while it was also higher than the 2.3 per cent rise in December.

Imports, meanwhile, increased by 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, compared to a 0.2 per cent growth in December.

China’s trade figures for January and February are combined to smooth out the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at different times during the two months in different years.

As China pursues ‘new productive forces’, economic bubbles must be avoided: Xi

China’s total trade surplus stood at US$125.1 billion in the first two months of the year, compared with US$103.8 billion during the same period last year.

China is grappling with a slew of economic hurdles, including a property market downturn, mounting local government debts, deflationary risks and geopolitical tensions, collectively eroding confidence among overseas investors and the domestic private sector.

In his first government work report on Tuesday, which confirmed a gross domestic product growth target again of around 5 per cent for this year, Premier Li Qiang vowed to bolster the trade sector.

“We will further increase the loan assistance for trade firms, optimise cross-border settlement services, support enterprises expansion into more international markets, and support cross-border e-commerce enterprises to enhance the layout of their warehouses abroad,” Li said during the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress.

More to follow …

Australia and Vietnam upgrade relations to highest level amid US-China rivalry

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3254456/australia-and-vietnam-upgrade-relations-highest-level-amid-us-china-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the country was elevating ties with Vietnam to a comprehensive strategic partnership, opening an annual dialogue on critical minerals amid a push to diversify supply chains away from China.

“Elevating our ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership today, places Australia and Vietnam among each other’s significant partners,” Albanese told a news conference in Canberra.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Tuesday he was expecting Vietnam and Australia to announce an upgrade of their bilateral ties during his ongoing visit, which now puts the country’s relations with Australia at its highest possible level.

The partnership will support expanded cooperation on a range of issues, including climate, environment, energy, defence and security, and economic engagement and education, a joint statement by the two countries said.

Australia is a major producer of critical minerals, used in everything from smartphones to automobiles, while Vietnam has some of the largest untapped deposits in the world.

Australia ‘buying US hegemony’, ex-PM says as he slams Canberra’s China policy

“An annual ministerial dialogue on energy and minerals will drive cooperation in our energy and resources sectors, including critical minerals supply chains,” the statement said.

The United States has already agreed to boost cooperation on rare earths with Vietnam, whose resources are seen as an alternative source of the minerals. China has the world’s largest deposits, with 44 million tonnes estimated, and dominates the extraction and processing of the critical minerals.

Communist Party-ruled Vietnam’s “bamboo diplomacy” saw it boost relations last year with the world’s top powers as it tries to navigate rising global tensions. Along with Australia, the Southeast Asian nation’s top partners now include the United States, China, India, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

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China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks to press as fate of predecessor Qin Gang remains a mystery

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3254453/chinas-two-sessions-2024-foreign-minister-wang-yi-speaks-press-fate-predecessor-qin-gang-remains?utm_source=rss_feed

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by in our spring flash sale.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is holding a press conference, one of the most-watched events during the annual “two sessions”.

Top diplomat Wang will face the media during the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress following his reappointment to the role in July, replacing Qin Gang. Qin was just months into the job when he was suddenly removed, and his fall from grace remains a mystery.

The event is expected to attract considerable international media attention, especially after the abrupt cancellation of Premier Li Qiang’s press conference on the final day of the parliamentary meeting.

Although the event is usually carefully scripted and controlled, Wang is expected to be grilled by domestic and international reporters on a wide range of issues, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.

Reporting by Alyssa Chen, Cyril Ip, Shi Jiangtao, Dewey Sim, Orange Wang, Kawala Xie, Zhao Ziwen and Laura Zhou

China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: focus on work-life balance urged to stop workers being trapped by ‘invisible overtime’

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3254402/chinas-two-sessions-2024-focus-work-life-balance-urged-stop-workers-being-trapped-invisible-overtime?utm_source=rss_feed

China should improve protection for workers from “invisible overtime”, according to policy advisers and lawmakers at the ongoing “two sessions” in Beijing, with the world’s second-largest economy particularly struggling against high youth employment.

