• Canada conducts national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok
• China Nobel prize winner tarred as one of ‘three new evils’ amid rise in nationalist fervour
• EU approves laws on recycling and human rights that may sharply affect trade with China
• China’s foreign ministry brings in new press official from Xinjiang
• South China Morning Post wins 6 prizes at Hong Kong News Awards
• As Washington cracks down on Chinese businesses, their lobbyists come under fire
• Honda and Nissan join forces on electric car technology to chase Chinese rivals
• McDonald’s hit by ‘technology outage’ in UK, Australia, Japan and China
• China steps up crackdown on ‘misleading’ AI-generated content, ‘troubling phenomena’
• China said to fall short of matching US advances in AI owing to ‘many challenges in theory and technologies’
• Chinese patient receives world’s first pig liver transplant
• Former Hong Kong British Army barracks to be used to put Chinese culture on parade
• Is China’s state-led industrial policy on a perilous path? Some Beijing advisers warn of ‘detrimental’ implications
• Alibaba adds 11 apps to Huawei’s HarmonyOS, bringing Xianyu, Fliggy and more to China’s Android rival
• China sends first envoy to Palestine and Israel in direct push for Gaza war ceasefire
• Stumped: China doctors cannot reattach baby’s finger bitten off by pet rabbit as family fails to recover severed digit
• China’s ‘broker butcher’ vows to tighten IPO rules, curb excesses to sustain rebound in US$9.2 trillion stock market
• China vows punishments if business gripes are verified in State Council’s coming investigation
• China, Russia and Iran stage navy drills aimed at fighting pirates as Red Sea attacks escalate
• Beak power: how a toy that stumped Einstein is inspiring Chinese scientists to search for cleaner energy
• What makes style of teaching in China different from that of West? Post examines control vs critical thinking in education
• ‘Systemic’ China-US rivalry could last a decade: Washington envoy Nicholas Burns
• Fiji to stick with China police deal after review, home affairs minister says
• Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine picks ex-military commander as chief priest in move likely to anger China, South Korea
• China-India tunnel dispute, Hong Kong Article 23 bill unpacked, near-death experiences: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week
• Moon miss: two Chinese test satellites fail to reach orbit after rocket’s upper stage falters
• China and other emitters can cut methane emissions if they want to: IEA report
• Crouching tiptoe ‘angel squat’ pose of famous China actress widely copied on social media, sparks injury warnings
• Taiwan firms in mainland China turn ‘more cautious’ with investments as cuts and offshoring increase, survey finds
• France’s parliament votes to slow down fast fashion, with eye on China’s Shein
• China wants to win the race in science with Manhattan Project-like campaigns. It may not work, some experts warn

Canada conducts national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/canada-tiktok-national-security-review

Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.

In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September 2023.

“We have launched a national security review [of TikTok],” he told reporters.

“Once we have completed that,” he said, “we’ll inform Canadians about any actions that we decide to take with respect to that particular topic.

“I’ll have more to say when our review is completed,” the minister added without saying when that would be.

Champagne noted a March 2023 announcement that foreign investments in Canada’s interactive digital media sector would face “intense scrutiny”.

Those found to be “propagating disinformation or manipulating information in a manner that is injurious to Canada’s national security” could face mitigation measures or even a ban, according to the policy statement.

The Canadian review is not related to a proposed US bill that would force its Chinese owners to sell or see it banned in the United States.

That bill is partly fuelled by concerns over Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.

TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.

“We’re watching, of course, the debate going on in the United States,” the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Thursday after the US House of Representatives passed the bill, which still needs approval from the Senate.

Ottawa banned TikTok from federal government mobile devices in February 2023.

China Nobel prize winner tarred as one of ‘three new evils’ amid rise in nationalist fervour

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/16/china-nobel-prize-winner-tarred-as-one-of-three-new-evils-amid-rise-in-nationalist-fervour

At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common. But in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valour in cyberspace.

Last month a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan, accusing him of smearing the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China.

Wu, who posts online under the pseudonym “Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo”, is seeking 1.5bn yuan ($208m/£164m) in damages from Mo – one yuan per Chinese citizen – as well as an apology from Mo and the removal of the offending books from circulation. His lawsuit has not yet been accepted by any court.

Mo, who was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 2012, is best known for his novel Red Sorghum, which tells the story of three generations of a family in Shandong during the second Sino-Japanese war, known in China as the Chinese war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

Although there are elements in Mo’s books that would probably not be published in today’s more restrictive cultural environment, say experts, he is by no means a dissident. He is widely celebrated in China and is a vice-chair of the party-backed China Writers Association.

Although Mo hasn’t responded to Wu’s attacks directly, this week – in response to the “recent storm” – Chinese media outlets shared a video of him reciting a poem by the Song dynasty poet Su Shi about the struggles and joys of being a scholar despite setbacks.

In attacking such a venerated figure, Wu “wants to sound more Catholic than the pope”, says Dali Yang, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. And while some people have accused Wu of trying to boost his own social media clout, the fact that such a campaign is tolerated by China’s censors reflects the rising levels of online nationalism, which in recent years have reached dizzying heights of fervour.

Elsewhere on Weibo, netizens have been posting videos of themselves pouring away water from bottles of Nongfu Spring, China’s biggest bottled water company. The company’s crime? Using a design on its green tea drink that allegedly looks like a Japanese wooden pagoda. Another offending beverage, a brown rice tea, features on its packaging fish that allegedly look like Japanese koinobori, flags in the shape of carps.

The furore over Nongfu – whose founder, Zhong Shanshan, is China’s richest man – was sparked by the death last month of one of Zhong’s business rivals, Zong Qinghou, who was revered by nationalists. It soon spiralled into an all-out attack on Nongfu, with netizens criticising the drinks’ packaging as well as the fact that the company has US investors and that Zhong’s son is a US citizen.

“I’m patriotic, but you sell this Japanese stuff, I despise you,” said one Nongfu-hater outside a convenience store, in a video posted on Weibo. Some shops have reportedly stopped stocking Nongfu products and the company’s share price dropped by nearly 6% in the first week of March, although it has recovered slightly since.

‘Anti-intellectual culture’

“Traffickers in online nationalism have a vast audience from people who are pretty frustrated in terms of jobs, living standards and so on,” Yang notes. Analysts say online vitriol has been particularly intense since China’s zero-Covid regime kept tens of millions of people cooped up at home for the better part of three years, only to emerge into an economy battered by poor job prospects and weak demand.

Average hiring salaries in Chinese cities fell for three straight quarters in 2023. That has sparked resentment of the elites in some quarters, with a recent target being Tsinghua, China’s top university. Although it is generally regarded with admiration, recently some online have questioned why, unlike some 600 other Chinese institutions, it hasn’t been subject to sanctions by the US.

“You take so much money from the state, but you can’t even get on the sanction list of the ugly country, shouldn’t the people scold you?” wrote one Weibo user.

According to one outspoken Tsinghua law professor, Lao Dongyan, the online environment amounts to an “anti-intellectual culture” – unlike comments from many of the self-styled patriots, however, hers has since been deleted.

Eric Liu, a former content moderator for Weibo, says that while online witch-hunts are nothing new, “recently it has reached a level that surprised people”.

But it “hasn’t met any kind of obstacle of challenge” from the authorities, says Liu, who is now an editor for China Digital Times. And there is “no sign that it’s going to stop anytime soon”.

Additional research by Chi Hui Lin

EU approves laws on recycling and human rights that may sharply affect trade with China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3255622/eu-approves-laws-recycling-and-human-rights-may-sharply-affect-trade-china?utm_source=rss_feed

European Union members have endorsed a series of laws that threaten to significantly alter the bloc’s business relations with China.

On Friday, diplomats at the EU Council voted to adopt new rules that require big businesses to conduct human rights and environmental audits of their overseas suppliers.

They also approved a de facto ban on the import of recycled plastics from outside the EU, while earlier in the week European capitals voted in favour of a ban on products made using forced labour.

Cumulatively, the laws could hurt Chinese business interests in Europe and complicate operations for European firms in China. All three pieces of legislation have caused consternation inside and outside the bloc.

The supply chain rules, known as the corporate sustainable due diligence directive, passed on the third attempt, having been rejected by capitals in earlier meetings.

De facto EU ban on recycled plastics imports sparks row in Brussels

To garner support, the threshold was raised so that the law now applies to businesses with 1,000 employees, up from 500 before, with annual revenue of €450 million (US$490 million), up from €150 million before.

Chinese and other non-EU businesses will also be forced to comply if they earn large amounts of revenue within the bloc.

Analysis from the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations estimated the threshold will mean that 5,421 companies fall within the scope of the law, 70 per cent fewer than before.

High-risk sectors detailed in an earlier draft were also deleted from the law, which will be applied later than initially planned, in a bid to get more capitals on board.

The legislation raises a dilemma for EU businesses in China: how can they comply with Brussels’ demand for forensic audits while Beijing is imposing vague anti-espionage laws and controlling the flow of data out of the country?

German industrial lobbyists panned the law as a “further setback for Europe’s competitiveness”, after Berlin’s abstention failed to halt its passage.

“The approach of the Belgian council presidency and the rapporteur in the European Parliament to push the project through in the back room against all resistance and at all costs is unprecedented,” said Siegfried Russwurm, the president of the Federation of German Industries. “This caused massive damage to trust in the European institutions and in a proper legislative process.”

“Even a good intention does not justify a bad law,” Russwurm added.

EU reaches deal on forced labour ban, with China’s Xinjiang in its sights

EU lawmakers, meanwhile, have criticised member states for watering the rules down.

