• China faces 3 per cent GDP loss as heatwaves intensify, hit global supply chains: climate change study
• Land has played a critical role in China’s economic rise, but is it time for reform?
• China’s military disqualifies procurement company for ‘serious risks’ of leaked secrets
• China’s Shanghai tries to shore up foreign confidence with promise-laden action plan that’s filled with uncertainty
• Chinese-origin researchers stand out in Apple’s 2024 AI scholarship programme, shining a light on mainland’s brain drain
• Can India mend fences with the Maldives amid its troop withdrawal and China’s gambit to gain clout?
• 10 reasons China and Russia differ in their approach to international rules
• Sooner, or later? Stakes are high for Chinese summit with Japan and South Korea – but not urgent
• China’s Gen Z digitises consumption with new tech, shifting preferences
• World’s first AI-developed drug for deadly lung disease enters landmark clinical trials in China, US
• Are China and Vietnam on collision course over Beijing’s ‘creeping’ demarcation in Gulf of Tonkin?
• ‘Most beautiful golden flowers’: China auntie quartet shave heads, donate skin to save badly burned niece, 6, nephew, 4
• Sweden’s Ericsson denies exiting China market despite 5G equipment competition from Huawei, geopolitical tensions
• Biden or Trump? China can’t pick its ‘poison’ to mend strained ties.
• Why China’s 5 per cent GDP target has failed to reassure Asia
• ‘Throwing eggs’ card game guandan takes China’s public sectors by storm
• ‘Instant karma’: China social media fascinated by strange death of Thai man impaled on Buddhist statue during violent rampage through temple
• US and China, though still entwined, are likely to cut their ties further in 2024, analysts say
• Stone tools unearthed in China suggest ancient humans in East Asia were less isolated than earlier believed
• [World] Massive fireball rips through Chinese restaurant
• What is Xi Jinping’s vision for finance with Chinese characteristics? | News
• China could use TikTok to influence US elections, spy chief says
• One dead and more than 20 hurt in China after blast tears down four-storey building near Beijing
• China-Australia relations: Beijing proposes to end wine tariffs in ‘coming weeks’ Canberra says, as ties strengthen
• Japan to shore up security support for Pacific Islands in ‘significant’ policy shift as China looms
• Why is Donald Trump now defending TikTok in the US, the popular China-tied app he once sought to ban?
• China’s foreign policy: from passive engagement to proactive pragmatism?
• Pentagon needs to become more nimble to counter China threat, US lawmakers are told
• China’s shipbuilding industry wants Beijing all aboard in bid to bridge tech gap with US, S Korea
• US unions ask Biden administration to probe Chinese shipbuilding

China faces 3 per cent GDP loss as heatwaves intensify, hit global supply chains: climate change study

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255269/china-faces-3-cent-gdp-loss-heatwaves-intensify-hit-global-supply-chains-climate-change-study?utm_source=rss_feed

More frequent and severe global heatwaves will disrupt future supply chains around the world, a new study has found.

This is expected to trigger a domino effect of losses in major economies including China, which could see GDP loss of up to 5 per cent in just over 25 years, according to the international team of scientists behind the study.

Even temperate countries rarely affected directly by heat stress will not be spared, the study suggests. These are likely to face the knock-on effects as extreme heat hits production in supplier nations, posing risks to food security, energy and mineral products supply worldwide.

The frequency and intensity of heatwaves is forecast to increase as global temperatures rise under climate change. Exposure to extremely high temperatures can cause heat exhaustion and heatstroke, leading even to permanent disability or death.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta ‘rice bowl’ cracks in monster February heatwave

“By 2060, expected global economic losses will range from 0.6 to 4.6 per cent,” the team of climate scientists and economists said in their findings published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on Thursday.

Developing countries suffer disproportionately from global warming, according to the researchers from universities in Britain, Canada, China and the United States.

The impact includes higher health loss in South-Central Africa, of between two and four times above the global average, and up to 3.3 times more in terms of labour productivity loss in West Africa and Southeast Asia.

“The supply-chain disruption effects are [likely to be] much more widespread, with manufacturing-heavy countries such as China and the US strongly hit,” the article said. It forecast economic losses of around 2.7 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, for the world’s top two economies.

The study of the likely socioeconomic impact of heat stress by mid-century took into account climate, epidemiological and global trade models.

“We consider health costs related to heat exposure, the value of heat-induced labour productivity loss and indirect losses due to economic disruptions cascading through supply chains,” the article said.

Lead author Guan Dabo, a professor of climate change economics at Tsinghua University, said the ripple effect of heatwaves on workers and crops would spread through global supply chains.

“In China, under the scenario of warming of 4 degrees to 7 degrees Celsius (about 39 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit), heatwaves will cause 3 to 5 per cent GDP loss by 2050,” he said.

“The loss will partly be caused by a labour productivity drop in China, but more importantly in smaller economies.”

These will include close trade partners of China, such as in Africa, which are ill-equipped to adapt to climate change.

“Sectors like construction, mining and agriculture are vulnerable to heatwaves, with few countermeasures available. When raw material imports for these sectors fall, corresponding industries in China face losses,” Guan said.

The same goes for major Western economies closely connected to the world’s supply chains. As for China, the world’s largest soybean importer could see import prices jump if heatwaves were to damage the crop in the Americas and slash supplies, he added. This would have a knock-on effect on Chinese consumers.

A fast-warming world is setting carbon reduction targets, but governments should place equal emphasis on measures to adapt to climate change, Guan urged.

Climate change drives world to first 12-month spell over 1.5 degrees Celsius

The world has just experienced the hottest January on record as climate change continues to push up temperatures. US scientists have said 2024 has a one-in-three chance to be hotter than last year, and a 99 per cent chance of being one of the top five warmest years ever.

“Even if we limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees by the end of the century, the world will continue to be hit by increasingly frequent and severe climate extreme events in the coming decades,” Guan said.

“Building a resilient international trade network is as important as reducing emissions.”

Land has played a critical role in China’s economic rise, but is it time for reform?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3255229/land-has-played-critical-role-chinas-economic-rise-it-time-reform?utm_source=rss_feed

Feeding just less than one fifth of the world’s population on just 9 per cent of the world’s arable land is one of the accomplishments that China has frequently boasted about.

With much of its 960 million hectares (2.4 billion acres) covered by mountains and plateaus, land resources are scarce for China, making its utilisation an issue of strategic importance.

While repeatedly warning against breaking the “red line” on the size of farmland of no less than 120 million hectares, China’s top leadership has urged higher efficiency in land use after decades of rapid urbanisation.

At a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping in February, top officials agreed to improve coordination of land policies with macroeconomic policies and regional development, vowing to allocate more resources for regions that are more economically competitive.

And although the meeting’s official readout remained brief and vague, it signalled the need to reform China’s complex and rigid land system that is hindering further economic growth.

In China, the state technically owns all land and controls how it is used.

In urban areas, land can be leased to businesses and individuals through long-term leases that automatically renew, thereby granting functional rights similar to private property ownership.

However, rural land is owned by village collectives, and can only be traded among residents of the village.

The system was established to ensure collective ownership, while allowing farmers to use land for agricultural purposes.

But with more farmers relocating to cities amid urbanisation and industrialisation in the past decades, much of the rural land is deserted.

Because the land cannot be traded, farmers also cannot sell their houses or the farmland, which limits their ability to buy homes in urban areas.

There is, though, a shortage of plots in urban areas for commercial development, limiting urban areas’ economic growth prospects.

And besides an urban-rural gap, there are also large disparities in available land resources among different areas thanks to their varying levels of economic progress.

Fixing the urban-rural gap? China weighs making ‘left-behind property’ tradeable

In 2022, the value-added industrial output in the less-developed northwestern province of Gansu was just 7 per cent of Guangdong in China’s more affluent southeast, Wuhan-based TF Securities said in February.

But the size of land available for construction per person in Gansu was 1.7 times of the available land in Guangdong.

Before the recent collapse of China’s property sector, local governments relied heavily on expanding the real estate market to provide a major source of income.

When land is requisitioned for development projects, such as infrastructure or urban expansion, farmers and rural collectives are typically compensated by local governments.

Compensation may include monetary, resettlement or alternative land allocation.

But the amount is often far lower than what the government is paid when it sells the land to real estate developers, resulting in a significant fiscal revenue for local authorities.

This is known as a “land financing” development pattern that prevails across China.

Many local governments are now cash-strapped and even debt-ridden primarily due to prolonged woes in the property market that started during the coronavirus pandemic.

And such an unhealthy development pattern, featuring skyrocketing home prices in cities, heavily-indebted property developers and local governments’ reliance on land revenues is nearing its end, former finance minister Lou Jiwei said at a forum in Shenzhen in December.

Making land tradeable between urban and rural areas and among different localities has been widely seen as a solution as the world’s second-largest economy seeks new growth potential.

In the western municipality of Chongqing, an experiment of freeing up the land market through a “land coupon programme” has been under way since 2008.

‘No more declines’: China’s crop crackdown targets critical grains, oilseeds

Under the programme, farmers who voluntarily convert their homesteads into cultivated land after settling down in cities are given “land coupons”, which they can sell later to local governments or developers that are in need of construction land quotas.

As of the end of 2022, around 24,700 hectares of rural land, valued at over 72 billion yuan (US$10 billion), had been traded under the scheme, according to the municipal state-owned assets supervisor, calling it a “fruitful reform”.

But the scheme has yet to be copied in other regions.

China’s military disqualifies procurement company for ‘serious risks’ of leaked secrets

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3255255/chinas-military-disqualifies-procurement-company-serious-risks-leaked-secrets?utm_source=rss_feed

The People’s Liberation Army has disqualified a procurement company for posing “a serious threat” of leaking secrets, according to a notice issued by the Chinese military’s equipment department on Tuesday.

China Far East International Tendering Co violated confidentiality rules while carrying out purchases for the PLA’s strategic support force, according to the notice issued on the military’s equipment procurement information site.

The PLA’s Strategic Support Force, established in 2015, is the core of the military’s integration and modernisation plan and is tasked with integrating “strategic” functions across the military – from space and the internet to psychological warfare. The force also serves as an intelligence gathering hub.

China’s top legislators weigh changes to state secrets law

China is ramping up scrutiny of confidentiality issues amid growing tensions with Washington and its allies. Beijing passed a major amendment tightening its state secrets law last month.

The law stipulates that it is illegal to send state secrets via the internet without taking proper confidentiality measures.

Tuesday’s announcement did not mention the state secrets law, instead citing PLA regulations. It said the company violated “relevant regulations including the management measures for equipment procurement tender agency services”.

The notice said that the company violated regulations by “forwarding a large amount of procurement announcement materials” through emails and WeChat, a Chinese social media platform.

The company also stored a large number of confidential documents on unprotected computers, it said.

China dusts off state secrets law amid national security push

The notice was issued by the scientific research ordering bureau of the Central Military Commission’s equipment development department.

The company’s management of confidential information was “out of control”, causing “serious risks and threats of leakage”, the notice states.

It said the company’s qualifications as an equipment procurement tender agency had been revoked, and relevant military units were no longer allowed to sign new contracts with the company.

Existing services will also be terminated or “handled properly”, depending on the status of the project, according to the notice.

Meanwhile, the military units should promptly check and hand over documents and materials to “ensure that no security issues arise”, the announcement states.

China sacks missing defence chief Li Shangfu with no explanation

The news comes after a sweeping investigation into military equipment procurement by the equipment department. In a rare move, the department issued a notice in July for investigations into problems including “leaking information” on projects and helping certain companies secure bids.

It also follows a purge of senior military officials. In December, nine generals – including a number of senior members of the PLA Rocket Force, as well as two from the CMC’s equipment department – were dismissed from China’s top legislature. They included Rao Wenmin, the equipment department’s deputy director, and Zhang Yulin, who served in the same role from 2016 to 2018.

Additionally, Li Shangfu – who led the equipment division from 2017 to 2022 – was sacked as defence minister in October with no explanation given. He has not been seen in public since August.

China Far East International Tendering’s lines of business include international trade and procurement services as well as services related to “military products”, according to the company’s website.

It was also among the top 10 bidding agencies for classified military industry projects in 2017, the website states.

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China’s Shanghai tries to shore up foreign confidence with promise-laden action plan that’s filled with uncertainty

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3255241/chinas-shanghai-tries-shore-foreign-confidence-promise-laden-action-plan-thats-filled-uncertainty?utm_source=rss_feed

One of China’s biggest economic locomotives is gearing up to roll out an action plan that it hopes will fuel foreign investment in research and development, in its latest bid to lure back businesspeople and grow as a global hub for innovation.

The promises coming out of Shanghai include better facilitating cross-border data flows and doing more to protect intellectual property (IP) rights, which remain among the major concerns of foreign companies operating in China.

The plan, which takes effect on Friday after being announced earlier this month, intends to “lift the confidence of foreign investors in Shanghai”, following a series of related directives from the central government over the past year.