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference delegate Lyu Guoquan, who is the director of the general office of China’s trade union federation, has proposed including the right of “offline rest” into labour laws, while also raising the legal penalties for companies involved in “invisible overtime practices”.

“Digital information technology in the internet era … has blurred the ‘boundaries’ between work and life, making invisible overtime increasingly normalised as ‘unpaid overtime’,” Lyu said, according to the state-owned Workers’ Daily newspaper on Tuesday.

“The state of being ‘always online’ has left workers ‘trapped in the work system’, adversely affecting their physical and mental well-being.”

He suggested revising standard working hours to clearly define online overtime and compensation, alongside setting limits on hours for positions that rely on online platforms with fluctuating schedules and high workloads.

The government should also step up supervision and penalties for employers with “invisible overtime”, and improve the mechanism for workers to protect their rights against unreasonable and unpaid overtime, Lyu added.

Employees should not work more than eight hours per day, or 40 hours per week, on average, according to China’s labour laws.

Employers may, due to production and business needs, extend working hours after consulting trade unions and workers, generally for no more than one hour per day, but overtime should be paid.

“In reality, many workers spend far more than an hour in their work groups after work, but they are not paid for their labour accordingly,” the Workers’ Daily article said.

“Many work arrangements may seem as simple as sending a message or checking data, but it’s exactly these seemingly easy tasks that can turn work into something to be done at any time, even becoming a 24/7, 365-day affair.”

A notoriously gruelling work schedule is still a pain plaguing China’s work culture, especially among tech companies, who remain one of the most competitive destinations for tens of millions of jobseekers amid a faltering employment environment.

China’s unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group stood at 14.9 per cent in December, while the figure for the 25-29 age group was 6.1 per cent, according to revised data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Premier Li Qiang said in his maiden government work report during Tuesday’s meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) that the government has targeted creating more than 12 million new jobs in urban areas this year.

“Employers should not post routine work and ask for timely responses during out-of-hours, especially at night,” said NPC representative Wang Yong, who manages the Hubei branch of logistics firm SF Express, according to the Workers’ Daily.

“And being ‘24-hour on-call in work groups’ should not be the norm.”

Wang also urged logistics companies to reduce the working hours for couriers, and also called for an improvement in insurance coverage.

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Wealthy clients turn to HSBC, Manulife, Bank of China amid heightened interest in Hong Kong’s cash-for-residency scheme

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3254403/wealthy-clients-turn-hsbc-manulife-bank-china-amid-heightened-interest-hong-kongs-cash-residency?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong’s leading banking and finance firms are being bombarded with inquiries related to a cash-for-residency scheme since its launch on March 1.

HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK), Manulife and Everbright Securities International are among those that have seen heightened interest in products from prospective clients under the revamped Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES).

InvestHK, which is responsible for assessing whether the applications fulfil the financial requirements under the scheme, said it had received more than 100 enquiries from different channels, of which nearly 70 per cent were from professional service providers.

The scheme has garnered considerable interest, with the department receiving applications on the first day, said Alpha Lau, the director general of InvestHK, who did not reveal the exact number.

“It shows that high-net-worth individuals … are interested in the diverse investment channels the city has to offer and wish to settle in Hong Kong with their families.”

CIES, commonly known as the investment migration programme, allows wealthy individuals and their families to gain fast track residency for investments of at least HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) in Hong Kong-listed stocks, bonds, deposits, funds, investment-linked insurance policies or non-residential properties.

Hong Kong’s revamped cash-for-residency scheme to pit it against Singapore

The city’s three note-issuing banks – HSBC, Standard Chartered and BOCHK – allow CIES applicants to utilise qualified asset classes and mortgage loans to buy non-residential property.

Under the scheme, the applicants need to sign up with one or more financial firms to undertake the investment. Once they fulfil the investment requirements, the firms will help them with submissions to the authorities for verification and the granting of the right to stay in the city.