“The behaviour of the council and member states in recent months has been reprehensible and damaging to the credibility of EU decision-making,” said Heidi Hautala, a Finnish lawmaker and vice-president of the European Parliament.

Barry Andrews, an Irish MEP, said the amended law “would bring just 40 Irish companies within its scope”.

“This is not corporate accountability,” he added.

The recycling rules were voted through as part of broader legislation to reduce the use of plastics in the EU. France demanded the insertion of a “mirror clause”, meaning that firms in China and elsewhere in the world have to match standards applied to recycled plastic packaging in Europe.

This is intended to create a level playing field, as the EU is seen as the world leader in plastic recycling, with its companies having to foot associated costs.

But the move is also likely to drive up packaging prices and heighten criticism of “green protectionism” from China and developing countries.

France’s late demand created the unusual spectacle of the European Commission – the EU’s technocratic arm – privately urging member states to vote against the rules, arguing that the discrepancies in recycling standards would make the clause a de facto import ban.

However, the commission also assured diplomats that the rules fell within World Trade Organization rules.

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

The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU issued a statement opposing the recycling standards: “While we see the potential benefits of advancing recycled plastic technology and expanding the market for sustainable environmental development, we also acknowledge the need to remain mindful of possible trade disruptions and cost increases due to overly stringent packaging requirements.”

And on Wednesday, a majority of the EU’s 27 member states approved a forced labour ban that, while not naming China directly in order to comply with WTO rules, was written with Beijing in mind. China is accused of operating systemic state-sponsored forced labour in the western region of Xinjiang, charges Beijing denies.

All three laws now head to the European Parliament for final approval, in advance of June’s EU elections.

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China’s foreign ministry brings in new press official from Xinjiang

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3255587/chinas-foreign-ministry-brings-new-press-official-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s foreign ministry has appointed a new senior press official whose previous role was in Xinjiang – a flashpoint in ties with the West – as Beijing steps up efforts to push its own narrative to the world.

Career diplomat Lin Jian has been named as deputy director general of the ministry’s press unit, which releases information on diplomatic events and foreign policy.

The announcement was made on the ministry’s website on Friday, with Lin now holding the same administrative title as foreign ministry spokespeople Wang Wenbin and Mao Ning.

Lin has just finished a stint in the far western region of Xinjiang, where for several years he was Communist Party chief at the foreign office of state-run paramilitary organisation the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

During his time at XPCC, some of its top leaders were sanctioned by the United States and other Western nations in 2020 and 2021 over alleged human rights abuses against Uygurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in the region.

Lin was not among those sanctioned, but the list included XPCC party secretary Wang Junzheng, who is now the party chief of Tibet.

The European Union also imposed sanctions on XPCC’s public security bureau, accusing it of running detention centres and violating the human rights of Muslim ethnic minority groups.

China should end its low-profile diplomatic approach, senior envoy says

Lin, who is from Wuhan in Hubei, started his career in Europe. After graduating with a major in English from Beijing Foreign Studies University, he was sent by the foreign ministry to study in Denmark, according to Chinese media reports. He went on to work at the Chinese embassy in Copenhagen.

He later moved to Poland, serving as a political counsellor for the Chinese embassy in Warsaw.

Lin then returned to China to take up a job at the foreign ministry’s European affairs department, according to the ministry’s website.

He took up the post in Xinjiang after that, in late 2020. During his time at XPCC, Lin took part in talks seeking to boost exchanges in trade and tourism between Xinjiang and Hong Kong, according to a 2022 report on the website of the Hong Kong government’s Beijing office.

Beijing’s treatment of ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang has drawn mounting criticism from the West, with allegations it detained a million Uygurs and members of other Muslim minorities in re-education camps and forced them into labour.

Those claims have been strongly denied by Beijing, which says its security measures in the region are intended to counter terrorism and extremism.

South China Morning Post wins 6 prizes at Hong Kong News Awards

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3255610/south-china-morning-post-wins-6-prizes-hong-kong-news-awards?utm_source=rss_feed

The South China Morning Post has scooped up six prizes, including ones for Best News Writing (English) and Best Headline (English), at the 2023 Hong Kong News Awards.

City desk reporter Fiona Sun won first prize in the category of Best News Writing (English) at the Newspaper Society-organised event for her March 2023 feature on the stresses faced by carers looking after elderly and severely ill family members at home.

Subeditor Sariwati Latif also came away with first prize for her headline: “Writing on the wall for sensitive titles”. The heading was for a focus piece in May 2023 about the disappearance of books on the Tiananmen Square crackdown and publications from pro-democracy figures at stores and libraries over national security fears.

Production editor Matt Haldane and reporters Dylan Butts and Xinmei Shen bagged first runner-up in the Best Business News Writing (English) category for their joint feature from October 2023 on Hong Kong’s hurdles in becoming a cryptocurrency hub.

The place of second runner-up in the same category went to news editor (climate) Eric Ng for his November 2023 piece covering factors hindering the trading volume of Hong Kong’s first voluntary carbon credit market, Core Climate.

Victor Sanjinez of the Post’s infographic team was awarded merit for the category of Best News Page Design (Single Page) for his work in September 2023 on Bailu, or White Dew, one of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Senior designer Emilio Rivera also received merit in the Best News Page Design (Series) category for his piece on the Gaza-Israel conflict.

The annual awards by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong are considered the city’s answer to the Pulitzer Prizes for journalism, striving to recognise the outstanding achievements of journalists and raising professional standards.

The Post was among the newspapers that founded the society in 1954.

The awards consist of four sections – reporting, writing, photography and design – with a total of 18 categories.

The category of Best Short News Video was added last year.

As Washington cracks down on Chinese businesses, their lobbyists come under fire

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3255590/washington-cracks-down-chinese-businesses-their-lobbyists-come-under-fire?utm_source=rss_feed

In early February, a list made the rounds among Capitol Hill staffers. It named several Chinese companies and their Washington lobbyists, as well as the federal “entity lists” – which prohibit those entities from doing business in the US – that included those companies.

Titled “Buying Influence in Washington: The Top Firms Lobbying for China”, the list – it was unclear who had compiled it – highlights some big players in the Washington lobbying scene. These included the Vogel Group and Avoq, retained by Chinese drone maker DJI; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, retained by lidar maker Hesai Tech; and Steptoe & Johnson, retained by biotech firm BGI Group.

Also on the list were Chinese companies not currently named on any federal blacklists, including electronics maker Xiaomi, tech firm Quectel and electric vehicle manufacturer BYD.

The list, which the South China Morning Post has seen, coincided with reports that lawmakers are considering a ban on members of Congress from meeting lobbyists who represent Chinese companies with alleged links to China’s military – even if the meeting being sought is for an American client.

Turbulent US-China relations in recent years have led to growing concerns in Washington about China’s influence on policymaking. US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have pushed for more scrutiny into who is lobbying for Chinese companies. They accuse Beijing of using closely connected organisations and business to discreetly advance agendas that threaten US national security.

On Monday, Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who is vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Chinese had “gotten very good at hiring lobbyists and even deputising the corporate industry to come up here and lobby for things that are beneficial to the Chinese goals at the expense of this country”.

Rubio also claimed that “every company in China is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party”.

These apprehensions have placed US lobbyists who might represent Chinese companies in the line of fire. A number of bills introduced last year with bipartisan support to tighten foreign lobbying regulations are pending in the US Congress. With related concerns getting more traction in Washington, Tessa Capeloto of the Wiley Rein law firm predicted that the issue would “continue to make headlines” as the US government focuses on reforms.

It is within this environment that some lobbyists and their Chinese clients are parting ways.

Interpreted as free speech protected by America’s Constitution, lobbying is an effort to influence government policies, most often through legislators and members of regulatory agencies. Even foreign governments and companies are allowed to hire lobbyists to advance their interests in the US as long as they publicly disclose the activity.

The Foreign Agent Registration Act (Fara), enacted in 1938, requires persons who engage in political activities that are believed or intended to influence the US government or public about policy or other foreign interests to register with and disclose those activities to the Department of Justice.

Some US lawmakers and government officials argue that lobbyists use exemptions under Fara to secretly work for foreign interests. For example, a person already registered as a lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 – which does not apply to state, local, or foreign lobbying efforts – is not required to register as a foreign agent under Fara. Exemptions also include commercial activities and legal representation.

“The public ought to know if someone is using their lobbying disclosure to exempt themselves from registering as a foreign agent,” Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said in an email about the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act bill that he sponsored a year ago.

That bill, which the Senate passed, would require lobbyists to identify any link with a foreign government or political party that in any way participates in their lobbying.

Around that time, the Senate also approved the Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act, which proposed more disclosures regarding foreign lobbying. Both bills were introduced in the House the same month but have not advanced since then.

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who co-sponsored the bill, told the Voice of America earlier this month that lawmakers were close to completing work on lobbying legislation that ensures more transparency.

“The primary focus has been on making sure people register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act … There’s been a lot of problems associated with people not disclosing their lobby contracts with foreign countries,” he said.

Along with Grassley and four other Republicans, Cornyn also introduced the Paid Off Act bill in February 2023. It would require agents to register under Fara if they were making any lobbying efforts on behalf of countries of “particular concern”, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Syria. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations but no further action has been taken.

Cornyn said the lawmakers had “encountered some dissent but will continue to work because it’s important to understand who is actually lobbying these policymakers”.

Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House select committee on China, would go further, proposing to “ban federally elected lawmakers, senior-level government appointees, and high-ranking military officers from lobbying as foreign agents after they leave the government”.