That confidence took a hit in Shanghai following two months of zero-Covid lockdowns in 2022, as well as last year’s anti-spying law and raids on foreign firms.

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

In addition to pledging financial incentives and streamlined filing procedures, the plan will “help push for deeper integration of local innovative companies and foreign-funded research centres”, the city government said on Tuesday in an interpretation of the new policy directive on its website.

The financial and commercial hub missed its economic growth target of 5.5 per cent last year, reporting a 5 per cent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) amid slumped exports and weak domestic demand.

The authorities will categorise data exporting from Shanghai in its free-trade zone and review only those deemed necessary for security reasons, according to the plan, with a detailed list yet to be rolled out.

It will also improve coordination with other provinces and municipalities to toughen the crackdown on infringement of IP rights of foreign-invested research centres, it vowed.

Drawing foreign direct investments and improving the business environment have been high on Shanghai’s post-pandemic agenda to reinforce its ambitions of becoming a global financial centre and technological innovation hub. But foreign businesses have reiterated that they want fewer promises and more action.

Eric Zheng, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, said data localisation and other cybersecurity requirements, as well as IP protections, are among the top concerns of chamber members.

“Companies need a transparent process for cross-border-data cybersecurity assessments, and they also need enforcement of IP laws,” he said. “We look forward to more details regarding the plan and its implementation.”

Maximilian Butek, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China (Shanghai), noted that Shanghai is a prime choice for setting up R&D centres to serve the Chinese market, thanks to its “top-notch infrastructure and local talents”.

“However, for German companies to use Shanghai as a global R&D hub, simplifying international data transfers and removing internet-access barriers are necessary,” he said. “So far, the plan does not seem to go far enough to address these needs.”

Shanghai has been struggling to maintain its allure as a regional hub for multinational companies amid their de-risking efforts that have come in response to perceived challenges from a tightening of anti-espionage rules and regulations targeting cross-border data transfers.

Risks ahead but China’s economy to stay on long-term, tech-led course

Strict rules from regulations on cross-border data transfers, proposed last year by the Cyberspace Administration of China, have led to delays in the approval process for cross-border data flows while fuelling concerns among multinational companies that regularly transfer data outside of China.

“Shanghai’s plan to attract foreign investment is another positive step as China seeks to rebuild trust and attract foreign investment after years of waning business confidence among our membership,” the British Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement.

Issues that Shanghai has vowed to tackle are among the most common complaints that their members have raised, it said, adding that they hope to see action on these issues at the national level.

In his government work report last week, Premier Li Qiang vowed to address issues surrounding cross-border data flows, among measures to lure more capital from overseas.

Chinese-origin researchers stand out in Apple’s 2024 AI scholarship programme, shining a light on mainland’s brain drain

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3255259/chinese-origin-researchers-stand-out-apples-2024-ai-scholarship-programme-shining-light-mainlands?utm_source=rss_feed

Researchers of Chinese origin comprised more than half of this year’s recipients of Apple’s annual fellowship programme on artificial intelligence (AI), shining a light on a brain drain that threatens the nation’s ambition to become a global powerhouse in that critical technology.

The 2024 Apple Scholars in AIML PhD fellowship – focused on machine learning, a branch of AI concerned with developing algorithms and statistical models for computer systems – shows that 11 of the 21 admitted to the programme were of Chinese origin, based on their names and academic background that include bachelor’s level studies on the mainland, according to a list published on Tuesday by Apple on its website.

At least seven of the 11 fellowship recipients completed their undergraduate studies on the mainland and pursued further studies overseas, primarily in the United States.

Each scholar will receive funding under the programme, as they pursue their PhD, internship opportunities and mentorship with an Apple researcher in their chosen field.

“We are committed to supporting the academic research community by amplifying emerging leaders in their field and their cutting-edge machine learning research,” Apple said in its announcement of this year’s fellowship recipients.

Apple Scholars in AIML are selected based on their innovative research, record as thought leaders and collaborators, and commitment to advancing their respective fields, according to the US tech giant.

The rising number of Chinese researchers admitted into that programme and other AI-related opportunities in America reflects the mainland’s continuing struggle with brain drain, compared with a brain gain for the US.

A continued talent exodus could put China at a big disadvantage, nearly seven years since Beijing made AI a national priority to establish the country as “the world’s premier artificial intelligence innovation centre” by 2030.

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

While China has expanded its AI talent pool over the last few years to meet growing domestic demand, the US remains the top destination for top-tier AI researchers to work, according to Chicago-based MacroPolo’s latest AI Talent Tracker report, which compares global movement in 2022 and 2019. MacroPolo operates under the Paulson Institute, an independent think tank focused on US-China relations.

The report found that China and the US are the leading countries of origin of the world’s top-tier AI researchers, which MacroPolo defined as the top 20 per cent of such elite researchers based on undergraduate degrees. China had a dominant 47 per cent share in 2022, up from 29 per cent in 2019. The US reached 18 per cent in 2022, down from 20 per cent in 2019.

The US, however, is still the leading country where top-tier AI researchers work. The US share reached 42 per cent in 2022, compared with 59 per cent in 2019. China managed to grow its share to 28 per cent in 2022, up from 11 per cent in 2019.

MacroPolo data showed that China has become the leading country of origin of top-tier AI researchers working in US institutions, with a 38 per cent share in 2022 from 27 per cent in 2019. The US followed with a 37 per cent share in 2022, up from 2019’s 31 per cent.

China lures scant AI talent with hefty salary premium, report finds

Within US institutions, researchers of American and Chinese origin comprised 75 per cent of the top-tier AI talent in 2022, up from 58 per cent in 2019.

The US is home to about 60 per cent of the world’s top AI institutions, according to MacroPolo. These included the likes of Google, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Microsoft Research and Meta Platforms.

After completing their PhD in the US, a vast majority of non-American AI talent stay in the US, according to MacroPolo. Chinese researchers who opt to work in the US after obtaining their PhD doubled to 8 per cent in 2022 from 4 per cent in 2019.

While the demand for AI talent is high on the mainland, there has been a lack of suitable candidates amid growing opportunities overseas. For every five new jobs in AI in China, there are only two qualified workers in the market, according to a report published late last year by Maimai, a career social network.

Can India mend fences with the Maldives amid its troop withdrawal and China’s gambit to gain clout?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255268/can-india-mend-fences-maldives-amid-its-troop-withdrawal-and-chinas-gambit-gain-clout?utm_source=rss_feed

India should seek to mend its frayed relations with the Maldives amid an ongoing withdrawal of its troops from the archipelagic state as ordered by President Mohamed Muizzu.

Analysts say it would be counterproductive for India to reassert itself in the Maldives as this would only incite more anti-Indian sentiment.

Local media reported on Tuesday that 25 Indian soldiers deployed in the Maldives’ southernmost atoll of Addu had left out of around 90 stationed in the country. The move comes within days of Muizzu – seen by analysts as pro-China – signing a “military assistance” pact with Beijing this month.

India has agreed to a complete withdrawal of troops and support staff from the Maldives by May 10 following talks between both countries. Three Indian aircraft operated by Indian civilian staff will be stationed on the island to help with rescue and relief operations as and when they are needed in the remote islands.

“India has the advantage of geographical proximity whether it is Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan or the Maldives. It must develop better instruments of inducement so that it is clear why it will be good [for its neighbours] to go with India,” said Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.

Changing Delhi-Malé ‘dynamics’, troop withdrawal unlikely to affect partnership

During the Maldivian presidential election last year, Muizzu campaigned to remove the nation’s long-standing “India First” policy. Muizzu defeated his predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, whom he accused of allowing India to hold sway over the Maldives.

Relations between India and the Maldives have steadily deteriorated since and hit rock bottom earlier this year when droves of Indian tourists started cancelling visits to the country following disparaging social media posts by Maldivian leaders about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Maldivian ministers Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid had called Modi a “clown”, “terrorist” and “puppet of Israel”, respectively, over India’s support of Israel in the Israel-Gaza war and were suspended from their positions.

Muizzu’s demand for the withdrawal of Indian troops had further aggravated bilateral tensions.

New Delhi considers the Indian Ocean archipelago to be within its sphere of influence, with the Maldives situated along key shipping routes. China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean and its influence in the Maldives as well as in neighbouring Sri Lanka have stoked India’s suspicions about the security threat posed by Beijing.

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

Analysts say India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has provoked suspicions in Muslim-majority Maldives.

“Modi’s radicalisation of Indian religious politics is bound to be viewed dimly by the Maldives, a country where non-Muslims are prohibited from becoming citizens,” said Sweden-based Matias Otero Johansson, an independent political analyst.

Muizzu’s “India out” campaign has played on local concerns that India’s military presence undermined Maldivian sovereignty, he added.

“In seeking to balance Indian and US influence, China is a natural counterbalancing force which has long attempted to extend its influence along critical maritime trade routes that supply the PRC with resources,” Johansson said.

“It is in this sense a timely opportunism by Beijing given the fallout of the India-Maldives relationship.”

China’s gambit

India’s 90 security personnel stationed in the Maldives had been mostly involved in rescue and relief operations.

However, their presence became the lightning rod for the country to downgrade ties with India and draw closer to China.

“There is hardly anything to suggest that the Modi government has not been supportive of the Maldives,” said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor at King’s College London.

“The Maldives President has complained about Indian troops’ minimal presence undermining sovereignty but has had no compunctions about signing an opaque defence pact with China. It seems Muizzu has taken a cue from China and that is why many Maldivians are worried about it,” he added.

Maldives opposition is led by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which was in power previously under Solih and had maintained strong ties with India. MDP and other opposition parties recently issued a joint statement to criticise the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ anti-India stance.

Can India forge a 3-way Indo-Pacific partnership with Japan and South Korea?

Muizzu’s pro-China stance, however, could hurt the Maldives’ ties with the US and UK since India is seen as a Western ally, according to Pant. For now, it is difficult to assess the impact on China’s strategic interests in the region from the fallout between India and the Maldives.

“It’s too early to say yet if the defence agreement [with China] will introduce changes of substance to the security environment, namely if China will be allowed to militarise Maldivian territory,” Johansson said.

Such a development, however, would run contrary to Muizzu’s election campaign against foreign influence, he added.

Given the evolving strategic situation, Delhi should therefore step up efforts to realign its priorities in the Maldives, according to Johansson.

“Above all India should extend an olive branch and attempt to mend trust with its neighbour, giving the Maldives the means to counterbalance China’s influence.”

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10 reasons China and Russia differ in their approach to international rules

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3254514/10-reasons-china-and-russia-differ-their-approach-international-rules?utm_source=rss_feed

The second Multipolarity Forum was held in Moscow last month, attended by representatives from 130 countries. During a dinner at the forum, a top Russian official asked the Chinese representative why it was that China was able to rise within the Western rules, but Russia could only achieve its goals by overturning those rules. This question highlights Russia’s grievances about why it cannot integrate into Europe even though its leaders see themselves as part of Europe.

How did China do it? By manipulating the rules? Of course not. Beijing has been playing by the rules. Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has developed quickly.

However, it has advanced not just because it has benefited from the rules of globalisation and other international norms. The Chinese people’s diligence and wisdom, the nation’s vast size, and the advantages of its system of socialism with Chinese characteristics have all played a role.

It is necessary to compare the Western concept of a “rules-based international order” with the outlook of emerging nations. During a panel discussion at the 60th Munich Security Conference in February, for example, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was asked about his country buying oil from Russia and then exporting it to Europe in spite of Western sanctions on Moscow.

“Is that a problem?” he replied. “Why should that be a problem? If I am smart enough to have multiple options, you should be admiring me.” Jaishankar’s retort elicited a smile from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who was also part of the panel.

This provides some insight into how differently Brics countries and the West view the rules. However, there are also differences among the Brics nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Exploring those differences is important to understand the rules-based international order, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, and how cooperation happens within multilateral groups like Brics and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Specifically, there are major differences between China and Russia with regard to their views of international rules.

First, China seeks harmony and common good, while Russia pursues differences, a view rooted in Eurasianism. Russia has tried to integrate into Europe but has failed to be accepted. As a representative of Eastern civilisation, China is obviously different from Europe. China’s history is replete with exchanges of knowledge between civilisations, which point to how it has focused on pursuing harmony.

Second, China is a “tai chi” culture, where the emphasis is on pushing an opponent without using force. Russia, however, is a “bear” culture. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2024 re-election campaign adverts, for example, feature footage of bears overlaid with Putin’s speeches about “not giving up the taiga”, an indication that Russia will safeguard its home and not back down when fighting enemies.

Third, China leverages the rules of the world order and strives to internalise them through its actions and ideas. Russia, by contrast, is a product of externalisation, having expanded to what it is today with significant influence from the Mongol Empire.

Fourth, China and Russia differ not only on international law and norms but also behave differently on the world stage and therefore get different results. China stresses inclusiveness whereas Russia’s relationship with the West has always been more confrontational.