These investors will need to hold the assets for seven years until they get permanent residency.

“The new CIES will reinforce Hong Kong’s position as a leading international wealth-management hub by attracting high-net-worth individuals to the city,” said Sami Abouzahr, head of investments and wealth solutions at HSBC Hong Kong.

“We have already been receiving enquiries and are looking forward to supporting applicants with a complete, integrated transactional banking and wealth management service.”

Hong Kong introduced the first CIES after the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003, but terminated it in 2015 because of speculation in the property market. The revamped scheme excludes residential real estate.

The previous scheme attracted about 4,000 applicants a year, Joseph Chan Ho-lim, Undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, said in January. The current scheme’s threshold of HK$30 million is triple that of the previous one.

Should the new scheme attract a similar number of applicants, the city could see some HK$120 billion of inflows a year.

“The new CIES will attract more talent and capital to Hong Kong, and strengthen Hong Kong’s status as a wealth management centre,” said Sally Liu, deputy general manager of the personal banking and wealth management department at BOCHK.

Hong Kong’s phalanx of 600 stock brokers too are keen to get a slice of the action.

The brokers are trying their best to capture CIES clients and sell them stocks, bonds and funds, according to Katerine Kou, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Securities Association, an industry guild.

“Due to the prevailing market uncertainties, wealthy clients could be more interested in investing in low-risk products such as bonds, money market funds and big-cap stocks,” Kou said.

Everbright has more than 150 CIES-eligible funds and nearly 100 bonds for cash-for-residency investors to choose from, according to a spokeswoman.

She said the firm has received many inquiries from mainland China and Southeast Asia about the products and procedures related to the CIES.

Hong Kong’s star shines as Greater Bay Area’s rich tap tax breaks, incentives

KGI Asia, another brokerage, said it too has received a substantial number of inquiries over the past few days.

“KGI Asia expects high-net-worth Chinese nationals who have obtained permanent residency status in a foreign country would be interested in this scheme,” a spokeswoman said.

“Compared with the previous scheme, we anticipate a stronger response despite the increased investment eligibility.”

The insurance sector also welcomed the CIES. Investment-linked insurance products, which are a combination of insurance policies and investment funds, qualify for the CIES.

“With diversified investment choices, this offers potential applicants investment opportunities to help attract them to settle in the city,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau.

The Canadian firm was the biggest seller of investment-linked products in the first three quarters of last year, according to the Insurance Authority.

China newlyweds take big ‘Double Happiness’ sign on European honeymoon, get blessings from countless strangers

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3253625/china-newlyweds-take-big-double-happiness-sign-european-honeymoon-get-blessings-countless-strangers?utm_source=rss_feed

A newly married couple from China celebrated their marriage by bringing a giant Double Happiness paper cut-out character with them on their honeymoon to Europe.

This corresponded with the latest trend among young Chinese who are increasingly choosing simplicity over elaborate nuptials.

The 32-year-old groom, surnamed Liu, said he and his bride went on the trip to Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland in February, posing for photos while holding the red paper characters in front of famous landmarks.

Liu said they received countless blessings from locals. He said he proudly introduced them to the Chinese tradition and the romance represented by the Double Happiness character.

He told them that the doubling of the same Chinese character, Xi, which means joy, are pasted on doors and cars on wedding days to wish the newlyweds a happy marriage.

Although the couple have planned a wedding ceremony for later this year, their celebration trip mirrored a trend among young couples to abandon expensive and stressful ceremonies.

Instead, they are opting for the new “three or four nothing weddings”, a pared-back way to marry.

It meant they decided against customs such as the groom picking up the bride from her home before the wedding, hiring a wedding emcee, having bridesmaids and groomsman and inviting unfamiliar guests.

Some young newlyweds even opt for no wedding celebration at all and spend the money on a nicer honeymoon.