In July 2023, Gallagher reintroduced a bill proposing a five-year lobbying ban on former government and congressional officials. After being referred to House committees, the bill has not advanced further.

To some observers, talk about lobbying reform is merely political theatre. Craig Holman of Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group, said there was no “enthusiasm” to actually pass these measures and that big multinational corporations continued to lobby against them.

Such corporations, Holman said, work through “secret back channels” since they “all make use of those exemptions ... especially the LDA exemption, where they can claim it’s just commercial activity or not on behalf of a foreign government, that their lobbyists don’t have to register as foreign agents”.

He claimed that lawmakers understand that such corporations are also their major campaign contributors – and therefore let such reform efforts die quietly.

According to Open Secrets, which tracks campaign finance and lobbying information, the Chinese government spent about US$26 million on US lobbying in 2023, down from more than US$50 million in 2022 and over US$68 million in 2021. Lobbying by Chinese businesses moderately increased from more than US$15 million in both 2021 and 2022 to over US$17 million in 2023.

But for Chinese companies lobbying is no guarantee of positive outcomes in Washington. ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, raised its lobbying expenditures from US$270,000 in 2019 to more than US$8 million in 2023. Despite that, the company could not stop House passage of a bill on Wednesday that would force it to divest the video-sharing app. That bill now heads to the Senate, and US President Joe Biden has said he will sign it into law.

US House overwhelmingly passes bill to force ByteDance to divest TikTok

Experts said that especially in the current Washington climate, lobbying for Chinese companies – either private or state-owned – carries reputational risks.

Lobbying can serve as a “bridge between companies and governments, and allow for a more efficient circulation of information and influence”, said Isaac Stone Fish, chief executive and founder of Strategy Risks, a data and research company that quantifies corporate exposure to China.

But on the negative side, he added, lobbyists can work for “a bad actor, or can improperly influence the government process by acting against national interest and in favour of, say, a pernicious Chinese company”.

Fish said that even the possibility that US lawmakers might shut their doors to lobbying for Chinese companies “might make American lobbying firms, especially the prestigious ones, think twice about publicly working with a problematic Chinese company or a state-owned Chinese company”.

“I think this is the US Congress signalling to businesses that there is a cost of these kinds of relationships,” Fish added.

In February, following the lobbying list’s circulation on the Hill, some major law and lobbying firms dropped some Chinese clients. A spokesperson for Akin Gump confirmed it had ended its representation of Hesai as well as of Xiaomi, a Chinese electronic goods manufacturer.

The spokesperson said Akin had not done any reportable lobbying for Xiaomi in several quarters and thus decided to deregister, but did not say why it had parted with Hesai.

Public disclosure filings show that Hesai hired Akin in August for “outreach and education regarding lidar technology”. The termination was filed on February 16.

In a statement to the Post, Hesai said the “termination with Akin was mutually agreed upon, as our focus has shifted”, without giving more details.

Xiaomi, which does not sell its devices in the US, was removed in 2021 from the Pentagon’s list of companies it alleged had links to the Chinese military. Hesai, which makes so-called lidar sensors for drones, remains on the list.

Huawei ends US lobbying operations after years of fighting ban

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, retained by Hesai in September, also terminated its lobbying on February 20.

According to Open Secrets, Hesai paid around US$150,000 to Brownstein Hyatt and US$240,000 to Akin for lobbying activities in 2023.

Around the same time, the Vogel Group, an international government affairs and consulting firm based in Washington, also deregistered two of its clients on February 21: the Chinese drone maker DJI and biotech company Complete Genomics.

Both DJI and Complete Genomics’ parent, BGI, are on the Defence Department’s blacklist; DJI was added to the list in October 2022, BGI on March 2023.

According to public filings, Vogel was paid around US$300,000 by Complete Genomics and more than US$400,000 by DJI.

The Washington law firm Avoq, retained by DJI in October, also terminated its lobbying engagement with the company on February 22, latest filings show.

The same day, Steptoe, another law firm hired in August by BGI and was paid US$270,000 in the second half of 2023, deregistered it as a client. According to the filings, lobbying issues ranged from the National Defence Authorisation Act to a bill that prohibited contracting with certain biotechnology providers.

In an emailed statement on the terminations and tightening scrutiny, DJI said it was “disheartening to witness public policy discussions swayed by political considerations rather than factual accuracy”.

However, it added that the company remained “committed to actively engaging with lawmakers to dispel any misconceptions about the brand”.

Fish of Strategy Risks noted that it was difficult to be a successful private company in China “without having ties or at least linkages and understandings with the party, which also includes the Chinese military”.

He said that Beijing prefers to exert influence, not through official lobbying, but through unofficial lobbying of what it calls “friends of China”.

He described the process: “Someone, say from a Chinese company or affiliated with a Chinese company, has a casual conversation with someone at a think tank, or at a government office musing about perhaps we should do something a different way.”

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said he was not familiar with legislative proposals to ban lobbying on behalf of Chinese companies but that “as a principle, normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and US companies should not be politicised”.

He urged Washington to “abandon ideological prejudice, stop overstretching the concept of national security or suppressing foreign companies and create an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies to invest and operate” in the US.

Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a Washington think tank, said that both Republicans and Democrats were “discussing ways to enhance transparency and ensure that Congressional offices are aware of these connections before engaging with such firms”.

“This isn’t about punishment; it’s about basic due diligence,” he added.

Honda and Nissan join forces on electric car technology to chase Chinese rivals

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/15/honda-and-nissan-join-forces-on-electric-car-technology-to-chase-chinese-rivals

Honda and Nissan have put aside the “traditional approach” of fierce rivalry to join forces and work together on electric vehicle technology as Japan’s carmakers try to catch up with Chinese competitors.

The Japanese manufacturers will work together on technology for EVs, including components and software, after signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday.

Honda and Nissan, respectively the country’s second- and third-largest carmakers behind Toyota, aim to cut costs by combining resources.

Traditional manufacturers are struggling to compete profitably with upstart rivals as the electric vehicle sector grows rapidly, adding significant development costs.

China’s BYD and Li Auto have gained market share in a competitive industry, alongside Elon Musk’s Tesla. Earlier this year, BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, overtook Tesla as the world’s top-selling electric carmaker.

Nissan was an early mover in EVs: its all-electric Leaf model became what it claimed was the world’s first mass market electric car when it was launched in 2009 from its Sunderland factory. But it has struggled to keep pace with Chinese players able to access cheaper raw materials and labour, as well as greater scale and potential customers.

Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida said: “Emerging players are very aggressive and are making inroads at incredible speed.

“We cannot win the competition as long as we stick to conventional wisdom and a traditional approach.”

Honda president Toshihiro Mibe said: “We are strapped for time and need to be speedy. In 2030, to be in a good position we need a decision now.

“The rise of emerging players is becoming faster and stronger. Companies that cannot respond to the changes will be wiped out.”

Honda and Nissan each sell more than 3m cars globally and the new partnership is expected across operations in Japan and overseas.

The agreement between the companies is non-binding, meaning the partnership could still fall apart, and does not involve any capital. It has been reported that, in late 2019, Japanese government officials tried to convince the carmakers to enact a full-scale merger to create a national champion, but the idea was swiftly rejected by the companies.

David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham business school, said: “It’s two Japanese laggards playing catch up. This highlights the threat from China to western car companies, including those in Japan, and the advantages that China has in being able to produce cars at 25% to 30% lower in price.

“The Chinese government has backed EV exports in a big way and you see more Chinese cars on the road as a result.”

In the UK, Honda closed its factory in Swindon in 2021 after 35 years. Nissan recently concluded production of the second-generation Leaf in Sunderland, with its successor expected to be made there from 2026.

Nissan last year moved to rebalance its troublesome partnership with Renault, with the French carmaker reducing its stake in the Japanese company to 43% and Nissan increasing the voting rights linked to its 15% holding in its partner company.

Renault used the proceeds to invest in its own EV unit, Ampere. Uchida has previously said that Ampere is viewed as “an enabler for Nissan to participate in new business opportunities in Europe”.

The pair loosened their two-decade long alliance after an astonishing corporate scandal which involved former boss Carlos Ghosn being arrested for allegedly underreporting his income and then later escape house arrest by hiding in a musical equipment box and fleeing via a private jet.

Although EVs are an established part of the market, carmakers and suppliers are still racing to develop the next generation of technology, including solid-state batteries which have been touted as a route to improve the range of vehicles, as well as the safety of the battery.

The industry is also at the centre of geopolitical tensions, amid political concerns about an overdependence on raw materials from China. Late last year, Northvolt, Europe’s only large homegrown electric battery maker, said it had made a “breakthrough” sodium-ion battery which could counter the problem.

McDonald’s hit by ‘technology outage’ in UK, Australia, Japan and China

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/15/mcdonalds-outage-australia-restaurants-update-details

McDonald’s restaurants in multiple countries including the UK and Australia have been hit by a “technology outage”, as the fast food chain denied it had been hit by a cybersecurity attack.

Services in Australia, the UK, Japan and China have been affected, with unconfirmed reports of problems elsewhere, with restaurant, drive-through and online orders affected.

A global spokesperson for McDonald’s said the company was working to resolve the unspecified problem.

“We are aware of a technology outage, which impacted our restaurants; the issue is now being resolved. We thank customers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Notably, the issue is not related to a cybersecurity event,” the spokesperson said.