Fifth, since ancient times, China has emphasised the importance of mutual relationships and the whole world. Russia, on the other hand, is more focused inwards.

Sixth, China has a comparatively restrained national character passed on from its early days as an agricultural civilisation with a sedentary lifestyle. Russians have inherited the tendency to move to seek expansion from their nomadic ancestors.

Seventh, the two countries diverge on their attitudes. When it comes to engaging with other countries, Chinese culture stresses the importance of upholding justice in the face of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Russia’s approach is often about beating others at their own game.

Eighth, China observes the international rules itself rather than just asking others to follow them. In China, there is a common saying that nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards. Russia asks others to follow the international rules and considers itself exempt from such rules.

Ninth, China takes a forward-looking view and detests imperialist thinking. Russia tends to look backwards, focusing on reclaiming its lost territory and retaining its imperialist mindset. For example, Russia feels guilty about the fall of the Berlin Wall.

When Germany was reunited, the West did everything it could to give Moscow the impression that Nato would not expand to include countries east of Germany. Yet, Russians believe the West tricked the Soviet Union and broke its promises by adding more members.

Finally, China seeks to improve the international order while Russia wishes to challenge the West and the unipolar world. One religious leader who attended the Multipolarity Forum told me that Russia’s top bishop, the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, has had a huge influence on Putin’s plans to reshape the world order. Under these plans, Russia would first join hands with China to destroy Nato. Then, Russia would revive the Eastern Orthodox Church and, together with the Islamic world, become the great liberator.

Highlighting these differences is not intended to portray China-Russia relations in a negative light. Rather, they should be borne in mind when examining the bilateral relationship and the two countries’ positions within the global system.

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Sooner, or later? Stakes are high for Chinese summit with Japan and South Korea – but not urgent

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254623/sooner-or-later-stakes-are-high-chinese-summit-japan-and-south-korea-not-urgent?utm_source=rss_feed

When the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met in the Korean city of Busan in November, expectations were high that they would clear the way to revive the trilateral leaders’ summit, on hold for more than four years because of the pandemic.

Seoul, current rotating chair of the dialogue, initially anticipated the summit would be held by the end of 2023 or early 2024. Japanese news agency Kyodo reported last month that the forum could be delayed to May or even later, as Beijing weighs its options over the coming months.

Analysts have interpreted the delay as a sign the summit might not be a priority for the leaders of the three countries, with both Japan and South Korea entangled in their own domestic issues, and China wary of the increasingly close relationships between its neighbours and the United States.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s priorities lie in the ongoing recovery from the severe Ishikawa earthquake in early January, and soothing public outrage over a corruption scandal involving his senior ministers that sent his approval ratings to a record low.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been preoccupied with next month’s parliamentary election, widely seen as a prelude to the 2027 presidential poll. Failure to win back a parliamentary majority in the April vote would mean three more years of stagnation for Yoon’s People Power Party and his own presidency.

“China would like to see how resilient their leaderships would be, because if both leaders fall after the scandal or the election, China needs to reconfigure for new leadership styles in Japan and South Korea,” said Kei Koga, an associate professor with the Public Policy and Global Affairs programme at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

Kishida is also set to visit the US next month when he and Biden will discuss efforts to “strengthen political, security, economic and people-to-people ties” to improve Indo-Pacific security. His administration is also focused on preparing for the trip, Koga said.

Zhu Zhiqun, professor of international relations and director of the China Institute at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, said it was “no wonder” that Beijing wants to wait and see, given the political troubles of its neighbours.

“If Kishida and Yoon face domestic challenges, how firm are their commitments to improving relations with China? And it is unclear how they will be able to implement any agreement reached at the trilateral meeting,” Zhu said.

Besides the political challenges facing its regional neighbours, experts said that the US remains the “elephant in the room” looming over the trilateral relationship, with China wary about the growing strategic coordination between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul.

Beijing grew more concerned after the trilateral summit between the US, Japan and South Korea at Camp David last August, when the three leaders touted the gathering as the dawn of a new era in their close security partnerships.

Why China sees the Camp David summit as start of de facto military alliance

The Camp David meeting produced plans for a long-term calendar of trilateral military exercises and for annual gatherings of leaders and ministers.

The summit also developed initiatives to protect supply chain security, denounced China for “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, and advocated for the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

Analysts said that the warmer security ties between Tokyo, Seoul and Washington taking shape on China’s doorstep have caused Beijing to become more cautious about a regional leaders’ summit.

Zhang Yilun, a research associate at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies (ICAS), said the security-oriented partnerships are likely to trigger Beijing’s long-standing grievance over the US-led alliance-based approach towards Indo-Pacific security issues.

US to deploy 5 aircraft carriers in western Pacific in show of strength to China

The fact that US-Japan-South Korea trilateral relations “unprecedentedly strengthened” at Camp David was particularly worrisome for China, Koga said, as they showed the determination of the three nations to maintain current international rules and norms, some of which China seems to be challenging.

Tokyo and Seoul may prefer to hold a leaders’ summit sooner rather than later, since it would provide a better chance for the leaders to identify viable areas of cooperation “no matter how slim that chance would be”, Koga said.

Zhu from Bucknell University agreed, adding that any diplomatic success for Kishida and Yoon from earlier high-level talks would help improve their political footing.

He noted, however, that Chinese leaders were in a relatively stronger position compared to their counterparts from Japan and South Korea, as the two leaders struggle with their domestic troubles.

“China is not interested in helping to boost Kishida’s and Yoon’s support at home. If Japan and South Korea have nothing substantive to offer to China, China is less incentivised to attend a trilateral meeting now,” Zhu said.

Still, Zhang believed Kishida and Yoon could accept a summit later in the year if they sensed that a fruitless earlier meeting would send the wrong message to the region and the world.

“Holding the summit now will only produce two possible outcomes: tangible outcomes that are too small to change anything, or an impasse that undermines confidence of the very platform itself,” Zhang added.

If a summit eventually materialises, experts think the leaders would push to boost trade, economic integration and people-to-people exchanges, while North Korea’s frequent missile provocations would be likely to be discussed.

They also been hinted at possible talks to restart a long-awaited free-trade pact between East Asia’s three main economies, but such a pact would be daunting and the summit itself would be unlikely to generate a meaningful boost in trilateral relations.

Even if the summit is revived, Zhang, from the ICAS, said it would be unrealistic to expect “any game-changing improvements” for the trilateral relationship, as China and the US remain entangled in a great power competition.

Washington is reducing room for nations who merely seek security protection while trying to preserve economic cooperation with China, he said.

“Without a clear path as to how the US-China competition is going to unfold, Japan and South Korea will only align with the US’ current approach to the region, which China will largely disagree with,” Zhang said.

While Japan and South Korea are US strategic allies, their trade reliance remains firmly on China, their largest trading partner.

China-US rift looms over Japan, South Korea as Beijing wants to restart trade

According to the Japan External Trade Organization, trade volume between China and Japan in December was more than US$300 million, while trade volume between the US and Japan was about US$227 million.

According to Chinese figures, total trade with Japan in 2023 was US$318 billion, with trade volume between South Korea and China at nearly US$311 billion.

Bucknell’s Zhu said Beijing would prefer that Tokyo and Seoul not blindly follow Washington in formulating a united front in countering China, but rather “exercise some strategic autonomy”.

“In the US-China rivalry, Japan and South Korea may not necessarily always agree with the US. So there is room for China-Japan and China-South Korea cooperation as well as trilateral cooperation if the summit is held,” Zhu said.

China’s Gen Z digitises consumption with new tech, shifting preferences

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3255244/chinas-gen-z-digitises-consumption-new-tech-shifting-preferences?utm_source=rss_feed

Increased economic participation from China’s roughly 280 million members of Generation Z is driving innovation in e-commerce, fintech and digital services, transforming the digital sector into an even more significant component of the country’s economic growth, a survey has found.

China Trading Desk collected 1,900 valid responses out of a total of 2,400 in January, determining that Generation Z, a cohort also known as “Zoomers”, is made up of “digital natives”. The Singapore-based marketing agency concluded the “adventurous, lonely, lethargic and liberated” generation is at the “forefront” of adopting new technologies, which in turn influences their consumption habits.

Gen Z, those born between 1996 and 2010, are “no less important” than their millennial predecessors – sometimes called Generation Y – and their “influence on the world’s largest marketplace is just beginning,” said China Trading Desk founder Subramania Bhatt.

For the purposes of its survey, the agency defined Gen Y as those between the ages of 28 and 43.

As an example, researchers pointed out that young Chinese women, especially Zoomers, are a major force for outbound travel and “changing the pattern of Chinese tourism”.

China’s Zoomers are far more interested in South Korea than their older counterparts, they said – particularly those of Generation X aged between 44 and 59 – as the Gen Z population has “made that country their second-most visited destination”.

“Thailand – a traditional favourite of Gen X and older tourists – has taken a hit from Gen Z’s changing tastes, seeing a much slower rebound to pre-pandemic [tourism] levels.”

Bhatt noted that Northeast Asian countries have made significant cultural inroads in China, particularly South Korea thanks to the widespread popularity of its pop music, television dramas and cuisine.

“For Generation Z, which consumes content on digital platforms, cultural exports from these countries can be highly influential in shaping travel desires,” he added.

The shift of tastes from Southeast to Northeast Asia by Zoomers can be explained by the diverse experiences the latter region offers, ranging from technological marvels and urban exploration to rich cultural and historical sites, Bhatt noted.

Additionally, survey results showed that China’s Gen Z prefers to “live alone”, shop online, spends less time working out and has less interest in getting married and having kids than Generations X and Y. The younger generation also tends to favour experiences over material goods.

China’s graduates pushed into cleaning jobs as it’s ‘better than staying home’

Besides their travel preferences, Zoomers also look outside China when it comes to cars and alcohol consumption.

“More than twice as many Gen Zers and Millennials want German cars versus Gen X, and three times as many Gen Y and Gen Zers want Japanese cars compared to Gen X,” survey authors wrote.

Bhatt explained that American cars may not enjoy the same level of appeal among Zoomers in China due to several factors such as perceptions of quality, value for money and brand positioning.

“Historically, European and Japanese car brands have established a stronger foothold in the Chinese market, often perceived as offering superior technology, better fuel efficiency and higher status,” he said.

But in contrast to the status of American cars, the survey found that American fast food companies have established strong brand recognition and a youthful image through extensive marketing.

“The experience, ease, and novelty factor associated with American fast food align with the preferences and lifestyle of Zoomers, who value convenience and are open to global culinary experiences,” Bhatt added.

Personal values and social beliefs are key factors in the consumption choices of more educated members of Gen Z, according to the survey, which determined those of the younger generation are more open to disclosing their sexuality and care about the environment, expressing a willingness to make lifestyle changes to reduce carbon emissions.

World’s first AI-developed drug for deadly lung disease enters landmark clinical trials in China, US

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255232/worlds-first-ai-developed-drug-deadly-lung-disease-enters-landmark-clinical-trials-china-us?utm_source=rss_feed

An experimental drug designed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to target an aggressive and often fatal lung disease has entered phase 2 clinical trials in China and the United States – a world first for an AI-generated drug, according to AI drug discovery firm Insilico Medicine.

The company said its AI-led methodology has made drug discovery faster and more efficient and is proof of “the promising potential of generative AI technologies for transforming the industry”.

Insilico is a global biotech company with offices and researchers in Hong Kong and mainland China, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Chinese team tests lung treatment that may be first to reverse COPD damage

The company’s founder and CEO, Alex Zhavoronkov, told the Post that while generative AI has only become widely known in recent years, he has been researching its applications for biomedical research for a decade.

“The integration of AI, robotics and ageing research will allow us to find complete cures to very complicated diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and many others,” Zhavoronkov said, adding that AI has the potential to provide humans with tools to completely avoid these diseases.

In 2014, the company started training deep neural networks to understand human ageing, leveraging AI capabilities to record, track and analyse people’s health throughout their lives.

“AI can understand billions of people just by understanding ageing. It can then start understanding the basic biology of diseases, and not only to slow them down,” Zhavoronkov said.

“In the ideal scenario, you want to ensure that the disease completely disappears or it does not happen at all.”

Zhavoronkov, who refers to ageing as “biology in time”, is an expert in generative biology and chemistry, and in the research of ageing and longevity.

“Human biology and the homeostasis (state of balance among body systems) of your body degrades over time. That is what is happening in a disease. Diseases accelerate this process, or are caused by this process. So without understanding the process of basic human ageing, you will not understand most of the diseases,” he said.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) results in chronic scarring of lung tissue that makes breathing difficult. The disease affects 5 million people worldwide, mostly above the age of 60, and has a high mortality rate. The median survival rate of untreated patients is two to three years.

There is no known cause of the disease and no cure is available, but some treatments can help alleviate symptoms and slow its progression. Many patients who receive steroids suffer from progressive decline in lung function and succumb to respiratory failure.

In the new study, scientists used generative AI to find an anti-fibrotic target and its inhibitor, significantly shortening the traditional drug development timeline which can often span more than a decade.