“A trip is so much better than a traditional wedding. No need to worry about every detail and trying to make everyone at the wedding happy half a year in advance. Also, there is no need to socialise with people we do not know,” a 26-year-old woman from southwestern China’s Chongqing municipality said on Xiaohongshu.

In recent years, the combination of a simple wedding with a honeymoon trip, known as a “destination wedding”, has also increased in popularity.

Domestic scenic spots and tourist resorts in Asian countries are the top locations chosen.

A package, which usually includes plane tickets and accommodation for the newlyweds and their parents, as well as wedding services such as photo and video shooting, often costs less than 100,000 yuan (US$14,000).

Many considered the price a bargain compared with the cost of traditional weddings, which is 174,000 yuan on average, according to Tencent Guyu Data from 2021.

That is eight times the combined average monthly salary of a young couple.

The choice reflects the true meaning of marriage for many, which is about making a family with each other and your closest relatives.

The financial pressure of weddings is a big reason behind the drop in marriages in China, which have been in decline since 2013 and hit a record low of 6.8 million in 2022.

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‘A brand-new discovery’: Chinese scientists uncover genetic secret behind brown pandas

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3254419/brand-new-discovery-chinese-scientists-uncover-genetic-secret-behind-brown-pandas?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists say they have discovered the genetic mutation behind brown-and-white giant pandas, a rare variant of the country’s most beloved animal.

Only seven brown pandas have ever been identified. The first to be discovered – a female named Dandan – was found in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province in 1985.

Since then, scientists have speculated about how the colour variation occurs. Some believed that an inherited mutation might cause reduced fur pigmentation, but until now there had been no evidence to support this theory.

A team with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Zoology identified an inherited recessive genetic mutation that appears to cause the hypopigmentation. They shared their findings in a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.

The researchers analysed the fur and familial inheritance patterns of Dandan and a 14-year-old male panda named Qizai, who was found in the wild as a cub and is now the only brown panda living in captivity. They compared their genomes with those of around 200 black-and-white pandas.

They found that both Qizai and Dandan had two copies of a mutation in the Bace2 gene – one from each parent – and this was the “most likely genetic basis” for the brown-and-white colour variation in giant pandas.

“From a genetics perspective, this is a brand-new discovery,” said Peng Shi, an evolutionary geneticist at the CAS Kunming Institute of Zoology who was not involved in the research, in an interview with Nature.

This work not only provides insight into why these pandas exist, but will also “guide scientific breeding of the rare brown pandas”, the study’s authors wrote.

Rare all-white giant panda spotted again in China’s Wolong natural reserve

Most giant pandas in China hail from the southwestern province of Sichuan, and for a long time it was believed that they only came in their distinct black-and-white package.

However, all brown pandas found to date have been discovered in the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi province.

Hu Yibo, a co-author of the study and a geneticist at the Institute of Zoology, told Nature that “the Qinling pandas may have been separated from Sichuan pandas around 300,000 years ago”.

These “exceedingly rare” pandas, which also have smaller skulls than their black-and-white counterparts, are endemic to the mountainous region, the authors wrote.

According to the researchers, colour variation in animals is determined by ratios of different types of melanin as well as the distribution and density of melanosomes – organelles in pigment cells that synthesise melanin.

After analysing Qizai’s fur, the scientists found that the brown pandas’ melanosomes were, on average, 55 per cent smaller that those of black-and-white pandas, and their fur had 22 per cent fewer melanosomes.

Genomic analysis of “family trios” – Qizai and his parents, Qizai and his mate and cub, and Dandan and her mate and cub – revealed the inherited mutation that is likely to be behind the reduced pigmentation.

The scientists found that the brown pandas were missing 25 DNA base pairs from their mutated Bace2 genes.

Qizai’s parents and cub, who are black-and-white, all had one copy of the mutated gene and one copy of the non-mutated gene.

Based on this inheritance pattern, the scientists concluded that pandas inherit the recessive brown colouring if they receive a mutated gene copy from both of their parents.