A UK spokesperson for McDonald’s said the outage affecting restaurants had been “resolved” in the UK and Ireland. In the UK, the Downdetector site, which flags outages on apps, reported more than 600 outages on the app on Friday morning with a spike at about 7am.

In a post to X, a customer in Australia said it was “impossible to buy anything” via drive-through or online.

@abcnews Maccas is down, looks like the system has crashed. No problem, food is still available and you can pay electronically but not via the app it seems. pic.twitter.com/Kcjcc6ZVRg

— Derek Bell (He/Him) (@derek_bell) March 15, 2024

A McDonald’s spokesperson in Australia said the issue was “currently impacting our restaurants nationwide”.

The problem was also hitting Japan, with McDonald’s Japan’s X account confirming there was a “system failure” impacting stores.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and ask that you please wait for a while until the service is restored,” a translation of the social media post read.

【お知らせ】
現在、システム障害が発生しております。
お客様にはご迷惑をおかけいたしますが、復旧まで今しばらくお待ちください。

— マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) March 15, 2024

Many McDonald’s outlets in Japan stopped taking in-person and mobile customer orders because of a system disruption, according to a spokesperson for McDonald’s in Japan. McDonald’s has almost 3,000 outlets in the country.

In China, the hashtag “McDonald’s collapsed” was the fifth most popular search term on the country’s Weibo social media platform on Friday afternoon.

McDonald’s is one of the most popular western fast food chains in China, with more than 5,000 stores. However it’s main rival, KFC, has nearly double that number.

McDonald’s posted an update on Weibo on Friday saying that the problem had been fixed, adding: “Love having you back!” But several people commented that they had already bought a KFC meal instead.

In Hong Kong, the McDonald’s Facebook page said self-ordering kiosks and mobile phone orders were “not functioning” and asked customers to order at the restaurant counter.

There were also unconfirmed reports from social media users of problems in Germany and New Zealand, as well as news reports of problems in Sweden.

China steps up crackdown on ‘misleading’ AI-generated content, ‘troubling phenomena’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3255578/china-steps-crackdown-misleading-ai-generated-content-troubling-phenomena?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s internet regulator has promised to clean up “unlabelled and likely misleading” AI-generated content in its latest campaign, announcing a revised list of “prominent troubling phenomena” to be tackled this year.

In a statement on Friday, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) demanded that online platforms “remove accounts that use computer-generated technology for spreading rumours, marketing or hyping”. The country began an internet “clean-up” campaign in 2021.

HK$200 million lost in deepfake conference call scam in Hong Kong first

Last year, the administration introduced regulations on the use of deep synthesis technology, requiring service providers to ensure that any doctored content using the technology was “explicitly” labelled if the content could confuse or mislead the public.

The provisions were published jointly in 2022 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security.

Beijing has become increasingly concerned about computer-generated content that can be used to create deepfake videos, disinformation or scams.

China was the first country to regulate generative artificial intelligence and services like ChatGPT. But OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard remain unavailable in China.

Father of China’s Great Firewall raises concerns about ChatGPT-like services

In recent months, some police departments have published details of cases in which AI-generated misinformation was spread online.

On Thursday, China’s northwest province of Gansu cited on its official WeChat account a viral social media post about a 73-year-old retired teacher in a nursing home who died in bed with multiple wounds.

The authorities said the content was generated through AI to earn money through views and had “disrupted public order”. Other cases included an article about a “disastrous” earthquake and a post with pictures of a public gathering, both of which were fake and had disrupted the public, according to authorities.

In another case in the city of Dazhou in southwestern Sichuan province, a woman posted pictures of an “abandoned baby girl in Guizhou”, which police said had been generated by a man using AI to attract views. Both individuals were punished for having a “negative social impact”, according to a post on a police WeChat account on Monday.

A promising Chinese start-up rival to OpenAI’s Sora raises US$14 million

Besides tougher rules on AI-related content, Beijing has also clamped down on information deemed inappropriate for circulation on the internet, despite a “Great Firewall” that is already in place to restrict certain access to outside networks.

According to the CAC statement on Friday, authorities will “resolutely” crack down on common online practices that direct people to “illegal overseas web links” for information related to obscenities, gambling or “water armies”, a reference to fake commentators hired to sway online discussion.

Overseas web links in the mainland that are blocked by the Great Firewall are only accessible via a VPN.

Meta’s Threads tops China’s App Store despite Great Firewall ban

The top regulator also signalled a further crackdown on the “deliberate use of typos or homophones” – a common method used by Chinese netizens to get around censorship – to spread information that is “sexual, malicious or incites opposition”.

Other issues highlighted on Friday included defamation of businesses and entrepreneurs, unapproved online news platforms, and “fake or vulgar” content in live videos.

China said to fall short of matching US advances in AI owing to ‘many challenges in theory and technologies’

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3255545/china-said-fall-short-matching-us-advances-ai-owing-many-challenges-theory-and-technologies?utm_source=rss_feed

China is falling short of matching the United States in artificial intelligence (AI) advances because the nation’s efforts are “littered with many essential challenges in theory and technologies”, according to a recent slide presentation made to Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

Those difficulties were pointed out to Li during his recent inspection tour of the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI), a private non-profit organisation founded in 2018 that is engaged in AI research and development, according to a report broadcast by state-run China Central Television (CCTV).

The major hurdle faced by China’s generative AI initiatives, according to the presentation at BAAI, is excessive reliance on Meta Platforms’ Llama system, a family of large language models (LLMs) released in February last year. LLMs are the technology used to train ChatGPT and similar generative AI services, which are used to create new content including audio, code, images, text, simulations and videos.

The presentation said there is “a serious lack of self-sufficiency” in that area of Chinese AI development because most domestic LLMs are built on LLama. Facebook parent Meta in July last year made its open-source Llama 2 AI model free for research and commercial use.

That particular LLM shortcoming lends weight to growing anxiety around the idea that the mainland faces a widening gap with the US in terms of AI innovation, which was highlighted in a sideline discussion at the recent “two sessions” meetings in Beijing.

While state agencies are now working in parallel with private Chinese tech firms to develop a range of AI innovation, they still face problems related to computing infrastructure for training LLMs.

“Dozens of locally developed chips are different in terms of families and ecosystems”, making the 100-billion-parameter training for Chinese LLMs “very unstable”, the presentation said. US tech sanctions on China have restricted the mainland’s access to advanced semiconductors, made with American technology, for local AI development projects.

An LLM’s capability partly hinges on its number of parameters, a measure of the sophistication of a model. ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s LLM, for example, was trained on 175 billion parameters, while most open-source Chinese LLMs in the market have between 6 billion and 13 billion parameters.

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

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

Another major issue pointed out by the presentation at BAAI refers to control of AI-generated content.

It said the unique challenge faced by Chinese-developed LLMs is in generating “quality content that is in line with facts”, while also taking into account ideology and various emotions.

AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, are prone to generating inaccurate output, referred to as hallucinations.

In global AI race, China Premier Li Qiang vows more leeway to ‘overtake rivals’

Although CCTV did not identify the BAAI presentation’s author, the slides that were broadcast show the logo of start-up Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co (Zhipu AI). A representative of Zhipu AI on Thursday confirmed that the company was present during the Chinese premier’s inspection tour at BAAI the day before.

Zhipu AI, which forms part of the collaborative ecosystem that BAAI has been cultivating, said it has already built a 100-billion parameter scale LLM.

The firm raised a total of 2.5 billion yuan (US$347 million) in new funding as of October last year, when it achieved unicorn status with a valuation of more than US$1 billion. Investors included Tencent Holdings, Ant Group, Meituan, Xiaomi and Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.

Chinese patient receives world’s first pig liver transplant

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255588/chinese-patient-receives-worlds-first-pig-liver-transplant?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have successfully transplanted the first gene-edited whole pig liver into a human in a breakthrough that could help alleviate organ shortages.

The pig liver, which was edited to delete multiple genes associated with proteins that cause organ rejection, was transplanted into a brain-dead patient on Sunday.

The transplant liver’s blood and liver bile flow were all “good” and the patient showed no sign of organ rejection 96 hours after the surgery, according to a WeChat post on Thursday by the Air Force Medical University, the team’s home institution.

This transplant is the “first of its kind in the world”, the university said.

Chinese scientists create gene-editing tool that simplifies process in plants

Liver disease accounts for around 2 million deaths annually worldwide, according to a study in the Journal of Hepatology last year.

Up to 500,000 new patients in China face liver failure each year. The only cure for liver failure is a transplant, which many people die waiting for.

Xenogenic transplants – taking an organ from one species and putting it into another – offer an appealing solution as they do not rely on a supply of human donors.

This process, known as xenotransplantation, could “benefit more patients with end-stage liver disease, and may completely replace” human liver transplants, the university’s WeChat post said.

Researchers in the US have successfully transplanted gene-edited pig kidneys and hearts into brain-dead human patients.

But livers pose a bigger challenge. The organ is more complex in structure and function, and those from pigs “cannot completely replace the human liver”, according to the post.

To address this, the researchers and surgeons performed an auxiliary transplant – in which the patient’s original organ is kept alongside the transplant organ in the body.

The surgeons cut one of the large veins in the patient’s liver and attached the transplant liver to either end of the vein after it was removed from the donor pig and trimmed to a certain weight.

The team pioneered this method of attaching the transplant liver and ensuring good blood and liver bile flow. This “will become a new option for the clinical application of xenogenic liver transplantation”, the WeChat post said.

In trials, animals that receive xenogenic liver transplants survive for less time than those that receive hearts and kidneys from another species.