“This work was completed in roughly 18 months from target discovery to preclinical candidate nomination and shows the capabilities of our generative AI-driven drug-discovery pipeline,” the team said in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Biotechnology on Friday.

The researchers first trained a target identification engine in Insilico’s AI platform using data and publications about fibrosis. The condition results in a thickening or scarring of tissues that can reduce organ elasticity. Fibrosis is closely related to the process of ageing, which generates chronic inflammation resulting in fibrosis.

Chinese researchers hope to create ‘real AI scientists’

With the help of a predictive AI approach, a protein abbreviated as TNIK emerged as the top anti-fibrotic target. The team then used a generative chemistry engine to generate about 80 small-molecule candidates to find the optimal inhibitor, known as INS018_055.

“[The inhibitor] exhibits desirable drug-like properties and anti-fibrotic activity across different organs … through oral, inhaled or topical administration,” the scientists wrote.

The study “provides evidence that generative AI platforms offer time-efficient solutions for generating target-specific drugs with potent anti-fibrotic activity”, they said.

“We believe that this study underscores the strength of AI-enabled drug-discovery approaches, which will likely revolutionise drug discovery.”

‘Extra pair of eyes’: Hong Kong researchers find AI helps doctors spot tumours

The company said the simultaneous phase 2a clinical trials of INS018_055 taking place in China and the US with 60 patients each will evaluate its safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics – how the body interacts with a substance over time – as well as its preliminary efficacy on lung function in IPF patients.

When asked about the importance of artificial intelligence in the drug discovery research, Insilico’s AI chatbot, which is based on ChatGPT, said: “By streamlining the initial stages of drug discovery, AI enables us to reach the clinical trial phase more rapidly, focusing resources and efforts on these critical stages of development.

“While AI has the potential to accelerate early-stage drug discovery tasks such as target identification and lead optimisation, it does not substantially reduce the duration of clinical trials. Clinical trial phases still require extensive time for ethical and regulatory approval, patient recruitment, treatment duration and data analysis,” the chatbot said.

Are China and Vietnam on collision course over Beijing’s ‘creeping’ demarcation in Gulf of Tonkin?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255245/are-china-and-vietnam-collision-course-over-beijings-creeping-demarcation-gulf-tonkin?utm_source=rss_feed

Vietnam’s inaction to China’s demarcation of its territory in the Gulf of Tonkin where the two countries have unresolved maritime boundaries could be a sign of Hanoi’s desire to discuss the issue behind closed doors.

Analysts say China’s move may not comply with international maritime conventions, adding that Beijing’s “creeping” encroachment shows that it is aiming to assert greater control over an important body of water.

On March 1, Beijing released a statement showing a set of seven base points that, when connected, form the baseline for its territorial claims in the Gulf of Tonkin, known as Beibu Gulf in China.

The demarcation is in line with the Law on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone promulgated by China in 1992, according to Chinese state tabloid The Global Times, citing the ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs.

The department said on its official WeChat account that the move was necessary to exercise China’s sovereignty and jurisdiction.

Hanoi’s low-key approach may be central to muted confrontations with Beijing

Located in the northwestern part of the South China Sea, the Gulf of Tonkin is enclosed by Vietnam’s northern coastline and China’s southern territories including Hainan Island.

Baselines are crucial reference points under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or Unclos. Central to maritime claims, baselines define the outer limits of internal waters and form the basis for marking maritime zones such as a country’s exclusive economic zone.

Troy Lee-Brown, Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia Defence and Security Institute, said the lack of an official response from Vietnam was likely due to Hanoi’s wish to discuss the issue with Beijing in private.

“This new baseline could complicate earlier agreements and other day-to-day maritime activities and endeavours such as fishing,” he warned, adding that some maritime experts are concerned that the new Chinese baseline might be a violation of Unclos.

“If things change from the current demarcation line agreement between the two countries, that might be a worse set of circumstances for Vietnam. You would think Hanoi would need to defend its current entitlements by challenging China’s baseline,” Lee-Brown added.

Vietnam’s pact with China is ‘window dressing’ under its flexible approach

Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow at the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based in Washington, DC, said Vietnam may not have reacted because of a maritime agreement signed by the two countries two decades ago.

“This change amounts to a clarification of the jurisdictional status of [China’s] waters within boundaries already agreed by the two parties in their 2004 maritime boundary and fisheries zone treaty,” Kardon said.

The agreement followed years of negotiation and debates regarding the rights of China and Vietnam to the maritime areas and resources in the Gulf of Tonkin.

‘

However, China’s latest demarcation turns a large part of the northern South China Sea into its internal waters in what were formerly areas undefined by Beijing, according to Kardon.

China’s baseline has been significantly “pushed out” from its coast and is some 24 nautical miles beyond what would constitute “normal” basepoints under Unclos.

The “creeping” demarcation appears to be an attempt by Beijing to assert greater control in an important body of water, Kardon added.

“This move should be seen as an inevitable step towards completing China’s maritime legal regime, and we should expect the last area without baselines – the [disputed] Spratly Islands – to be next on the list when conditions permit,” Kardon said.

Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Programme at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said Vietnam might not have fully grasped the potential impact on its interest resulting from China’s action.

“It might refrain from publicly commenting on the issue until all aspects are clearly understood,” he said, adding that since the new baseline grants China broader claims over its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, this could further complicate the maritime situation in the Gulf of Tonkin.

It might also serve as “leverage” for China in negotiations with Vietnam on separate South China Sea issues, Giang noted.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong last December, both countries agreed to promote consultations on joint maritime development and negotiations on the delimitation of sea areas “beyond the mouth” of the Gulf of Tonkin, according to a joint statement.

Both sides also agreed to “refrain from actions that could complicate the situation or escalate disputes”, the statement added.

“China has a history of transforming undisputed areas into disputed ones then portraying itself as willing to engage in ‘joint development’ in regions where its claims clearly lack legitimacy”, Giang added.

In 2014, then Vietnamese ambassador to the United States Nguyen Quoc Cuong referred to Triton Island in the Paracel Islands and described “unacceptable” Chinese attempts “to turn an undisputed [Vietnamese] area into a disputed area”.

The diplomat said China’s deployment of an oil rig and escort ships in Vietnam’s waters was a serious violation of Hanoi’s sovereignty, adding that the Southeast Asian country has conducted oil and gas exploration and exploitation in its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone for decades.

Australia upgrades Vietnam ties to highest level amid US-China rivalry

In 2012, China opened international bidding for some oil and gas lots in an area that was globally recognised as the continental shelf of Vietnam but no foreign company took up the offer.

Due to the Gulf of Tonkin’s unique geography, China and Vietnam have overlapping exclusive economic zones and continental shelves in the area and these were laid down in their 2004 agreement, Lee-Brown said.

He considered the timing of Beijing’s announcement on its baseline in the Gulf of Tonkin as “odd”.

“I am not sure if it can be framed as being connected to other geopolitical issues.”

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‘Most beautiful golden flowers’: China auntie quartet shave heads, donate skin to save badly burned niece, 6, nephew, 4

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3254177/most-beautiful-golden-flowers-china-auntie-quartet-shave-heads-donate-skin-save-badly-burned-niece-6?utm_source=rss_feed

The heartwarming story of four sisters who shaved their heads and donated skin to save their little nephew and niece who were badly burned in a fire has gone viral on mainland social media.

A mother, from Shandong province in eastern China, was distraught when her six-year-old daughter, nicknamed Keke, and four-year-old son, Dandan, were injured when a fire ripped through their home on February 20.

The mother, Min, is the third of five daughters, and her four sisters insisted on donating some of their skin to help her children, Chao News reported.

The cause of the fire, which happened at about 4am, is not clear, but Min believes it broke out after she switched on an air conditioning unit where the children were sleeping.

Despite desperate attempts at rescue by Min and her husband, both children were badly injured and left unconscious.

The children remained in a coma for five days and had suffered severe injuries, including respiratory burns, respiratory failure, carbon monoxide poisoning, and multiple organ failure.

Keke and Dandan were transferred to a hospital in Beijing for specialist treatment, where the doctor told their parents that skin-grafting operations would be needed because of their extensive burns.

As soon as the couple told their family, they began having medical tests hoping to become skin donors. The results showed that Min and her four sisters were compatible donors.

“All five of us shaved our heads. I’d never imagined that one day I would be shaving my head, but I would do anything to save the children,” one of Min’s sisters told Chao News.

The siblings underwent skin donation surgery, which went smoothly apart from some unpleasant side-effects, such as fever and vomiting.

The video shows the five bald-headed sisters sitting together in bed.

On March 3, Keke, who had regained consciousness, successfully underwent a skin-grafting operation. Dandan was still unconscious.

The family’s story has touched many people on mainland social media.

“The five most beautiful golden flowers in the world,” said one online observer.

“Wonder women,” said another.

“The most lovely aunts in China in 2024,” said a third person, while a fourth said: “Great love is selfless.”

Sweden’s Ericsson denies exiting China market despite 5G equipment competition from Huawei, geopolitical tensions

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3255210/swedens-ericsson-denies-exiting-china-market-despite-5g-equipment-competition-huawei-geopolitical?utm_source=rss_feed

Swedish telecoms equipment giant Ericsson denied that it is withdrawing from the China market, even as local rivals including Huawei Technologies pose growing challenges in the country’s 5G equipment industry.

Ericsson said it “remains committed to its customers in mainland China”, after local media reported that the company is exiting the country, where it has been losing ground to domestic giants.

In a large bidding round last June, Huawei secured 52 per cent of the 5G contracts of China Mobile, the country’s top telecoms firm, involving more than 45,000 5G base stations and about 4.1 billion yuan (US$574 million) in sales.

Huawei’s domestic competitor ZTE came in second, winning about 26 per cent of the contracts. Ericsson, in third place, shared the remaining 22 per cent of contracts with China’s Datang and Finland’s Nokia.

Ericsson also faces rising geopolitical uncertainties in China, after Stockholm banned network operators from using Huawei equipment to build Sweden’s 5G network.

The company noted in its most recent financial report that uncertainties in the Sino-Swedish relationship is a major risk factor in its operations. “Further changes in economic and political policies in or relating to China” may “have a material adverse effect on the company’s business”, Ericsson wrote.

Sweden’s telecoms regulator in 2020 barred Huawei from selling 5G equipment in the country. Under the ban, local telecoms operators taking part in 5G auctions have until January 1, 2025, to remove Chinese gear from their infrastructure and core functions.

In response, Beijing has said it would “take all necessary measures” to defend Chinese companies overseas, stoking concerns that Ericsson could face retaliation in China.

Last year, Ericsson’s net sales fell 10 per cent from a year earlier to 263.4 billion kronas (US$25.73 billion), with sales in North America dwindling by 41 per cent as a result of reduced capital expenditure and inventory levels, according to its financial report published last week.

The company’s global headcount dropped more than 5 per cent to 99,952 from 105,529 during the year, mostly due to “cost-reduction activities”, the report said. Headcount in China fell nearly 8 per cent to 9,950 from 10,791.

Nokia set to exit joint venture with Huawei amid US-China tensions

In response to a Post inquiry, Ericsson declined to provide details on the lay-offs.

“Ericsson continually makes normal business adjustments,” it said in a statement.

Börje Ekholm, president and CEO of Ericsson, said the company “navigated a difficult mobile networks market” in 2023. The company is expected to adhere to its cost-saving strategy in 2024.

“We started reducing costs already in 2022 and at the end of 2023 we achieved a gross run-rate of 12 billion kronas in cost savings, in line with our target. We expect to continue to take out costs during 2024,” said Ekholm.

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Biden or Trump? China can’t pick its ‘poison’ to mend strained ties.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/13/china-united-states-trump-biden/2024-03-08T02:27:45.887Z

BEIJING — In the United States, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have launched presidential campaigns focused on how different they and their leadership styles are. But China sees very little contrast between the two of them.

Nearly every Chinese foreign policy expert agrees that neither is a great option for Beijing. Whether these experts, when pressed, pick Trump or Biden as the better of bad options often comes down to how salvageable or dispensable they consider China’s difficult relationship with the United States.

“Biden and Trump are like two bowls of poison for China,” said Zhao Minghao, a professor at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies. “No matter who comes to power, the pressure on China will continue to exist.” Relations are in a “structural and chronic depression,” he added.

Beijing fears that a Trump win on Nov. 5 would result in an all-out trade war — extending the one Trump launched in his first term — and derail its efforts to put a sluggish economy back on track.

But a Biden reelection, while offering continuity, would come with trade-offs for the Chinese Communist Party’s long-term goals of remolding the international order to its advantage. The likely diplomatic chaos of a second Trump term could provide another opportunity for China to drive a wedge between Washington and its allies.

Either way, the U.S. election is fueling the Chinese leadership’s deep dislike of instability.