They tested pandas from both Sichuan and Shaanxi, and all black-and-white pandas with a single copy of the mutated gene were found in the Qinling area, supporting the idea that the brown pandas only occur in this region.

To confirm that the mutation was behind the pigmentation loss, the team used CRISPR-Cas9 editing to mutate the Bace2 genes of black mice and breed recessive offspring that “displayed a light brown coat colour compared with their wild-type counterparts”.

The mutated mice also had fewer and smaller melanosomes, which was consistent with the findings based on Qizai’s fur.

Both Qizai and Dandan, who died in 2000, exhibited normal growth and reproduction.

However, Bace2 mutations have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease in humans, so there is a possibility that the mutation has other unknown effects.

The team said further study needed to be done with a larger sample size of brown pandas to better understand the mechanism behind how the mutation causes pigmentation loss.

Beijing ‘actively considering’ raising Hong Kong’s duty-free shopping allowance for mainland Chinese tourists

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3254436/beijing-actively-considering-raising-hong-kongs-duty-free-shopping-allowance-mainland-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing is “actively considering” raising Hong Kong’s duty-free shopping allowance for mainland Chinese tourists, as proposed by a majority of the city’s representatives attending the country’s largest annual political gathering in the capital, the Post has learned.

A senior Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs also hinted in a meeting on Wednesday that “a series of preferential policies” to support the city’s tourism would be proposed provided local facilities and infrastructure could handle the extra visitors.

Zhou Ji, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), was wrapping up a meeting with the city’s members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and drew attention to a recent policy change allowing residents of Xian and Qingdao to visit the financial hub in a personal capacity. Residents from 51 cities are now eligible for the Individual Visit Scheme.

“Why just two more [mainland cities]? This will be followed by a series of preferential policies in supporting Hong Kong,” said Zhou, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the office.

“You have to test whether the fundamental facilities, for example the border crossings, accommodation and consumption, can cope. This will just take some time.”

The proposal to raise the duty-free allowance – from 5,000 yuan (US$694) to 30,000 yuan per person for each trip – for mainland tourists has been gaining steam, becoming a focus for Hong Kong delegates attending the key political meetings in the capital, known as the “two sessions”, or lianghui.

Sources familiar with the matter said the mainland side “well noticed” the gap between the duty-free limit enforced in Hong Kong and the island province of Hainan, which is also popular with mainland travellers. After gradual increases of 5,000 yuan since 2011, the allowance now stands at 100,000 yuan per year.

On Wednesday, Hainan authorities announced that over the Lunar New Year period, the island province recorded duty-free sales of 7.4 billion yuan (US$945.8 million), generated by shoppers’ 938,000 trips.

Hong Kong overnight visitor spending falls 37%, set to return to 2019 levels

“The central authorities are actively considering raising it, as signalled by the attendance of several senior officials from Chinese Customs in a meeting with the delegation,” one of the sources said, referring to a Tuesday closed-door session among Hong Kong’s NPC delegates. “It’s just a matter of time.”

The higher tax-free shopping limit was backed by former financial secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and two-thirds of his 200 colleagues.

Speaking exclusively to the Post, former city leader Leung Chun-ying, also vice-chairman of the top political advisory body, said he also supported the idea, but added the city needed to revamp its tourism offerings to entice visitors.

“Raising the limit will definitely bring in more businesses and higher profits so that they can employ more workers,” he said. “In the long-term, we need to think about what we can do to make tourism a higher contributor to our GDP, which is only at 4 per cent at the moment.”

Hong Kong logs 540,000 tourist trips in first 3 days of Lunar New Year break

Starry Lee Wai-king, the city’s sole member of the NPC’s Standing Committee, said the higher allowance was “a consensus among society” as Hong Kong’s quota had not changed for almost three decades.

“We saw how the policy change has taken Hainan to a new level of development,” she told the Post. “But of course, this is not the only way to boost the industry. We also need to upgrade our carrying capacity.”