The researchers said that at this stage, xenogenic liver transplants are most suitable as a temporary alternative to human liver transplants or in cases where a patient’s liver function could be restored with the help of the pig’s organ.

“From this perspective, xenogenic liver transplantation has great clinical application value,” the university said.

Xenogenic transplants also pose ethical challenges, such as the breeding of a large amount of animals for their organs and the potential transmission of pathogens from animals, according to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, a UK-based independent policy and research centre.

Former Hong Kong British Army barracks to be used to put Chinese culture on parade

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3255591/former-hong-kong-british-army-barracks-be-used-put-chinese-culture-parade?utm_source=rss_feed

A piece of Hong Kong’s colonial military history is to get a new lease of life as an activity centre designed to promote Chinese culture.

Part of the former British Army Whitfield Barracks in Tsim Sha Tsui will be repurposed as part of a wider campaign to boost the public’s knowledge of the nation.

A new Chinese Culture Promotion Office (CCPO) will also get its formal launch next month to lead activities, including the first of what will be an annual Chinese Culture Festival this year, in a bid to boost the city’s “cultural confidence and sense of nationhood and national identity”.

The proposals were outlined in a paper prepared by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, scheduled to be discussed at next Tuesday’s meeting of the Legislative Council’s home affairs, culture and sports panel.

The paper said it was planned to “revitalise and reuse Block 58 of the former Whitfield Barracks in Kowloon Park, Tsim Sha Tsui, and build a new annex and related facilities in the vicinity to set up a Chinese Culture Experience Centre”.

The centre will be kitted out with exhibition galleries, activity spaces, cultural artefacts and study rooms and used to hold different kinds of activities and workshops on Chinese culture, intangible cultural heritage in particular, in an attempt to “shorten the historical distance between the public and traditional culture through personal experience, and facilitate the promotion of Chinese culture”.

The paper said the centre was scheduled to open in 2028.

Block 58, one of the handful of Grade 1 listed buildings left at the site, is at present used as storage for the Hong Kong Museum of History.

Whitfield Barracks, which once occupied the whole area of Kowloon Park, was handed over to the Hong Kong government in 1967 and redeveloped into open space.

Most of the barrack buildings, except four blocks, were demolished.

Hong Kong should promote, preserve its uniqueness to attract tourists: experts

Two of the blocks were converted into the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre in 2005. Another now houses the Health Education Exhibition and Resources Centre.

The experience centre is one of the CCPO’s first initiatives. The office will be run under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The CCPO is expected to hold an exhibition every year to celebrate the country’s development and achievements.

It will also organise about 200 sessions of activities to promote Chinese culture and history. It is estimated there will be an annual attendance of more than 700,000 participants for its programmes.

The Chinese Culture Festival will run between June and September when arts groups from a variety of Chinese provinces and cities - including Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian - will stage performances in the city.

The opening programme of the 2024 festival will be Beijing Dance Drama and Opera’s “Five Stars Rising in the East”.

The large-scale dance drama tells the story of a general in the ancient Han dynasty who led an army to defend the country’s western regions of the country and highlights the solidarity of the nation’s ethnic groups.

Hong Kong to set up ‘high-level patriotic education unit’ as national law passed

Film screenings, exhibitions and seminars will also be organised.

The paper predicted about 100,000 people would attend more than 100 sessions of activities during this year’s festival.

Xi Jinping, the Communist Party general secretary, highlighted the need for Chinese people to be confident about their history and culture in his report to the 20th National People’s Congress in 2022.

He also emphasised the importance of extending the reach and appeal of Chinese civilisation on a global basis and telling good stories about the country.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced in last year’s policy address that a museum to showcase the development and achievements of the country, covering such areas as its history, politics, economic development and culture, would be created.

Lee also announced the setting up of the CCPO to plan events to promote Chinese culture and history, as well as patriotic education.

Is China’s state-led industrial policy on a perilous path? Some Beijing advisers warn of ‘detrimental’ implications

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3255547/chinas-state-led-industrial-policy-perilous-path-some-beijing-advisers-warn-detrimental-implications?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s surging exports in alternative energy and its widening trade surplus are fuelling debate not only overseas but also in its own backyard over whether Beijing should adjust its industrial policy that the US and Europe frequently criticise amid fraying ties.

The discussions of late reflect a deep division among Beijing’s policy advisers on the efficacy and consequences of the country’s economic growth model, which underpins much of its industrial policy.

Some of those advisers contend that China’s industrial policy works to its advantage amid intense competition with the US in advanced technologies. In the midst of weakened domestic demand post-pandemic, they see state-led investment as an effective path to steady growth.

However, others warn that Beijing’s broader trade relations with the West are at stake, and that the government needs to consider carefully the global impact of pumping massive funds into strategic sectors – some of which have already become awash with overcapacity.

Huang Yiping, a former adviser to China’s central bank and the dean of Peking University’s National School of Development, said a balance needs to be struck between expanding domestic consumption and increasing government investment.

“We have enough investment to create new production capacity, but it is also best to have corresponding demand to absorb such newly added production capacity. This kind of economic growth is sustainable,” Huang said on Wednesday during an online forum held by China Macroeconomy Forum, a think tank associated with Renmin University in Beijing.

Huang added that China shouldn’t underestimate the ramifications of its industrial policy and the corresponding response from the US and Europe, which have already stepped up their own investments to reduce reliance on China in the supply chain.

“We need to take situations like this seriously, because if it really turns into a relatively common wave of trade protectionism against Chinese products, it may actually be detrimental to our next stage of development, especially in innovation,” Huang said.

Xi demands ‘disruptive’ innovation to ‘fight battle in core technologies’

China’s industrial policy, often defined as any state intervention that reallocates resources to support firms or sectors to achieve national objectives in making the country’s manufacturing competitive, has always been a contentious issue.

Critics have long blamed that policy for job losses in other markets, citing China’s widening trade surpluses with the rest of the world as evidence of the country dumping cheap exports onto its trading partners, effectively pushing out competitors.

And China’s trade surplus with the rest of the world could widen even faster in renewables compared with lower-value exports of the past, according to Lu Feng, a professor at Peking University’s National School of Development.

Speaking during a forum arranged by the university on Wednesday, following Beijing’s annual parliamentary gatherings known as the “two sessions”, Lu estimated that China’s trade surplus in industrial products had reached an “unprecedented” scale of US$1.5 trillion to US$1.7 trillion in just the past few years, accounting for 30 per cent of the country’s entire industrial output value.

“A substantial increase in exports requires goodwill from foreign countries, which is not unconditional. And the same goes for China. When more foreign countries export to China, we will also be under pressure,” Lu said.

But there is also a considerable wealth of opinion among policy advisers and industry executives that China’s tried-and-tested industrial policy gives the country an edge, even if it comes at a hefty price.

Liu Hanyuan, the founder and chairman of Tongwei Group, the world’s largest producer of polysilicon solar cells, has shrugged off domestic overcapacity in the solar industry, which has led to price wars in recent years.

“If you look at it rationally, you will find that to achieve the energy transformation and carbon neutrality goals in about 30 years, the scale of the photovoltaic industry may be more than 10 times what it is today,” Liu said in an interview with the state-backed National Business Daily published on Sunday.

‘Smarter investment needed’: China must fix overcapacity as it eyes new growth

Liu Yuanchun, president of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said that the model still has a certain “vitality” to it, and that there are ways to reduce inefficient spending. But overcapacity is not a reason for giving it up, he told the Shanghai-based Guancha news portal in an interview published on March 4.

A more pressing concern, some advisers contend, is the debate over where state investments should be prioritised. A property market crisis and debilitating levels of local-government debt have sparked credit curbs in construction over the past few years.

Xu Gao, chief economist at Bank of China International, said that channelling government funds into manufacturing will always lead to overcapacity.

Also speaking at Wednesday’s forum by Peking University, Xu said that investment in infrastructure and property is a necessary step to stabilise growth before the country can introduce reforms that aid in the distribution of wealth to the people.

“Such reforms obviously take time,” Xu said. “Before substantial progress has been made in the reform of income distribution, suppressing investment [in construction] is self-defeating and would shake our foundation in our great battle with the United States.”

Additional reporting by Luna Sun

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Alibaba adds 11 apps to Huawei’s HarmonyOS, bringing Xianyu, Fliggy and more to China’s Android rival

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3255568/alibaba-adds-11-apps-huaweis-harmonyos-bringing-xianyu-fliggy-and-more-chinas-android-rival?utm_source=rss_feed

Alibaba Group Holding is partnering with US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies to develop native versions of the e-commerce giant’s apps for the smartphone maker’s operating system HarmonyOS, which is meant to take on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS in mainland China.

Eleven applications under Alibaba Group – including second-hand trading platform Xianyu, online travel platform Fliggy, courier service provider Cainiao, and food delivery app Ele.me – will get native applications for HarmonyOS, Huawei Mobile Service announced in a statement on Thursday.

Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, has been one of the most aggressive in getting native applications on the operating system, which only recently stopped supporting Android apps. Alibaba’s Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce platform, signed a deal last month committing to HarmonyOS development. That came after Alibaba developed native versions of workplace collaboration app DingTalk and the online mapping service Amap last year.

Alipay, the mainland’s largest digital payment app owned by Alibaba fintech affiliate Ant Group, also agreed to develop a HarmonyOS app in December.

Tech hub Shenzhen to expedite adoption of apps built on Huawei’s HarmonyOS

Huawei has been publicly developing HarmonyOS since August 2019, when it unveiled the existence of its in-house operating system three months after Washington added the company to its Entity List, barring American firms from supplying the telecoms equipment maker without authorisation.