“We don’t like uncertainty,” said Wang Yiwei, vice president of the Academy of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era at Renmin University. But for those in China who see relations with the United States as a contest, Wang added, Trump can “do more harm to the American system than to the current international system,” which remains by and large beneficial to China.

Soldiers, cops, cameras: China’s security state on show for Two Sessions

Xi Jinping, the powerful Chinese leader, regularly warns about “high winds and choppy waters” in a world of “changes unseen in a century” that threaten goals of national revival.

Chief among those sources of turbulence is China’s fraught relationship with the United States. Frustration with Washington and its allies was a clear undercurrent during the annual eight-day meeting of the top leadership that concluded in Beijing on Monday.

On the sidelines of the event, Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, accused Washington of “constantly renovating its methods of suppressing China” and targeting Beijing with “bewildering” levels of recrimination.

Chinese officials have been careful to avoid openly favoring a U.S. presidential candidate for fear of accusations of election interference, but few Chinese foreign affairs experts see ties between the countries improving dramatically under either Biden or Trump.

Instead, the election is often cast here as being inherently destabilizing for China, regardless of who wins.

The American election is China’s largest external threat in 2024, the Center for International Security and Strategy, a think tank at prestigious Tsinghua University, concluded in a recent report.

Candidates “acting tough” on China throughout the campaign would almost certainly undermine the positive momentum of a meeting between Xi and Biden in San Francisco late last year that was aimed at stabilizing relations, in part because Beijing’s meddling has “already been treated as a fact that doesn’t need verification,” the report said.

A recent U.S. intelligence report said China, having improved its capabilities in covert influence operations and disinformation, may attempt to interfere in U.S. elections this year “because of its desire to sideline critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions.”

Trump the ‘nation builder’?

For China’s leaders, whether Trump or Biden would better serve Beijing’s interests is a question of tactics: How can Beijing best take on its main rival?

Xi has made clear his ambition for China to play a leading role in shaping global affairs. But the Chinese foreign policy establishment remains torn about whether Beijing should directly and immediately challenge the leadership of the United States for a shot at supremacy.

Theories of American decay have taken hold among many Chinese nationalists, who are increasingly convinced that China’s time is now.

Here’s why China is sending pandas back to the United States

They are impatient with the American-led world order and often support Trump because they believe his return would undercut Washington’s international standing and create an opening for Beijing to extend its influence into the vacuum left by an inward-turning United States.

These nationalists like to call him “chuan jianguo” — “Trump the nation builder” — where the nation in question is China. For these sarcastic fans, Trump’s trade policies backfired and spurred on Chinese patriotism and efforts to become “self-reliant” in core technologies such as semiconductors.

On Chinese social media, videos of Trump mocking Biden are among the most-watched clips about the U.S. election, with comments calling for an impersonation to be featured in China’s widely watched Spring Festival show. “If Trump got on Douyin, he would immediately gain 100 million followers,” one user wrote, referring to the domestic Chinese version of TikTok.

“If I had to choose, I’d say Trump, frankly speaking, would be more beneficial to China,” Jin Canrong, a scholar at Renmin University said in a video on Douyin. According to Jin, Trump would undoubtedly want to give China a hard time, but would lack the strength because of domestic opposition for being a “white supremacist” and international opposition for being an “isolationist.”

Not everyone here is sold on a Trump victory being a clear-cut win for China. The Republican front-runner has threatened to levy tariffs of 60 percent or more on Chinese goods if he wins another term.

“The benefit most likely will not outweigh the cost for China, given the damage he will inflict on U.S.-China relations and on China specifically,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington. “Under Trump, there is no floor to U.S.-China relations.”

Some Chinese establishment scholars urge caution about taking on the United States in a time of intense international turmoil. One wrong step, they warn, and China could miss its shot at global leadership. It’s better for China, they say, to ride out crises such as the war in Ukraine or fighting in the Middle East from the sidelines.

Nationalists who cheer on Trump overestimate Beijing’s ability to assume a stance similarly powerful to America’s in the international order, said a Chinese government adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.

“Being a leader has a lot of advantages, but it also has a lot of responsibilities,” the person said. “China’s not ready. It’s far from that. We don’t have the experience or a system of values that’s accepted universally or even the necessary hard power,” meaning military might and financial dominance of the U.S. dollar.

Biden may have continued with strategic competition, but at least there is more communication now after things got so bad by 2020 that “the two sides could not even sit down and talk,” said Ren Xiao, a former Chinese diplomat who is now director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Foreign Policy at Fudan University.

Yet Biden, having done more to rally U.S. allies to join trade controls and other measures against China, is considered by some to be greater threat for China’s interests in the long run.

The thing about Biden, said Huang Rihan, a professor at Huaqiao University in Xiamen, is that he is “nian huai” — meaning to appear genuine on the surface but to secretly harbor malicious intentions.

Biden and his team “say one thing in public but [do] another behind the scenes. Not only do they constrain China from every side but they also pretend to be impartial and selfless,” Huang said. “Relatively speaking, Trump is more honest than Biden. He says what he thinks deep down.”

Li reported from Seoul and Kuo from Taipei, Taiwan.

Why China’s 5 per cent GDP target has failed to reassure Asia

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3255100/why-chinas-5-cent-gdp-target-has-failed-reassure-asia?utm_source=rss_feed

When Chinese leaders announced a 5 per cent growth target on March 5, they probably didn’t expect to have to defend it.

Global asset managers complained that more “forceful” steps are needed to boost growth and combat deflation. And disappointment was felt in some Asian markets that had hoped for a more vigorous response.

The figure of around 5 per cent isn’t the problem. It’s that neither President Xi Jinping nor Premier Li Qiang appear to have an urgent plan to achieve it. No large-scale stimulus, no fresh strategies to address the property crisis or youth unemployment, and zero new tactics to recoup trillions of dollars in stock losses since 2021.

Xi and Li did indeed telegraph important reforms to come, during the National People’s Congress meeting. Plans to generate “new productive forces” will see Beijing developing game-changing industries from electric vehicles to renewable energy. This could mean a great leap forward for innovation and growth.

Yet the economy needs a solid foundation first. In a March 7 report, Fitch Ratings raised the spectre that underlying cracks in China’s foundations could lead to a “severe downside stress scenario” that would have a “dampening effect on international price pressures”.

Nowhere is this stress test a greater concern than in Japan, which narrowly avoided yet another recession. Japan’s gross domestic product contracted 3.3 per cent year on year in the July-September period last year, but grew 0.4 per cent between October and December despite an initial estimate of a contraction. In January, household spending plunged 6.3 per cent from a year earlier, the sharpest drop in 35 months.

The only thing arguably falling faster than economic sentiment in Japan is Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s approval rating, which now hovers around 20 per cent. Losing hope that China will be exporting growth makes it harder for Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party. It also complicates the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) ability to begin normalising interest rates.

Over in South Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government is struggling to keep growth from falling below last year’s 1.4 per cent as export markets dry up. On top of China’s downshift, South Korea is finding it can rely less and less on Europe as economic powerhouse Germany struggles to keep recession at bay. In the US, the Federal Reserve doesn’t seem ready to cut rates several times this year as widely expected.

Southeast Asia’s most export-reliant economies are having to make things up as they go along. Already, purchasing managers’ data in Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar are below the 50 mark, which means activity is contracting. Thailand’s, in particular, came in at just 45.3 in February.

At the moment, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are in the black in terms of manufacturing activity, but arguably not for long as Chinese import demand craters and deflationary pressures persist.

This latter risk explains why so many economists can’t help but see China’s tomorrow through the lens of Japan’s yesterday. Missing during last week’s economic conversation at the National People’s Congress meetings were signs that Beijing would avoid Tokyo’s mistakes.

When Japan’s “bubble economy” imploded in 1990, the BOJ and Ministry of Finance were slow to grasp the fallout to come. China can’t afford a similar blunder. Just as Fed officials in Washington erred by thinking US inflation was “transitory”, the People’s Bank of China is making a mistake in thinking deflation will take care of itself.

What does Xi’s hi-tech push mean for China?

This denial leaves Asia with too many wild cards to contemplate. One is the trajectory of China’s currency when the weak yen is giving Japan a big competitive advantage. Might Xi direct the PBOC to engineer a more stimulating exchange rate?

If so, it would further complicate export dynamics from Seoul to Singapore. Already, there are fears that the ways in which China is flooding the electric vehicle market with cheap offerings will widen to other key sectors.

Then there’s the geopolitical minefield ahead of the November US presidential election. Expect President Joe Biden to continue layering on fresh moves to limit Chinese access to semiconductors and other vital technology.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, promises to impose a 60 per cent tax on all Chinese goods if elected again. Beijing is sure to expect the unexpected should the front runner for the Republican nomination return to the White House, especially since the continuing fight between Biden’s Democrats and Trump’s Republicans over funding a US$34 trillion national debt already has Moody’s Investors Service threatening to take away America’s last AAA rating.

All this matters because global shocks may stress-test China, too. If events in Ukraine, the Red Sea or with Sino-US relations deteriorate and slam world markets, neither China nor much of the rest of Asia seems ready to withstand the increased turmoil.

Hitting a Chinese economy as unbalanced as the one Xi and Li are leading could prove disastrous. Between the default drama plaguing property, a stock market some on Wall Street worry is “uninvestable” and the US$9 trillion mountain of local government financing vehicle debt, now hardly seems the time to test China for weaknesses.

Unfortunately, the NPC has done little, if anything, to demonstrate China is fixing cracks in the financial system to support new efforts to raise its economic game. Nor does Beijing seem willing to deploy stimulus to head off deflationary forces in the short term.

It’s not what officials from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur had hoped to hear from Beijing. But the message is loud and clear: neighbours, you’re on your own.

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‘Throwing eggs’ card game guandan takes China’s public sectors by storm

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3255197/throwing-eggs-card-game-guandan-takes-chinas-public-sectors-storm?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese card game that is fast becoming an essential social skill within the communist party system looks set to rise to the status of a new national sport, while there are also moves to spread its appeal around the world.

The poker-style game guandan – which means “throwing eggs” because of the way players slam their cards on the table – was even mentioned at last week’s “two sessions”, the annual political meetings in Beijing.

Qiu Huakang, vice-mayor of Huaian city in Jiangsu province and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, proposed that guandan should be designated as the game’s official English name.

The game originated in Huaian in the 1960s and giving it an official English name could help it to become just as popular in other countries, according to Qiu.

In an interview with Guangdong-based media outlet Southern Metropolis on Friday, Qiu said guandan could become a cherished international intellectual sport, based on how popular it is in China.

China’s Xi calls for loyalty and honesty from younger officials amid low morale

The South China Morning Post spoke to eight contacts from a range of government bodies and state-owned enterprises, who all said guandan has taken public sectors across the country by storm since it was embraced by bureaucrats in Beijing.

Junior and senior party officials alike in the capital love to play guandan at after-work gatherings and its popularity has spread to government agencies, state-owned enterprises, the military and academia, said the sources, who asked not to be named.

The game “has become an essential social skill within the communist party system”, partly because of its popularity “above”. “If high-level leaders show preference to something, those below will inevitably pursue it even more,” one contact said.

An official contact, who declined to be named because of the matter’s potential sensitivity, told the Post that “many senior leaders know guandan and love to play it”.

Another official contact said it requires good teamwork to play the game well, making it a good way to forge trust.

The game is designed to enhance communication among colleagues and could also serve as a preclude to conversations before talking with senior leaders or colleagues about more important work-related subjects, he said.

China’s bureaucrats turn to AI, handwriting robots to cope with paperwork

Contacts from state-owned enterprises said that new employees are eager to learn how to play guandan to socialise with their colleagues and forge bonds with their supervisors faster.

Four players, two full decks including jokers, and a square table are the only requirements. The players form pairs which compete against each other to get all the cards out before their opponents, using some of the same terminology as poker.

Each player starts with 27 cards, with red jokers highest. Apart from straight flushes and a full house, guandan also features bombs – with four jokers in a trick making the best bomb.

Losers have to give their best card in “tribute” to the winners in the next round, while the winning players can select a card to “return the tribute”.

China’s anti-corruption watchdog says it targeted 110,000 officials last year

The game’s popularity has coincided with the start of a second decade of President Xi Jinping’s signature anti-corruption drive, which has increased the risks for party officials of being targeted for “lifestyle” issues – such as golf and fancy meals.

But guandan is an intellectual game that is easy to learn and is not designed for gambling. The game appears to be regarded as a safe and correct way for party cadres to entertain and relax.

Guandan also earned a nod from the country’s top sports administrator which organised the first nationwide guandan tournament last year. The final round, featuring more than 80 players from 11 cities, ended in January.

‘Instant karma’: China social media fascinated by strange death of Thai man impaled on Buddhist statue during violent rampage through temple

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3254315/instant-karma-china-social-media-fascinated-strange-death-thai-man-impaled-buddhist-statue-during?utm_source=rss_feed

A man in Thailand who met a bizarre death during a drug-fuelled rampage inside a Buddhist temple has captured nationwide attention in China and sparked a discussion about instant karma.