Bond Law Chen-pang, executive director of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, agreed with the politicians’ call, and said that many of his members felt the current allowance was too low.

“We hope this tax exemption limit can be gradually increased in the future to, for example, 30,000 yuan, or perhaps more,” he said.

Economist Terence Chong Tai-leung, executive director of the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, agreed the 5,000 yuan threshold was too low but warned authorities might face an increase in parallel trading if the amount was raised.

“For Hainan, if you want to smuggle, you need to take a plane to Hainan. The cost is high,” he said. “So even if [the threshold] is 100,000 yuan, you cannot go every day.”

“But for Hong Kong, if you increase it to even half of that to 50,000 yuan, then people can come from Shenzhen with very low cost and come and buy a 50,000 yuan thing every day, or twice a day.”

Former Google AI engineer charged with trade secret theft for China firm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/06/google-ai-doj-arrest/2024-03-06T21:13:58.633Z

The Justice Department on Wednesday announced the arrest of a former Google AI engineer, alleging he stole information about the company’s advanced technologies with the intention of setting up his own company in China.

Leon Ding, or Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was detained in Newark, Calif., and charged with four counts of trade secret theft.

Justice Department officials called the case a signal that the U.S. government will remain vigilant against attempts to illicitly transfer advanced U.S. technologies to China, amid a Cold War-esque technological arms race between Washington and Beijing.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

If convicted, Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines.

According to an indictment filed March 5 in a court in San Francisco, Ding was hired by Google as a software engineer in 2019 and worked on the company’s supercomputing data centers. He worked on developing software that aided the operation of machine learning and AI applications for Google’s clients, the indictment said.

Prosecutors said that Ding began uploading confidential Google information to a personal Google Cloud account in May 2022 and had uploaded more than 500 files containing Google confidential information by May 2023.

The trade secret theft counts involve chip architecture and software design specifications for “tensor processing units” and “graphics processing units,” chips that are the building blocks of supercomputing centers.

While still employed at Google, Ding became the chief technology officer of a China-based AI company, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co., and founded a second China-based company, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co., without informing Google of his positions at either company, the indictment said.

The FBI searched Ding’s residence on Jan. 6, seizing his electronic devices and other evidence.

“Let today’s announcement serve as further warning — those who would transfer sensitive U.S. technology to China risk finding themselves on the wrong end of a criminal indictment,” said Assistant Secretary Matthew Axelrod, of the Commerce Department’s Office for Export Enforcement, in a statement.

The Justice Department said the investigation into Ding was carried out by the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force, a year-old group aimed at securing U.S. technologies from being acquired by “authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states.”

Both the U.S. and Chinese governments have identified artificial intelligence as a strategic emerging technology with broad potential to boost economic output in civilian sectors, while also providing key capabilities for militaries and intelligence agencies. President Biden issued an AI executive order last year aimed at keeping the U.S. ahead in AI against countries like China.

Ding, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology and Shanghai Zhisuan Technology could not be immediately reached for comment.

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said Google had referred the case to federal officials. “We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement,” he said.

Ex-Google engineer arrested for alleged theft of AI secrets for Chinese firms

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/06/chinese-google-engineer-arrested-stealing-ai-trade-secrets

A Chinese software engineer has been arrested for allegedly stealing artificial intelligence technology from Google while secretly working for two Chinese companies.

Linwei Ding, 38, also known as Leon Ding, faces four counts of theft of trade secrets, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said in a statement.

Ding, who was arrested on Wednesday in Newark, California, allegedly transferred confidential information from Google’s network to his personal account while secretly affiliated with Chinese-based companies in the AI industry.

“The justice department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk,” Garland said.

“We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in America from falling into the hands of those who should not have them.”

Ding’s arrest illustrates “the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People’s Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation”, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, said, referring to China by its official name.

“The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences,” he added.

According to the indictment, Ding was hired by Google in 2019 and was involved in developing the software deployed in Google’s supercomputing data centers.