Early versions were criticised as being little more than a variant of Android, but the latest version released last month, HarmonyOS Next, has seen the competing systems further diverge.

Huawei plans to launch HarmonyOS Next for commercial use in the fourth quarter, the company said at its developer conference.

Other Chinese tech firms have also committed to supporting Huawei’s new OS amid Beijing’s push for technological self-reliance. There is also economic incentive: Huawei is one of the bestselling smartphone brands in China.

Delivery services giant Meituan has already finished the first version of its HarmonyOS app, as have other internet firms such as lifestyle social media platform Xiaohongshu, are making progress, according to Huawei.

Alibaba’s e-commerce rival JD.com was also among the tech firms that promised last month to develop for HarmonyOS Next.

As of January, more than 200 partners have initiated development of HarmonyOS apps, according to Huawei, which has said it aims to have 5,000 partners on board by the end of this year.

HarmonyOS is expected to surpass Apple’s iOS as the second-biggest operating system in China this year as a result of strong sales of its flagship Mate 60 series handsets. Huawei has completely phased out the use of Android in new smartphones, according to a report by TechInsights.

In the first six weeks of the year, Huawei saw sales jump 64 per cent, giving it 16.5 per cent of the market, the second-largest share after Vivo, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

China sends first envoy to Palestine and Israel in direct push for Gaza war ceasefire

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3255548/china-sends-first-envoy-palestine-and-israel-direct-push-gaza-war-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed

China has sent its first diplomat to Palestine and Israel since the Gaza war erupted, renewing its call for an immediate ceasefire and the “two-state” solution as a political settlement.

Foreign ministry envoy Wang Kejian visited Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday, meeting the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki.

Wang told Maliki that China was “deeply concerned” about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the extremely grave humanitarian situation, saying Beijing had “made utmost effort” to bring about a ceasefire and protect civilians.

“China will continue to work with the international community to stop the fighting as soon as possible and to make unremitting efforts to promote a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the question of Palestine based on the ‘two-state’ solution,” he was quoted by the Chinese foreign ministry as saying.

According to the United Nations, 85 per cent of Gaza’s population – 1.9 million civilians – have been forcibly displaced since Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Palestine’s official Wafa news agency quoted Maliki as saying that he appreciated the “continued endeavour” that China had made through international forums to support the establishment of the Palestinian state, particularly a submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Ma Xinmin, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s department of treaty and law, told an ICJ hearing last month that Beijing supported the Palestinian right to self-determination, adding that “numerous [UN General Assembly] resolutions recognise the legitimacy of struggling by all available means, including armed struggle”.

Israel protested against the statement, saying that it could be interpreted as support for the October 7 attack, while Hamas expressed appreciation for “the position expressed by the People’s Republic of China”.

He also went to Tel Aviv on Thursday for talks with Hagai Shagrir, head of the Israeli foreign ministry’s Asia and Pacific Bureau, and Rachel Feinmesser, the head of the same ministry’s Policy Research Centre.

Wang repeated China’s call for an immediate Gaza ceasefire while urging protection for civilians and humanitarian access.

“China and Israel are innovative and comprehensive partners, and bilateral relations have developed favourably in recent years,” he said.

The Israeli ministry did not release a statement on the meeting.

UN warns of ‘imminent’ famine in Gaza as some resort to eating animal fodder

China has made repeated calls for a ceasefire in the conflict but has had limited direct engagement with the Palestinians and Israelis since it began.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts once in October, while Wang Kejian is the first senior envoy from Beijing to visit the territory in that time.

But Beijing has been vocal elsewhere.

At the annual legislative gathering in Beijing last week, Wang Yi said China backed the Palestinians’ push for full United Nations membership, calling on “individual Security Council members to refrain from placing obstacles in its way” – a veiled swipe at the United States.

Palestine became a non-member observer state 12 years ago and is seeking full UN membership this year.

In the meeting on Wednesday, Maliki thanked China for its support for the campaign.

He also said Palestine appreciated China’s “provision of aid and support to the Palestinian people and financial support” to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees, an agency that had its funding cut after some of its staff were accused of involvement in the Hamas attack in October.

While avoiding any direct criticism of Israel, Wang Yi has also called last week for the release of all “detained people”, in reference to the hostages taken by Hamas.

According to the UN’s Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, there are “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery”.

At a UN briefing last week, Geng Shuang, China’s envoy to the United Nations, said China condemned “all forms of sexual violence against women”, but added that Palestinian women in Gaza were also suffering starvation and displacement as the fasting month of Ramadan approached.

Stumped: China doctors cannot reattach baby’s finger bitten off by pet rabbit as family fails to recover severed digit

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3254358/stumped-china-doctors-cannot-reattach-babys-finger-bitten-pet-rabbit-family-fails-recover-severed?utm_source=rss_feed

An 11-month-old baby whose right forefinger was bitten off by a pet rabbit, could not have surgery to reattach the digit because it was missing.

The little girl, Nini, from Lixin county in Anhui province, eastern China, arrived at the Fu Yang People’s Hospital for treatment without the finger, Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.

In a video posted online, traffic police are seen escorting Nini and her family to the hospital. When the doctor inspects her mangled finger, she bursts out crying.

The incident happened at about 8am on February 27, after the baby’s parents had left for work and while she was being looked after by her maternal grandmother, surnamed Jiang.

As usual, Jiang went to the kitchen to make breakfast for Nini, when suddenly she heard the baby cry out.

Nini, who had just learnt to walk, was standing at her pet rabbit’s cage and must have poked her finger inside and been bitten by the creature.

A shocked Jiang looked on in disbelief as Nini’s finger bled profusely and the child continued to cry loudly.

Jiang quickly contacted Nini’s parents and told them what had happened.

The baby was then taken to the nearest hospital, where a doctor suggested they transfer her to the Fu Yang People’s Hospital.

“The best rescue time is less than eight hours, so the sooner surgery is carried out, the better the recovery result,” a doctor told the family.

The traffic was agonisingly slow, so an anxious Jiang reported the emergency to the local traffic police who escorted the family to the hospital.

The journey usually takes 4o minutes, but it took just 18 minutes.

“It’s thanks to the traffic police that Nini got medical treatment in time,” Jiang said.

The family told the doctor that they were in too much of a panic to look for the missing section of the finger. That meant the doctor could not perform surgery to reattach it.

The doctor said any body part that has become detached, for whatever reason, should always be kept for surgery.

Zhang Tianhai, an animal keeper at a local zoo, explained that a rabbit has sharp teeth that can definitely hurt children.

At the time of writing, the story had attracted 20,000 comments on Douyin.

China’s ‘broker butcher’ vows to tighten IPO rules, curb excesses to sustain rebound in US$9.2 trillion stock market

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3255566/china-vows-tighten-ipo-rules-clamp-down-excesses-sustain-rebound-us92-trillion-stock-market?utm_source=rss_feed

China is tightening the screws on new domestic stock offerings, laying out some of the harshest rules, checks and penalties yet to crack down on fake accounting, as a newly appointed regulator dubbed the “broker butcher” strives to weed out malfeasance and instill financial discipline in the capital market.

The government will control the quality of declarations in companies seeking to raise capital from the public, according to a statement released by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in Beijing on Friday. It will strictly prohibit the “blind pursuit of initial public offerings (IPOs) and the raising of excessive financing for profit,” it added.

Authorities will probe financial fraud, false statements, whitewashing and other types of behaviour to crack down on accounting shenanigans, it said. In other measures, it will impose a regular on-site supervision mechanism, conduct random checks to ensure compliance, and raise the bar on IPOs by companies with profit track records.

The measures come as the market watchdog seeks to improve the quality of IPOs and restore confidence among investors in the US$9.2 trillion stock market, following a three-year market rout through the Covid-19 pandemic and the Lunar New Year in 2024. Beijing has also recently slowed approvals for listings to help contain stock market losses.

“Fewer new stock offerings mean that liquidity could be channeled into existing listings, which might help to shore up the market,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis Hong Kong. It will reduce new deals and hurt bankers further, together with the cap on salaries, he added.

Excessive fundraising and low-quality IPOs have been blamed for the market’s poor performance in recent years. Companies raised US$53.5 billion from first-time stock sales in mainland China last year versus US$5.7 billion in Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg data. The benchmark CSI 300 Index tumbled 11 per cent in 2023.

The MSCI China Index, which tracks more than 700 stocks traded at home and overseas, has lost 0.1 per cent this year, despite more than US$57 billion of market intervention by state-run funds by one estimate. The index slumped by a cumulative 37 per cent from 2020 to 2023, erasing more than US$560 billion of value from its members.

While the intention is good, the fervour and penalties may alarm company officials and brokers.

China last month installed Wu Qing as the new CSRC chairman. He is known as the “broker butcher” for clamping down on stock manipulation when he helmed the Shanghai Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2017.

Deputy chairman Li Chao said listing committee members that vet IPO applications carry a “life-long responsibility” for any malfeasance, breaches of discipline and corruption.

“We will firmly grasp the theme of strengthening supervision, preventing risk and promoting high-quality development,” Li told reporters in Beijing on Friday. These are also “areas where investors and market participants have more focus and suggestions,” he added.

The CSRC will make necessary adjustments to the pace of IPOs, depending on the market’s readiness to absorb new supply of equities, and prevent companies from raising more funds than they need in first-time stock sales to outside investors, Li said.