On February 27, the 49-year-old man, who was under the influence of drugs, went on a chaotic and violent spree inside a temple, assaulting monks and smashing holy statues.

Concerns that he could be armed prompted the police to remain outside the place of worship at first.

However, an unsettling silence soon compelled them to venture inside the temple.

When they did so, police were shocked to find the man dead, in a pool of blood with a Buddha statue pierced through his chest.

Further investigation revealed that the man had tried to climb upon and vandalise the tallest Buddha statue in the hall and had slipped and fallen onto the sharp end of another statue below.

The impact pierced his chest and lungs.

The strange manner of his death has captured nationwide attention in China, where profound reverence for Buddha is deeply rooted in the spiritual life of people.

Throughout history and contemporary society, the tradition of “burning incense and worshipping Buddha” is cherished in China, and is regarded as a ritualistic practice to communicate with ancestors and deities.

The tradition typically involves burning three incense sticks to honour the Triple Gem: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Participants are expected to avoid making loud noises and demonstrate devotion and sincerity by ensuring they have clean hands before chanting, kneeling, and maintaining focus during the rituals.

The practice can also extend to burning six or nine sticks of incense, with six sticks signifying blessings for two generations, and nine representing the same for three generations.

The man’s blatant disrespect for Buddha, followed by his grisly end, has prompted many to reflect that he was the victim of instant karma on mainland social media.

On online observer said: “Is this the legendary avatar of Buddha?”

“Buddha could not watch anymore and directly took him out,” said another.

A third person said: “This is definitely instant karma, immediate retribution.

“Please do not act recklessly in temples, in front of monks and nuns, or even Buddha statues. The consequences of karma are immensely significant, and this is a very real example.

“While faith is a choice, one may choose not to believe, but please show respect. Please remember this well!”

US and China, though still entwined, are likely to cut their ties further in 2024, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3255151/us-and-china-though-still-entwined-are-likely-cut-their-ties-further-2024-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed

China and the US are still more connected than almost any other pair of countries in the world in 2023 despite diminishing ties, but that scaling-down may accelerate this year amid US elections and regional conflicts, analysts have concluded.

While the world’s two largest economies have seen widespread drops in direct flows in terms of trade, capital, information and people in the past years, such shifts represent “less a decoupling and more a reduction of what had previously been an unusually high level of integration”, according to the DHL Global Connectedness Report 2024, which was released on Wednesday.

“The US and China entered the current period of tensions with an unusually high level of ties between them,” said Steven Altman, an author of the report and the director of the DHL Initiative on Globalisation at New York University.

China was dethroned as the top source of US imports in 2023, for the first time in 17 years, after being outpaced by Mexico, according to US Census Bureau data.

“The share of US imports coming from China now matches the share of the rest of the world’s imports coming from China,” Altman said, adding that “the data on direct US-China flows understate how connected these economies remain because of substantial increases in flows taking place via third countries”.

In several areas, the report found, the two countries remain more connected than one might expect given the vast geographic distance, along with their substantial institutional and cultural differences.

In 2023, researchers in the US still collaborated with partners in China on 12 per cent of their international publications, and the share of Chinese researchers working with US partners accounted for 17 per cent of their total international publications. Both figures are higher than the share of publications from research in the rest of the world developed with co-authors in the US, which is 8 per cent, or China, at 6 per cent, it said.

But the academic exchanges between Chinese and American researchers have also been increasingly shadowed by geopolitical tensions. Earlier this year, Florida International University confirmed it was severing several partnerships with Chinese universities, including a two-decades-old hospitality programme with the Tianjin University of Commerce.

No end to US trade war with China, Biden policy document signals

The most likely scenario this year is a continuation of US-China ties gradually diminishing, Altman said.

“But a more rapid fraying of US-China ties could follow a significant escalation of tensions, with the US elections and conflicts raging in various parts of the world increasing the risk of a sudden spike in tensions,” he said.

“Regardless of whether current trends continue, accelerate, or even reverse, it is important to keep in mind that the US-China flows continue to be so large that in the absence of an extreme shock, a full decoupling remains very unlikely.”

New trade restrictions could be imposed in this US presidential election year as both political parties aim to demonstrate they are tougher on China, further intensifying bilateral trade relations, said Sheng Lu, an associate professor at the University of Delaware’s department of fashion and apparel studies.

In January, the volume of US apparel imports from China rebounded despite a ban on all imports from Xinjiang – a key cotton producer in China – surging 13.5 per cent from the month the previous year.

That led to China achieving a 39.7 per cent US market share in apparel imports – a nearly 7.4 percentage point increase from a year earlier, said Lu, citing data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel at the federal International Trade Administration.

The surge was accompanied by substantial declines in the price of “made in China”, as the unit price of US apparel imports from the country declined in January by 20.8 per cent compared to their average price in 2019, Lu said.

“With a weak domestic economy, China is increasingly ‘dumping’ cheap products to the world, threatening the survival of the US textile industry and garment suppliers in other countries,” Lu said.

“These contrasting and unusual trends provide narratives that could be used to justify a tougher US policy stance on China,” he said. “It seems unlikely that the current US trade barriers for products from China will be removed any time soon.”

Stone tools unearthed in China suggest ancient humans in East Asia were less isolated than earlier believed

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255174/stone-tools-unearthed-china-suggest-ancient-humans-east-asia-were-less-isolated-earlier-believed?utm_source=rss_feed

Anthropologists have long believed that the movement of ancient humans with advanced cognitive abilities from Africa to East Asia took place much later than that to other areas in Eurasia.

As far back as 1.7 million years ago, sophisticated stone tools with standardised shapes and manufacturing techniques had already emerged in East Africa. Yet, according to prevalent anthropological theory, it took another million years or so for such progress to reach East Asia.

Some studies suggested that this delay was due to prolonged isolation from the rest of the world.

But the recent discovery of a collection of stone artefacts in northern China challenges that theory, according to researchers in Spain and China who studied the find.

The belief that early humans in East Asia had only simple technological skills, and made basic and non-standardised stone tools, “has long been controversial”, the team said in their paper for the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Evidence from the palaeolithic – or Old Stone Age – Cenjiawan site, in the Nihewan basin in China’s northern Hebei province, suggests that the dispersal of advanced early humans to East Asia took place at least 300,000 years earlier than previously believed, the researchers wrote.

Chinese scientists find new clues about prehistoric humans – and many surprises

The discovery shows that hominins with “advanced technical abilities” – or “Acheulean” technology – may have “occupied East Asia significantly earlier than previously believed”, lead author Ma Dongdong from the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of History said.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology also took part in the study.

Researchers have been collecting evidence from the Cenjiawan site since 1986, including stone cores, flakes and tools dating back to 1.1 million years ago, according to a press release from the journal. Flakes are pieces of rock struck off to be used as tools, while the original rock is called the core.

But the absence of any hand axes, “the first widely accepted, intentionally shaped stone tool” in archaeological finds in East Asia from this time period drove the hypothesis that early humans here remained in a mode 1 techno-complex, Ma said.

He was referring to a grading system used by archaeologists for human technological and tool development, where mode 1 is the first level.

Acheulean sites elsewhere around the world are a step above at mode 2 technology, and commonly show the presence of hand axes.

While hand axes have also been found in Chinese sites in recent years, some researchers believe they differ from the European and African Acheulean tradition, Ma said.

However, the latest study challenges the focus on hand axes as a determiner for Acheulean technology, due to the presence of other complex tools at the Cenjiawan site.

“Prepared core technology” is a process to control how flakes are removed from stone cores to make standardised tools, and requires “a thorough knowledge of stone properties and advanced planning skills”, Ma said.

“Compared to the simple techniques of early tool production, prepared core technology represents a significant advancement in cognitive and technological capabilities [of early humans].”

The tools, stone flakes and cores found at the Cenjiawan site were regular in shape and followed a specific production scheme that the researchers were able to recreate, according to the paper published last week.

The team believes the absence of hand axes at the site can be explained by the low quality of raw materials in the area, as well as environmental conditions that favoured smaller tools compared to the hand axe.

“It is widely accepted that the hominins that first dispersed from Africa into East and Southeast Asia were associated with mode 1 technology,” the paper said.

It is believed that these early humans in East Asia experienced evolution isolated from populations in Africa, Southern Europe and the Indian subcontinent for over a million years, it said.

‘Dragon bones’: did early humans in China collect ancient fossils for fun?

However, despite the lack of hand axes as an indicator for Acheulean technology, the authors said that evidence of prepared core technology at the Cenjiawan site – consistent with widely accepted mode 2 early human abilities – should prompt a reconsideration of this theory.

The earliest human occupation of China is believed to date back to around 2 million years ago. The authors said it was possible that there were also multiple migrations of early humans from Africa to East Asia during the early Pleistocene era, some 2.6 million to 700,000 years ago.

[World] Massive fireball rips through Chinese restaurant

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68551403Reports say a gas leak at a fried chicken shop may be behind the blast, which killed two and injured 26.

What is Xi Jinping’s vision for finance with Chinese characteristics? | News

https://www.economist.com/news/2024/03/12/what-is-xi-jinpings-vision-for-finance-with-chinese-characteristics

China’s markets are in trouble and the Communist Party is blaming the bankers. It has told them to abandon “hedonistic” lifestyles, and regulators have moved to curb transactions that they consider “ill-intended”. Now, China’s bankers face new orders: to develop a “financial culture with Chinese characteristics”.

David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, examine these new directives and ask: what is Xi Jinping’s vision for finance with Chinese characteristics? And where does that idea come from?

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China could use TikTok to influence US elections, spy chief says

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/13/china-tiktok-us-election-influence-avril-haines-us-house-of-representatives

China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections, the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing.

Asked by Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi if China’s ruling Communist party (CCP) would use TikTok to influence the elections, Haines said “we cannot rule out that the CCP would use it”.

Lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app, including pushing content to stoke US political divisions.

Krishnamoorthi is the ranking Democrat on the House select committee on China. He and that panel’s Republican chair Mike Gallagher last week introduced a bill that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans.

The House is due to vote on Wednesday under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to vote “yes” for the measure to win passage.

TikTok, which says it has not and would not share US user data with the Chinese government, argues the House bill amounts to a ban.

President Joe Biden said last week he would sign the bill, but the app is popular and getting legislation approved by both the House and Senate in an election year may be difficult.

It was unclear if China would approve any sale or if TikTok could be divested in six months.

The 2024 annual threat assessment of the US Intelligence Community released on Monday said TikTok accounts run by a Chinese government propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the US midterm election cycle in 2022.

Also speaking at the House hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray repeated his assessment that TikTok posed national security threats.

“Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data,” Wray said, adding that it could ultimately “compromise their devices”.

One dead and more than 20 hurt in China after blast tears down four-storey building near Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3255188/one-dead-and-more-20-hurt-china-after-blast-tears-down-four-storey-building-near-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

One person was killed and many more were injured when a blast near Beijing early on Wednesday tore down a four-storey building.

A government statement said the blast occurred at 7.54am in Sanhe county of Langfang in northern Hebei province, which neighbours the country’s capital.

It said the blast – suspected to have been caused by a gas leak – occurred at a fried chicken restaurant in Yanjiao, a town in Sanhe.

Sanhe emergency department said one person had died and 22 had been hurt from the blast by 10.43am, and the municipal fire department had sent 36 vehicles and 154 personnel to the scene.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the fire at the explosion site was under control and that rescue work was still under way.

Videos posted on Weibo social media showed huge clouds of grey smoke rising from the scene and engulfing the site, making it difficult to see surrounding buildings.

The explosion destroyed building facades and cars and left glass scattered across nearby streets. Some objects at the scene were on fire.

Residents told local media the gas service in the nearby area had been suspended and it was not clear when it would be restored.

More to follow ...

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China-Australia relations: Beijing proposes to end wine tariffs in ‘coming weeks’ Canberra says, as ties strengthen

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3255158/china-australia-relations-beijing-proposes-end-wine-tariffs-coming-weeks-canberra-says-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

Australian vintners and lawmakers said China proposed lifting punitive tariffs on the nation’s wine, signalling the end is near to a three-year trade dispute as both countries seek to strengthen ties.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. referenced China’s plan in an exchange filing on Tuesday, adding that the final decision will be made in the “coming weeks.” The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing did not respond to a question about when they would release the report.

“The interim recommendation to remove tariffs on Australian wine is a welcome development,” Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell said in a statement on Tuesday. “It vindicates the government’s preferred approach of resolving trade issues through dialogue rather than disputation,” he added.

As China ponders lifting tariffs, Australian winemaker eyes long-term growth

In a separate statement, Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged to continue to push “for all remaining trade impediments to be removed.”

Removing the import taxes would help revive a billion-dollar Australian market and put an end to Beijing’s years-long campaign of punitive trade actions to try to influence policy in Canberra. Before tariffs of up to 218 per cent were imposed on Australian wine in March 2021, China was Australia’s largest market for vintners, accounting for A$1.1 billion (US$728 million) in 2019.