He allegedly began uploading confidential Google information into a personal cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023.

The pilfered files related to the hardware infrastructure and software platform that allows Google’s supercomputing data centers to train large AI models through machine learning.

In June 2022, Ding was approached by the chief executive of a Chinese early-stage technology company, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co (Rongshu), and offered the position of chief technology officer with a monthly salary of $14,800, the indictment said.

Some time before May 2023, Ding also founded his own China-based company, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co (Zhisuan), and named himself CEO, it said.

Ding never informed Google about his affiliation with Rongshu or Zhisuan, according to the indictment.

After Ding resigned from Google in December 2023, the Mountain View, California-based company searched his network activity history and discovered his May 2022 to May 2023 unauthorized uploads.

“After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.

“We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets,” Castaneda said. “We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.”

Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.

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Can China pull itself out of the ‘middle technology trap’ and challenge US at the top?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3254360/can-china-pull-itself-out-middle-technology-trap-and-challenge-us-top?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s political elite and lawmakers gather this week for the country’s annual legislative sessions which will set budgets and lay down Beijing’s plans for the country’s economy, diplomacy, trade and military. In this, the final part of , our science reporters look at the country’s prospects of avoiding long-term technological stagnation.

China’s “two sessions” this week are expected to generate more policies to support science and technology as part of a strategy to boost economic growth.

The legislature and top political advisory body are meeting amid an intensifying debate about the state of the country’s technological development and the risk of a “middle-technology trap” – a situation where developing countries initially benefit from the transfer of industrial capabilities due to their low-cost advantages but risk longer-term stagnation when they struggle to catch up with more technologically advanced nations.

One of the drivers of the debate, Zheng Yongnian, a political scientist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen argued last year that “for a large economy like China, it will be difficult to achieve high-quality economic development without technological upgrades”.

In an article for the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences he said the country currently rated at around “four to seven” out of 10 in terms of technological development and needed to find ways to move itself to a rating of “eight or more”.

Zheng’s argument sparked a fiery debate in China, with some supporters arguing that it objectively portrays the considerable gap between China’s technological advancement and that of the West.

But opponents say the concept of a middle-technology trap fails to accurately depict China’s current status because it has surpassed the United States in some regards.

A more recent contribution to the debate came in an article for the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily last month.

The author, Jiang Chuanhai, the president of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said the country should form “new productive forces” and warned that it was lagging behind on “four foundations”, which he identified as key basic materials, core components, advanced basic processes and industrial technology foundation.

“[We should] address the technological gaps of the ‘four foundations’, strengthen technological expertise in areas such as infrastructure construction, mobile payments and the digital economy, and prioritise the development of general technologies represented by artificial intelligence,” the article said.

“We should promote quality international cooperation … improve the market reputation of ‘Made in China’ and enhance China’s position in the global industrial, supply and innovation chains.”

China’s rapid economic growth in the past few decades has benefited greatly from technological innovation in developed economies, according to Liu Shaoshan, director of embodied intelligence at the Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society.

He said other countries have followed a similar strategy by seeking first to become wealthy before shifting their focus to greater innovation.

Huawei’s AI chip prowess under scrutiny after Nvidia taps it as likely rival

Liu does not believe that China lacks the ability to innovate. He argued “China used to focus more on how to make the cake bigger, rather than emphasising whether the cream was invented by itself”, but would generate a series of innovations over the next five to 10 years.

However, he also warned it should look at ways to optimise its incentive and review systems to help this process along.

At present, even in fields where China is a leader, such as electric vehicles, it still needs foreign technology.

One vehicle engineer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China has largely developed home-grown solutions in “core [areas] of car manufacturing such as batteries, electric driving systems and electronic control systems”.

But when it comes to digital simulation software, which allows for the creation of a digital twin of an actual vehicle before developing the model, Chinese carmakers generally use software developed by French software company Dassault Systèmes for digital physical modelling.