To further shore up the market, the regulator will enhance oversight of the brokerage industry, and frown on extravagant lifestyles and the flaunting of wealth. Mutual fund firms will be encouraged to increase their investment and research ability to better serve their customers and investors, Li added.

China vows punishments if business gripes are verified in State Council’s coming investigation

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3255569/china-vows-punishments-if-business-gripes-are-verified-state-councils-coming-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed

Following months of mounting complaints from China’s struggling businesses, several teams of investigators will be dispatched to hear their concerns directly - part of a nationwide fact-finding mission launched by the country’s cabinet to address persistent problems and take appropriate action.

Coming hot on the heels of a promise-laden government work report at Beijing’s recent “two sessions” parliamentary gatherings that ordered local-level governments to effectively respond to business concerns, the nationwide inspections will begin next month, according to a notice by the State Council on Thursday.

The effort is in line with Beijing’s promise to keep business policies stable and transparent, while holding local authorities accountable for helping the central government meet its lofty and ambitious economic growth goals.

To that end, Beijing wants private and foreign firms to know their concerns are not going unheard. The State Council is also encouraging enterprises to report any perceived violations, and to make suggestions, on its online platform.

“Inspectors will go to relevant regions to look clues and into cases that are typical or reported by a big cross-section of business entities and the public, and they will take actions and mete out punishments if complaints are verified,” the notice said.

After years of unchecked infrastructure spending, Guizhou faces a debt reckoning

Five key areas are being emphasised: market-access barriers, unfair competition, government services and efficiency issues, rights infringements, and impediments to the national goal of opening up to investors.

Eyeing a gross domestic product increase of “around 5 per cent” for 2024 after an upbeat 5.2 per cent rise last year, Beijing has been facing increasingly louder calls to galvanise the private sector, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of the national economic output and for the vast majority of urban jobs.

Foreign firms, which play a big role in China’s economic transition and the driving of trade ties, are vitally important in defying formidable headwinds at home and abroad that could stand in the way of leadership’s ambitious GDP goal that will require “hard work”.

Central authorities have been beating the drums of commerce to rekindle sentiment, doling out pledges and support since last summer. These include a 24-point list of guidelines for foreign companies, a 31-point package for the private sector, and a dedicated law being crafted to “protect and promote” the sector.

But complaints persist, and for many, positive effects remain to be seen despite all of that rhetoric. Struggles stemming from industrial overcapacity to back-owed payments continue to have an outsized impact on incomes and livelihoods.

Businesswoman’s arrest after seeking arrears from government sparks investigation

Alex Ma, an assistant professor of public administration at Peking University, said some of Beijing’s pro-business efforts have been overshadowed by other ambitions.

“Foreign and private sectors are definitely a priority for Beijing,” he said. However, “Beijing also has other competing priorities such as tech self-sufficiency, national security and politics. Some priorities may trump others as circumstances change, and businesses find it hard to adjust.”

Fixed-asset investments by foreign firms rose in 2023 by a mere 0.6 per cent, year on year, while those among private Chinese firms declined by 0.4 per cent – sharply contrasting a rise of 6.4 per cent among state-owned enterprises.

Growth in industrial output by foreign and private enterprises also trailed their state-owned peers by a big margin last year. Foreign direct investment slumped by 11.7 per cent, year on year, to 112.7 billion yuan (US$15.7 billion) in January, after a drop of 8 per cent last year.

“What we care more about are orders and stable business ties,” said a Shanghai-based sales executive with a Japanese company operating in China’s Yangtze River Delta.

One of the concerns is that Chinese clients tend to buy domestic brands amid Beijing’s highlight on self-reliance, the executive said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter.

“If policymakers ask why foreign companies aren’t investing or are leaving despite good policies, they need to think broader: foreign companies in China want Beijing to have good or normal political and economic ties with major countries,” he added.

“And they want Beijing to address the impact – from strategies such as tech self-reliance – on foreign companies.”

China vows private firms, like state firms, will be ‘bigger, better, stronger’

Maximilian Butek, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, said the foreign business community wants to see how Beijing can build confidence among consumers and the private sector, as such efforts would also benefit foreign players.

China’s economic hub of Shanghai is among those pushing an agenda of wooing foreign investors, but the lack of specifics in its new action plan announced this week means its potential impact is somewhat laden with uncertainty.

Echoing Beijing’s pro-business rhetoric, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng told US-China Business Council president Craig Allen that the city, as a window for the world to observe China’s progress, will take on a bellwether role in expanding high-level opening up and benefiting foreign businesses.

In a meeting on Thursday, Gong called for more American investments in Shanghai, vowing that the city will provide precise and high-quality services, including protecting intellectual property rights, to help enterprises develop.

China, Russia and Iran stage navy drills aimed at fighting pirates as Red Sea attacks escalate

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3255531/china-russia-and-iran-stage-navy-drills-aimed-fighting-pirates-red-sea-attacks-escalate?utm_source=rss_feed

China has conducted a joint naval exercise with Iran and Russia focused on firing and anti-piracy rescue operations, according to China’s official military newspaper.

The PLA Daily reported on Thursday that the three countries were holding the joint drill, named “Maritime Security Belt – 2024”, from March 11 to 15 in the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean, near Chabahar port in southern Iran.

The five-day joint exercise included training on firing at sea and rescue operations for hijacked merchant ships.

On Tuesday, the three navies conducted firing training against targets set up by an Iranian warship, with the Chinese side serving as the course commander. The drill continued in the evening with night shooting and light communication exercises.

On Wednesday, the joint exercises focused on anti-piracy operations. Warships from the three countries formed two task forces and manoeuvred towards the two merchant ships, represented by Iranian vessels.

China, Russia and Iran hold military exercise as Red Sea attacks rise

Under the command of the guided-missile destroyer Urumqi of the 45th Chinese naval escort task force, six vessels from the People’s Liberation Army and Iranian navy conducted manoeuvring and reconnaissance activities. These included evidence collection and identifying pirates and their activities.

The anti-piracy drill involved special operations teams from China and Iran, who covertly boarded the hijacked ship to subdue the pirates and search the cabins to rescue hostages.

The guided-missile frigate Linyi and the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu also took part in the drill.

The Chinese defence ministry said the drill aimed to “jointly maintain regional maritime security”.

The joint exercise comes amid growing confrontations in the Red Sea after a US-led coalition launched counterstrikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants, who have attacked international and commercial shipping in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.

China, which stations its warships at a naval base in Djibouti near the Red Sea, has not officially condemned the Houthi attacks. But according to Reuters, Beijing has urged Tehran to rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

On Thursday, Russian news agency Sputnik reported that the Houthis claimed they had “successfully” carried out a test flight of a hypersonic missile with high destructive capability and were “preparing to add these missiles to its military arsenal”, though the report did not provide any evidence to support the claim.

Russia’s reliance on China, others has ‘potential to undermine’: top US official

China, Russia and Iran conducted a similar drill in March of last year.

Benjamin Barton, associate professor at the University of Nottingham’s Malaysia campus, said closer trilateral cooperation through repeated military drills implied the exercises were “becoming part of a growing cycle of sustained maritime interaction between the three countries”.

Barton said the drills were a way of building closer ties between countries that are often considered “international pariahs” and “spoilers” – namely Russia and Iran.

“As has been well documented, Iran is providing Russia with quite a bit of military support for its war in Ukraine,” he said.

“Another reason for the drill is to demonstrate a presence in waters that have become something of a new battleground ever since the Houthi rebels began indiscriminately targeting commercial vessels navigating up or down the Suez Canal.”

He added there was also a technical element to the drills as they aimed to “fine-tune operationalisation at sea” in case one or more of the countries needed to deploy ships to the region.

“The inclusion of anti-piracy in my books is simply a mechanism to deflect attention and negative press away from the drill. After all, the fight against piracy was almost universally legitimised by the international community,” said Barton.

“Therefore it raises few eyebrows … So labelling the drill under the auspices of an anti-piracy exercise is a clever piece of marketing to distil the noise this exercise is likely to generate at this time.”

Beak power: how a toy that stumped Einstein is inspiring Chinese scientists to search for cleaner energy

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255527/beak-power-how-toy-stumped-einstein-inspired-chinese-scientists-search-cleaner-energy?utm_source=rss_feed

A team of scientists from Hong Kong and mainland China have created a device that could pave the way to a new source of clean energy – an engine that can power small electronics through the process of water evaporation.

The device can run on 100ml (3.4 ounces) of water as fuel for 50 hours and produce an energy output of up to 100 volts, significantly more than previous studies that had attempted to harvest evaporation energy.

“Water evaporation captures half of Earth’s surface solar energy, presenting a substantial renewable energy opportunity,” the team wrote in an article published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Device.

“Using the prototype [of the generator], we power small electronics such as 20 liquid crystal displays (LCDs), temperature sensors and calculators in ambient conditions using water as fuel,” the article said.

The researchers are from South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University and City University of Hong Kong.

The team was inspired by the “drinking bird”, the classic scientific toy with a top hat that continuously dips into a glass of water thanks to the principle of thermodynamics. The device was invented by American chemist Miles Sullivan in the 1940s.

Albert Einstein reportedly spent 3 ½ months studying it, but to no avail. Now, the same mechanism behind the vintage toy has been harnessed for a new source of energy efficient power.

The drinking bird consists of a glass tube body with glass bulbs at both ends. The tube extends into the bottom bulb that contains a liquid with a boiling point of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

China resets relations with belt and road partners through green investment push

The top bulb, or head, is covered with a felt-like absorbent material. The bird oscillates on a rod fixed to a stand.