“This is a positive step towards resuming trade with what was formerly our largest export market,” said Lee McLean, chief executive of Australian Grape & Wine Inc., who said the industry remains hopeful about Beijing’s proposed removal of the tariffs.

“We are optimistic yet cautious with this news as there is a very large job for Australian winemakers to reinvigorate this market after three years of being out of it,” said Mitchell Taylor, third-generation winemaker at Taylors Wines.

Despite the challenge, Taylor said this is a “big win” for the industry, which has been under enormous pressure as it sought to adjust to changing economic circumstances.

With the lifting of the wine tariffs now highly likely, China is on the brink of ending its trade campaign against Australia, as the interim plan unveiled on Tuesday becomes the latest in a slew of positive developments. China’s Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian this week said “things are moving on right tracks with the right direction” on the wine tariff review. Last month, Farrell made similar remarks.

The wine tariffs were part of a series of trade curbs to punish Canberra for actions including calls by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison for an international probe into the origins of Covid-19. Australia withstood the backlash from its largest trading partner, even as the specific industries targeted were hurt.

Australia’s ability to ride out the trade tensions, with effectively no public concessions to Beijing, raises questions about the effectiveness of China’s campaign.

Australia struggling to offload 2.8 million wine bottles as China tariffs bite

The tariff news comes at a good time for local wine producers as Australia is struggling with historically high inventory levels, according to a report by Wine Australia.

In August, Rabobank estimated it would take at least two years to work through a glut. At the time, the bank estimated Australia had 2.8 billion bottles of wine in storage – enough to fill 859 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“Before the trading issue, we exported 150 cases of wine a year,” said Alex Xu, a director of the Royal Star Wine Company. “Now we only export 10 containers to other countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and India. But these markets aren’t as profitable as the Chinese market.”

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Japan to shore up security support for Pacific Islands in ‘significant’ policy shift as China looms

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255124/japan-shore-security-support-pacific-islands-significant-policy-shift-china-looms?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan’s Defence Minister Minoru Kihara will hold talks with peers from Pacific Island nations next week over security support, as Tokyo steps away from decades of Pacific policy to counter China’s dealmaking in a remote but strategically crucial region.

The March 19 talks with 14 South Pacific Island countries and Western allies will pave the way for a leaders’ meeting in July, in what some experts say could become the largest Japanese security-focused move in the Pacific Islands since World War II.

The talks will tee up security and police agreements ahead of an expected agreement to be signed at the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) this July in Tokyo.

The efforts come as China pours money and time into Pacific nations in exchange for dropping diplomatic recognition of Taiwan – China recently flipped Nauru’s loyalty.

Beijing regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province to be brought under mainland control – by force, if necessary.

The talks are expected to involve Japan’s Self-Defence Forces and police taking part in local and regional responses as well as training, a dramatic departure from previous post-war policies.

“Since World War II, Japan has focused on infrastructure, resource management and governance. The deployment of ‘self-defence forces’ would be a significant step change,” said Meg Keen, director of Australia-based Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program.

Japan aims “to protect critical sea routes in the region, lucrative fisheries, and its preferred rules-based order”, she added. “All will benefit, but some Pacific Islands leaders are wary of unspoken drivers for Japanese engagement, including balancing Chinese power and influence.”

What can Japan offer Pacific nations amid growing Chinese influence?

The meeting comes after the US Congress belatedly approved US$7.1 billion for the northern Pacific Islands of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands as part of a long-standing funding deal called the Compacts of Free Association (Cofa).

The deal followed a five-month impasse which alarmed these three states over promised Cofa funds to pay for infrastructure, healthcare and education, and led to warnings from Palau President Surangel Whipps Jnr, Micronesia President Wesley Simina and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, who sent a joint letter to Congress, saying China was using the gap to influence the region with money and support.

But the Cofa payout shores up exclusive US military access to a vast patch of seas between the Philippines and Hawaii, giving it missile and military facilities in exchange for sending billions of dollars on education, healthcare and infrastructure across the partner nations.

Signing the deal on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the agreement as a guarantee of tight relations for “the next two decades”, while Whipps Jnr called it “wonderful news”.

Japan has been seeking to extend its influence across the Pacific as it takes a more front-footed approach in its neighbourhood.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Tuesday vowed to provide “offer-based” financial development to nations rather than wait for them to ask for it, in a policy pivot making foreign aid one of its “most important diplomatic tools” which would help keep the Indo-Pacific “Free and Open”, according to Japanese media.

From mitigating climate change to disaster response, Japan has a lot to offer in the Pacific arena, according to Hideyuki Shiozawa, head of the Pacific Island Nations Program Team at the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

“While the idea of countering China exists conceptually, [Japan’s] actual actions will contribute to the self-reliance, disaster resilience, stability and development of the Pacific Island countries with or without China,” he said.

“Japan can support the strengthening of maritime law enforcement capacity against IUU [illegal, unreported and unregulated] fishing, transnational crimes such as illicit drugs. And in each country, Japan’s police post system [koban] can contribute to domestic stability.”

Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga already have their own defence forces, with cooperation agreements with Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

The need for security support is most urgent in Papua New Guinea, which saw its capital burn with deadly riots in January and a tribal massacre in the Highlands in February leave more than 60 dead.

But any outside security measures carry risks in a nation scored by deep tribal rivalries and awash with arms, experts warn.

“Police are needed and desired by the communities in the Papua New Guinea Highlands, and especially by women. [But] police, and especially foreign police, would be inserting themselves into something that they do not understand,” said Papua New Guinea tribal warfare expert Michael Main, a researcher at Australia National University.

“And police risk their lives as they are outnumbered and outgunned, facing an opponent that does not recognise either their moral authority or the authority of the state.”

Why is Donald Trump now defending TikTok in the US, the popular China-tied app he once sought to ban?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3255155/why-donald-trump-now-defending-tiktok-us-popular-china-tied-app-he-once-sought-ban?utm_source=rss_feed

Former US president Donald Trump has markedly changed his tune on TikTok, the popular short-video app that he once sought to ban over concerns about its Chinese ownership.

Throughout his term in the White House and in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election, the presumptive Republican nominee with a reputation for mercurial moves has repeatedly touted his toughness on Beijing, citing trade tariffs he pushed the US to impose on China that remain in place.

But as legislation that could ban the social-media platform from the US moves at lightning speed through Congress, he has now spoken out against such an action.

Trump’s public U-turn coincides with his recent meeting with a billionaire Republican megadonor deeply invested in ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok.

It fuels innuendo and speculation among pundits that business interests are driving the former president’s positions on the matter.

Trump has argued of late that if the US were to shut the door on TikTok, competitors like Facebook would reap undue advantage.

“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said in an interview on Monday.

Asked about his earlier concerns about the app, Trump replied that “there’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad” with TikTok. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.”

But in 2020, as president, Trump signed an executive order to get the app removed from all US app stores while also telling ByteDance to divest within 90 days.

A federal court ruled against the push, calling it “arbitrary and capricious”. The ruling was hailed by TikTok supporters who argued that the ban would have violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment guaranteeing free speech.

TikTok gets thumbs up in China for ‘tough stance’ against US lawmakers

Now American lawmakers from both parties are again ramping up efforts to do away with TikTok, which has about 170 million US users, over renewed fears around data privacy, foreign influence and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

On Tuesday, Avril Haines, America’s director of national Intelligence, told a House intelligence committee that Beijing could tap into TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections.

“We cannot rule out that the CCP would use it,” Haines said, referring to China’s Communist Party.

And earlier this month, leaders of the House select committee on the CCP introduced a bill calling for either a divestiture of TikTok by ByteDance or an outright ban.

The House is expected to vote on Wednesday on the legislation, which unanimously cleared an energy and commerce committee vote last week. US President Joe Biden later said he would sign the bill if Congress approves it.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to visit Capitol Hill this week to meet with members of Congress in a last-ditch effort to halt the bill in the Senate.

While many congressional Republicans have voiced support for the measure, some in the party have aligned with Trump’s reversal.

Former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, for instance, said “all forced-data transfers to the CCP, regardless of ownership” needed to end, posting on X (formerly Twitter). Ramaswamy has endorsed Trump’s 2024 bid for the White House.

“Bashing TikTok is easy. Understanding the actual issue is harder,” Ramaswamy also wrote, saying American tech companies like Google and Facebook were likewise transferring private-user data to domestic and foreign governments.

Meanwhile, ByteDance has spent millions in lobbying since Trump’s failed executive order.

ByteDance values its shares higher in latest buy-back offer for staff

The Chinese tech giant last year spent more than US$8 million in its quest, according to Open Secrets, a Washington-based non-profit group that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying.

That outlay dwarfed what ByteDance spent in 2019, when it first reported payments to federal lobbyists and doled out just US$270,000.

In 2021, the year after Trump said he intended to ban TikTok, the tech company spent a whopping US$4.7 million on lobbying, according to Open Secrets, and last year its expenditure nearly doubled to US$8.7 million.

American media have linked Trump’s change of heart to billionaire conservative donor Jeff Yass, who reportedly has a 15 per cent stake in ByteDance.

Experts warn that Trump’s stance could hurt his tough-on-China image, and some conservative media outlets have already criticised him for “putting China first”.

TikTok told to break with China’s Communist Party or lose access to US users

The reversal is a recent development. Just a week ago, Trump publicly patched up with a conservative anti-tax lobbying group called the Club for Growth following a feud over their backing different candidates in the 2022 US Senate primary contest in Ohio.

In February last year, the rift turned so ugly that Club for Growth’s president, David McIntosh, told reporters that the Republican Party “should be open” to alternative 2024 US presidential candidates to Trump.

The ex-president in July retorted that the non-profit group should be called the “Club for No Growth”.

Yet on February 7, Trump reportedly hosted McIntosh for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a Politico report.

McIntosh then flew with Trump to a campaign event in South Carolina, whose Republican presidential primary election took place weeks later on February 24.

On March 3, Trump spoke at the club’s annual economic retreat, also held in Florida. At the event, attended by several Club for Growth donors, Trump professed that he was “back in love” with the group’s leadership.

Around that time, another meeting took place at Trump’s compound. This time the guest was Jeff Yass, a top donor to Club for Growth, according to data available on Open Secrets.

Yass’s net worth in 2023 was estimated at US$28.5 billion, according to Forbes, having built his fortune trading stocks. In 1987, he co-founded Susquehanna International Group, a privately held investment group, and serves as its managing director.

In 2022, Yass made donations totalling about US$49 million to interest groups backing various American conservative political candidates, according to Open Secrets.

Of this amount, US$19 million went to Club of Growth. Last year, Yass donated about US$16 million to the group. All told, since 2020 the megadonor has given about US$130 million to American political action committees and the Club for Growth, Open Secrets data showed.

US executive order to keep Americans’ personal data from ‘countries of concern’

What is more, Yass’s 15 per cent stake in ByteDance translated into roughly US$21 billion, according to an estimate by the Wall Street Journal – some 75 per cent of his total net worth.

Subsequent to the House bill’s introduction on March 5, Yass was making calls to Republican members of Congress, warning them that a ban on TikTok would result in their losing future donations, according to a March 7 report by the New York Post.

Susquehanna did not respond to a request for comment. But a spokesperson for Yass was quoted by the New York Post as calling such suggestions “categorically false”.

Analysing Trump’s about-face, an opinion piece by the Washington Examiner, a conservative newspaper, said the “answer appears to be a simple one”.

“In this case, Trump has recently been feted by the billionaire conservative donor Jeff Yass. Yass owns a stake in TikTok and wants to avoid any divestment that might damage his financial interests,” it stated.

Trump says would impose tariffs on China again if re-elected in November

“Put simply, Trump supported a ban, then, after receiving Yass’s patronage, immediately opposed a ban.”

Caitlin Chin-Rothmann of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said Trump’s “flip-flopping could hurt his ‘anti-China’ image among Republican politicians and possibly cause confusion for members of Congress who might be on the fence about banning a popular app” in an election year.

Trump’s claim that a ban on TikTok would “double the size” of Facebook’s business was highly unlikely to prove true, she added.

“It is theoretically possible that Trump has personal or business interests that could influence his policy proposals,” said Chin-Rothmann, noting numerous conflict-of-interest claims arising while he was president.

“But we can only speculate [as] to his reasoning at this point.”

China’s foreign policy: from passive engagement to proactive pragmatism?

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3254956/chinas-foreign-policy-passive-engagement-proactive-pragmatism?utm_source=rss_feed

Wang Yi, one of China’s most seasoned diplomats, took the stage at China’s “two sessions” last Thursday to explain the strategic framework of the country’s foreign policy, underscoring a year of perceived diplomatic triumphs and charting the course for a more assertive global stance in 2024.