Given that a car consists of tens of thousands of parts, the product has proven crucial and China has yet to come up with a domestically produced substitute, he said.

The country is also falling behind the United States in generative artificial intelligence, according to Zhao Junbo, a professor with the Institute of Computer Software at Zhejiang University.

He cited the recent release of the text-to-video model Sora by OpenAI and said that unlike the large language model ChatGPT, catching up in video generation would be particularly challenging because there are hardly any anchors to rely on.

“While the open-sourcing of [large language model] LLaMA by Metal has inspired many companies developing ChatGPT applications, the technical route behind Sora is quite different. Even if the source code were available, replicating similar text-to-video applications would be difficult,” he told Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper.

“In the modern development environment of technology, the era of fighting alone or relying on one hero has come to an end.

“The key lies in an adequate talent team, the accumulation of computing power and data, and the build-up over time.”

There is still some debate about whether the US and China are really rivals in key hi-tech areas. But Zhou Yu, a professor at Vassar College in New York who researches globalisation and the hi-tech industry in China, believes this is what will happen if the world’s two biggest economies decouple.

In the near future, she expects China’s hi-tech growth to manifest in areas such as the internet, green tech, alternative energy, biotechnology, material science and application, robotics, artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

“In China, most energy will be on import substitution with anticipation of more decoupling. The resulting alternatives will eventually be exported to the world and that is creating rivals,” she said, but added that the US is likely to remain ahead in some areas.

She made a similar argument during a recent panel discussion organised by the India China Institute of The New School in New York City, where she argued current “US decoupling” efforts are intended “to weaponise the hi-tech supply chain”.

“The most damaging is the uncertainty regarding future supplies. If you build your technology based on something you have available now, and you do not know if it will be available down the road – that is a very big problem for companies to develop,” Zhou said.

Zhou said more Chinese companies are anticipating further decoupling and the entire ecosystem has been mobilised to anticipate, locate and fill in the gaps which “creates the demand for substitutes and alternatives which were not there”.

One example she cited was the latest 5G smartphone made by Huawei Technologies after it was denied access to US chips.

The development of the product was widely hailed inside China as an example of how the country could find ways to reduce the impact of US sanctions, while Zhou described it as an example of “how much pressure these companies are under to find alternatives”.

US general raises alarm over ‘breathtaking’ growth in China’s space tech

However, some question the very concept of a middle-technology trap. Wang Yanbo, an associate professor of strategy and innovation at the University of Hong Kong, said it “may appear valid on the surface, but it is ultimately misleading”.

“Instead of focusing solely on the stage of technological development, scholars and policymakers should pay closer attention to the mechanisms that facilitate or constrain a country’s growth in scientific capacity and technological capability,” Wang said.

“To genuinely advance their technological capabilities, countries must engage with the global community, exchange knowledge, collaborate and participate in the global production and commercialisation of knowledge.”

Wang said “self-reliance is not a viable path for technological development in the modern world”.

He cited the demise of the Soviet Union, which had tried to develop its computing and chip-making industries in the two decades before it collapsed, adding that Japanese firms had also failed to become world leaders after being denied access to technology developed in US national labs.

He said “determining how to collaborate with the global community, capitalise on knowledge spillovers from global leaders in science and technology and access complementary assets beyond one’s national borders” is key to addressing the so-called middle-tech trap.

“None of these are about technology per se,” he said.

Gong Tao, who founded Qibo Robot, a technology company based in Shandong province, also questioned the concept.

Citing Germany, Japan and the United States as examples of countries that are considered to be scientifically and technologically advanced, Geng said they are leaders in specific areas and have unique competitive advantages.

Although China has now fallen behind in some areas such as cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, he argued, it is a leader in other technologies such as electric vehicles and some types of medical equipment.

“The middle-income trap mainly measures and compares the economic indicators of a nation or region. But technology has so many different aspects and categories that it refuses to be seen as a whole,” he said.

“For example, it can be divided into high-end and low-end technologies, traditional fields and emerging fields.”