Wang navigated an array of international concerns, from the war in the Middle East to Sino-US relations and infrastructure projects. His narrative was not just a defence of past actions but a declaration of China’s intent to shape the future of global diplomacy, embodying China’s increasing shift from passive engagement to more proactive pragmatism.

The opening question, from state-owned television broadcaster CCTV, gave Wang the chance to list “China’s most impressive diplomatic achievements” from 2023. Instead, he spent almost half of his answer articulating China’s diplomatic strategy for 2024.

He emphasised China’s plan to “be more confident and self-reliant in cultivating the features of China’s diplomacy”, which include “acting with a strong sense of historical responsibility and a vibrant spirit of innovation”; being “open and inclusive”; consolidating and expanding global partnerships; showing great moral responsibility; and being “more unequivocal”.

This articulation suggests an evolution in China’s foreign policy approach, reflecting a proactive stance similar to traditional US engagement but also raising questions about what major power diplomacy should look like in a multipolar world.

China’s tendency towards pragmatism in diplomacy has occurred in parallel with shifts in US foreign policy. China’s diplomacy is based on economic cooperation and development initiatives with various parts of the world, including most countries in the Global South.

China aims to build strategic dependencies through economic investments, positioning itself as an indispensable partner. China’s involvement in conflicts – which has at times been a source of frustration for the United States – is relatively reluctant. Yet, as it ascends to major power status, China finds itself increasingly drawn into global issues that it previously sidestepped, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or conflicts in the Middle East. Despite this shift, China’s engagement remains distinctly pragmatic.

This attitude was visible in Wang’s answers to the questions he fielded. His first pick after CCTV was a representative from Rossiya Segodnya, a Russian state-owned media company, which asked about China-Russia relations. In response, Wang was unambiguous, saying that “maintaining and growing the China-Russia relationship is a strategic choice by the two sides based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples”. His reply reflects China’s increased readiness to publicly support its strategic choices.

Wang also went on the offensive with regard to the US, saying that “US promises are not truly fulfilled … if the US says one thing and does the other, 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’s pointed critique of the US suggested that such discrepancies weaken the US’ global standing and challenge its ability to effectively engage with and influence international partners and adversaries. While China has often attacked perceived gaps in US foreign policy and values, positioning itself as a more reliable and stable global actor in contrast, these critiques are usually more oblique when coming from top leaders.

Later in the press conference, Wang advocated for Palestine’s full UN membership and endorsed a road map for a two-state solution. His comments highlight China’s departure from previous attempts to portray itself as a neutral mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, instead expressing explicit support for the Palestinian cause. This reflects a willingness to actively take stances on global disputes rather than solely maintaining a neutral or mediating presence.

Altogether, Wang’s statements portray a China that is increasingly confident in its diplomacy and foreign policy. It sees 2023 as a year in which the US was mired in two unwinnable wars while China helped broker peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia. China believes its diplomatic strategy is working and will move forward with success in mind.

If Wang’s proactive rhetoric is truly indicative of China’s diplomatic strategy for 2024, it is a sharp departure from the more passive role that China held previously. China has benefited from what are arguably diplomatic missteps by the US during the past year.

Several of the events that China counted as victories were less the result of active measures and more about the benefits reaped from a passive stance. China found itself in more advantageous positions not necessarily through deliberate action but by virtue of simply observing and waiting for the outcomes of US efforts in the international arena.

Great power lite? Why China is reluctant to wade into the Red Sea crisis

Equally significant, China’s diplomatic strategy offers a contrast to US diplomacy, which is increasingly framed within a democracy versus authoritarianism narrative. This divergence is especially pronounced against the backdrop of US internal dynamics, such as vicious domestic politics and the re-emergence of figures such as former US president Donald Trump.

China’s focus on practical outcomes and strategic partnerships highlights a path of engagement that favours multilateralism and prioritises stability and economic growth over political alignment. However, the appeal of partnering with China for third-party countries must be weighed against the backdrop of strong US alliances and China’s tendency for non-committal support.

As countries navigate increasingly treacherous landscapes, the challenge for China lies in demonstrating that its approach can offer advantages equal to those provided by the US. The question that remains is whether China’s vision of proactive pragmatism actually develops, as Wang suggested it has, “from a promising vision to practical outcomes”.

Pentagon needs to become more nimble to counter China threat, US lawmakers are told

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3255152/pentagon-needs-become-more-nimble-counter-china-threat-us-lawmakers-are-told?utm_source=rss_feed

The US Defence Department has a big budget, lots of fancy equipment and impressive capabilities, but if it does not drastically increase its ability to incorporate technology, make decisions faster and spend in the right places, it will lose any future war with China, witnesses at two congressional committees testified on Tuesday.

The warnings came as Republicans and Democrats engage in fierce partisan bickering over defence, intelligence and social welfare budgets, amounts and priorities, even as China announced last week a 7.2 per cent increase in defence spending, prioritising the People’s Liberation Army over other sectors.

“This contest to rapidly adopt commercial technologies is an all too level playing field with our competitors. China also has access to world-class technology companies and the PLA is working to [upgrade] its forces” both technologically and organisationally, said Paul Scharre, executive vice-president of the Centre for a New American Security, in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon “cannot lead in 21st century technologies with a 20th century bureaucracy”, he added.

On the other side of the Capitol building, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the House Select Intelligence Committee that President Xi Jinping is counting on technological innovation to counter China’s many economic headwinds even as it struggles with high youth unemployment, slowing growth and a property crisis.

“President Xi’s emphasis on control and central oversight is unlikely to solve the challenges posed by China’s endemic corruption, demographic decline and structural economic constraints,” Haines said. “And over the coming year, tension between these challenges and China’s aspirations for greater geopolitical power will probably become all the more apparent. And given its ambitions, Beijing will continue to use its military forces to intimidate its neighbours and to shape the region’s actions.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US House testimony by top intelligence officials with the DNI, CIA, FBI, State Department and National Security Agency officials came the day after a parallel hearing before the Senate.

Recent Russian purchases of artillery and other weapons from North Korea have spurred concerns over the expanded ties between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. While enhanced links between authoritarian states improve their capability and partially insulate them from international pressure, individual parochial interests will limit cooperation and ensure that collaboration advances incrementally, Haines said.

Pentagon bid to boost funding in Pacific seen as welcome move in region

Witnesses said the US needed to sharpen its game in a range of military areas to better counter China. These include: strengthening strong alliances to further leverage its range and capabilities; better coordinate its restrictions on semiconductors and other hi-tech exports that have Chinese military applications; and improving its supply base to produce the hardware needed for an effective deterrent.

“I would not hold a great degree of confidence in our ability to predict that China will not use force in the western Pacific over the next several years,” Hal Brands, a global affairs professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told the Senate committee, citing the importance of preparation. “The reality is that the scale of the PLA build-up is just such that I worry we are losing rather than gaining ground.”

The US also must spend as much time understanding China as China devotes to studying the US system, others said. This recommendation comes, however, as the number of American students studying in China drops sharply and expert ties decline.

“We are in a long-term strategic competition with China and Russia. Ultimately, this competition is not just a rivalry of military or economic power but also a competition of ideas,” said Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. “The US could lose without fighting. Just as Chinese leaders have studied America’s way of war, we need to study theirs.”

Witnesses also cited the danger of foreign tampering in the US presidential election in November, with Russia the biggest threat but China also a factor. “We cannot rule out” that the Chinese Communist Party would use social media app TikTok to influence the vote, Haines said.

In a report released on Monday, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said the US defence industrial base lacked the capacity, responsiveness, flexibility and surge capability to meet US military production requirements as China increases its own production capabilities.

US bid to ‘outcompete’ China yields its largest-ever defence budget

“China’s defence industrial base is operating on a wartime footing, while the US defence industrial base is largely operating on a peacetime footing,” the report said.

China’s investment pace is five to six times faster than the US in munitions, high-end weapons systems and other equipment and has a shipbuilding capacity 230 times larger than America’s, the report added.

“It’s true that technology is absolutely critical to winning wars. But what matters most is finding the best ways of using the technology,” said Scharre in his Senate testimony. The Pentagon “is still stuck in a mindset from the 1960s”.

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China’s shipbuilding industry wants Beijing all aboard in bid to bridge tech gap with US, S Korea

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3255121/chinas-shipbuilding-industry-wants-beijing-all-aboard-bid-bridge-tech-gap-us-s-korea?utm_source=rss_feed

China needs to ramp up its research in advanced marine materials to consolidate its role as a global shipbuilding leader while striving to narrow the technological gap with the US and South Korea, according to an industry leader and adviser to Beijing.

Although China continues to maintain an overall edge in the world’s shipbuilding market, the development of advanced shipbuilding and supporting industries, especially new materials technology, still lags behind developed countries, according to Wang Qihong, director of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s 725 Research Institute.

The gap has significantly curtailed China’s shipbuilding prowess and international competitiveness, he has said in interviews with state media, reiterating similar warnings by the corporation’s chief engineer last week.

“China can basically achieve self-sufficiency in general marine engineering equipment and material support for mainstream ships, but there is still a big gap in basic research on advanced materials for high-value ships and in extreme working conditions,” said Wang, who is also a delegate to the National People’s Congress, referring to liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, large cruise ships, and polar research vessels.

Despite US sanctions, Chinese shipyards experience record growth: report

In particular, South Korea still has a commanding lead in high-value-added orders, such as for LNG carriers.

Last month, a team of researchers from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry found that China was still unable to manufacture five key components for such vessels, which store LNG at extremely low temperatures.

While key materials and technologies are mainly in the hands of developed countries such the United States, Japan, South Korea and in Europe, China still relies on imports. And Wang noted that problematic issues in the engineering process, such as those concerning corrosion protection, tend to be addressed only when they arise. Or as he put it, “treating the head when the head aches, treating the foot when the foot aches”, rather than curing the underlying cause.

Last year, China solidified its position as a dominant player in the shipbuilding industry by accounting for 50.2 per cent of the world’s completed volume, 66.6 per cent of new orders, and 55 per cent of backlogged orders, pushing the nation’s market share to a historic high.

According to Clarkson Research, a provider of shipping and trade data, China overtook South Korea as the top receiver of global shipbuilding orders in 2021 in terms of annual volumes.

Wang said the lack of basic research, coupled with weak and unstable investments, plus difficulties faced by research institutions, are all detrimental to the steady development of material research.

To address the problems involving fundamental research into ship and marine materials, Wang called for more high-profile demonstrations that would raise public awareness while keeping the “focus on the research and application of new ship and marine materials”.

China’s roughly 3,000 NPC delegates frequently make suggestions, proposals and convey public sentiment to policymakers.

As South Korea clings to shipbuilding secrets, China must ‘turn somewhere else’

With China setting out to win the global shipbuilding race, major competitors are similarly stepping up efforts to secure a bigger piece of pie.

Last week, South Korea announced a five-year investment plan to expand its advantage in its pillar shipbuilding industry, valued at 9 trillion Korean won (US$6.75 billion), with three major Korean shipmakers – HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean – to secure a “superior gap” in the nation’s shipbuilding technologies.

China’s rising dominance in the shipbuilding industry has also riled up its largest rival, the United States.

The US Coast Guard is carrying out its biggest shipbuilding effort since World War II, modernising its polar-class icebreaker fleet.

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro also visited Japan and South Korea’s mega-shipyards in recent weeks to strengthen shipbuilding partnerships with American allies.

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US unions ask Biden administration to probe Chinese shipbuilding

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3255153/us-unions-ask-biden-administration-probe-chinese-shipbuilding?utm_source=rss_feed

Five US labour unions on Tuesday filed a petition with the office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai requesting a probe into China’s alleged unfair policies and practices in the maritime logistics and shipbuilding sectors, the USTR office said.

The petition was filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a statute aimed at combating trade partners’ unfair practices.

Trade practices are only one component of strains in US-China relations in recent years. Other contentious issues include Taiwan, spying allegations, human rights and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have seen the PRC [China] create dependencies and vulnerabilities in multiple sectors, like steel, aluminium, solar, batteries, and critical minerals, harming American workers and businesses and creating real risks for our supply chains,” the USTR office said in a statement, adding it will review the petition.

“China’s drive to dominate the global shipbuilding, maritime, and logistics sector is built on non-market policies that are far more aggressive and interventionist than any other country,” the unions said in their petition.

The five petitioner unions included the United Steelworkers.

The petition filed on Tuesday, which was first reported by the Financial Times, urged the administration of US President Joe Biden to impose port fees on Chinese-built vessels and with it create a fund to revitalise US shipbuilding.

The petition also raised concerns about Chinese software platform Logink that provides data on global supply chain logistics. The petition alleged the Chinese government-supported platform raised national security concerns.

Biden kept Trump tariffs on China because they help create US jobs: trade envoy

The administration of former US president Donald Trump imposed tariffs in 2018 and 2019 on thousands of imports from China valued at some US$370 billion at the time.

Biden retained the tariffs and added new restrictions, citing security concerns.

The USTR office said it will review the allegations from the unions and decide within 45 days whether they merit a probe.