To begin the drinking movement, the bird’s beak is dipped into a glass of water. The water that comes in contact with the cloth begins to evaporate, making the head cooler than the base.

As the bird’s head cools, the vapour from the liquid inside the chamber condenses, resulting in lowering the internal pressure of the head compared to the base.

The pressure difference prompts the fluid in the base to rise towards the head. As the top becomes heavier, it tips back into the glass of water.

After tilting forward, the liquid flows back and the bird returns to an upright position. As evaporation continues in its head, the bird swings and drinks, continuously.

China’s clean energy boom ‘an example to the entire world’, IEA analyst says

Inspired by the decades-old curiosity, the research team decided to take the invention to another level by collecting mechanical energy at both sides of the bird. To accomplish this, they installed two triboelectric nanogenerator modules at either end.

“We use a natural, evaporation-driven heat engine inspired by a drinking bird toy to convert the latent heat of evaporation into slow-frequency motion and then convert the mechanical energy into electricity via a specialised triboelectric nanogenerator,” they said.

Lead author Wang Zuankai, chair professor of nature-inspired engineering at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said that while their study is proof of concept, the team hopes to develop devices that can convert water evaporation to electrical energy more efficiently.

“We can have an array of dozens of 3D-printed miniature drinking birds in layers to generate electricity simultaneously,” Wang said.

Another way to get the bird swinging is to direct sunlight to the bottom bulb which can be covered by photothermal material. The heat from the sunlight causes the liquid inside to rise toward the head as it evaporates, prompting the bird to dip, he said.

“This way we can convert light energy into electricity,” Wang said. “Because the liquid is inside the tube, it would not be lost to the atmosphere during the process.”

He said the team could also apply a previously developed structure to the bird tube to speed up the movement of liquid to generate more electricity.

What makes style of teaching in China different from that of West? Post examines control vs critical thinking in education

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3254355/what-makes-style-teaching-china-different-west-post-examines-control-vs-critical-thinking-education?utm_source=rss_feed

Recent revelations about a teacher in China abusing one of her students in the classroom for unsatisfactory academic performance shocked mainland social media.

The news also prompted people to reflect on China’s teacher-centred approach to education.

Here, the Post examines teaching styles in mainland Chinese schools, their origins, and how they contrast with those in the West.

East and West

A typical Chinese classroom has dozens of students in school uniform, sitting quietly at lines of individual desks. Their interaction with the teacher in front of them is strictly one-way.

Teachers are given unparalleled authority and respect in the classroom.

Asking questions during the lecture is frowned upon and students usually expect their teacher to be correct about any given subject.

In comparison, Western schools encourage individual identity and creativity, critical thinking and participation.

In 2019, Chinese director and former war correspondent, Zhou Yijun, made a six-episode documentary, Childhood Elsewhere, which examines primary school styles in six European and Asian countries.

Many people said they were envious of the education system in Finland, which advocates equality and independence.

Road to success

Primary and secondary schools in China are rated according to their academic reputation and teaching resources, which many parents perceive as decisive factors when it comes to the chances of their children making it to a prestigious university and achieving life success.

As China limits the priority for enrolment in a public school to property owners in the school’s district, many parents buy houses near elite schools at inflated prices.

Parents also apply an extreme parenting style known as jiwa, or “chicken blood parents”, pressuring their children aggressively to ensure their competitiveness against peers.

Violence in the classroom

“Respect teachers and revere their teaching.”

This Confucian idiom that first appeared in the Book of the Later Han, written 1,600 years ago, has held as a truth for generations of Chinese students.

As a result, students habitually obey the teachers, and think it taboo to confront their teachers even when they make mistakes.

Indeed, in many cases where teachers physically or verbally abuse a student, the parents side with the teacher, believing the old saying, “Kids only grow after a good beating.”

In 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued new regulations on student punishment in primary and secondary schools.

The regulations ban any form of verbal or physical abuse.

However, the regulations allow for “time-out” punishment, but for no longer than the duration of the class.

Critical thinking vs control

In recent years, affluent families in China increasingly favoured a Western school education, sending their children abroad or to international schools in China to cultivate their critical thinking skills at an early stage.

The average annual tuition fee of international schools in first-tier cities, which cover education from kindergarten to secondary school, is around 200,000 yuan (US$28,000), which is unaffordable to the majority of families in China.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education aimed to reduce the burden on students by implementing a “double reduction” policy that strictly limits the volume and difficulty of homework, and outlaws private or after-school tutoring.

However, many people said the policy only caused widening gaps in learning resources and outcomes among students from different backgrounds.

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‘Systemic’ China-US rivalry could last a decade: Washington envoy Nicholas Burns

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3255479/systemic-china-us-rivalry-could-last-decade-washington-envoy-nicholas-burns?utm_source=rss_feed

Washington’s top envoy in China has said that the two powers are likely to remain “systemic rivals” for the next decade as they wrestle over differences and compete militarily and in fields including technology.

Speaking at a virtual seminar on Friday, Nicholas Burns called the deepening competition between the US and China “quite profound”, spanning areas such as security and the military.

Burns told the seminar, organised by the East-West Centre think tank, that the US has long been a Pacific power – particularly after World War II – but now “there’s a competition under way for military power and military influence”.

Beijing recently announced a 7.2 per cent boost this year for China’s defence spending, the second highest in the world behind the US, as the country continues its decades-long mission to modernise and transform its military.

Technology is “at the heart of the battle” between the world’s two largest economies, with rivalries ranging from artificial intelligence to machine learning to quantum sciences and biotechnology, Burns said.

‘US users top list’ after China’s state-of-the-art quantum computer goes global

These things will shape the global economy but also lead to new military technologies that would “define the balance of power in the future”.

Burns said the Biden administration acted “with a great sense of purpose” in restricting China’s access to advanced US technology and semiconductors for use in artificial intelligence, among other things.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week slammed the US for its suppression of China. Washington’s technology-related restrictions had reached “bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity”, he said.

But Burns hit back on Friday, pointing out to his audience that China has similar policies restricting the export of certain “core” technologies to protect its national security interests.

After China-US relations soured dramatically in the past two years, on a range of issues from human rights to then House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and an alleged Chinese spy balloon, both sides have sought to improve ties and restore high-level engagements.

Burns said November’s meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping led to a “relatively more stable relationship”. Earlier, China’s top diplomat Wang said there were “some improvements” to ties after the meeting.

The US ambassador said Washington’s view of the Xi-Biden summit was that it had been “very productive”.

“It didn’t resolve many of the outstanding differences on major issues but … it confirmed the judgment of both countries that … we are competitors. It’s very important that we have constant communications,” he said.

“This relationship remains highly competitive. We will very likely be systemic rivals well into the next decade. It’s very important that we manage the differences between us responsibly.”

During the hour-long seminar, Burns also dismissed the narrative that China is rising while the US is in decline, citing his country’s strong economic performance and low unemployment and inflation rates.

US tariffs on Chinese imports might increase in 2024, analysts say

The US has also been a leader in technology and education, while its alliances in the Indo-Pacific region have grown stronger, including with the Philippines, he noted.

“We don’t agree with those in the Chinese leadership who say that the East is rising and the West is declining. That’s not how we see our power position in the Indo- Pacific,” he said.

“There’s just no way that anybody can make the charge that somehow the United States is declining. We are strengthening both strategically, militarily as well as economically.”

Lawmaker urges China to safeguard tech production chain for a quantum edge

Asked about the South China Sea, Burns said the US was “very concerned by the coercive pressure” that China was trying to put on the Philippines, stressing that Beijing’s claim to the Second Thomas Shoal has “no basis in international law”.

Tensions remain high in the resource-rich waterway – which China claims almost in its entirety – with a series of recent clashes between Philippine and Chinese vessels. The dispute has drawn Manila closer to the US, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr set to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken next week.

“We want to see obviously peace prevail and we want to see China cease and desist from its provocative actions. We hope very much that this will be a quieter next few months, but we’ve been very decisive and very clear about our support for the Philippines,” Burns said.

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Fiji to stick with China police deal after review, home affairs minister says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/fiji-china-police-exchange-intelligence-deal

Fiji will uphold a policing cooperation agreement with China after reviewing the deal, the country’s home affairs minister, Pio Tikoduadua, has confirmed, despite earlier concerns within the Pacific nation over the deal.

The controversial agreement was signed in 2011 when Fiji was under military rule. Under the deal, Fijian officers have been trained in China while Chinese police have been embedded in the Fijian force. Beijing has also provided hi-tech equipment including surveillance gear and drones.

The deal has been under review after Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, raised concerns last year over the countries’ differing values and judicial systems.

Tikoduadua said the review had been completed and Fiji would be sticking with Beijing.

“We are now back on the original police agreement [with China] – that has been restored, we had reviewed it for 12 months,” he said in an interview with the Guardian.

The agreement allows for co-operation in a range of areas including the exchange of intelligence, visits, training and the supply of equipment. For example, ahead of Fiji’s 2014 election, China provided vehicles, communications and surveillance equipment.

In the past, Chinese officers have been embedded in the Fiji police force. The home affairs minister said the two countries would decide how they implemented the agreement in the future – including any exchanges of personnel – but at present no Chinese officers were embedded in the force.

“There will only be Fijian officers training in China and no embedding of Chinese officers in the Fiji police force now,” Tikoduadua said.

Shortly after coming to power in December 2022, Rabuka told local media that he saw “no need” for the police agreement with China to continue. In June last year, prior to signing a defence agreement with New Zealand to strengthen military ties, Rabuka appeared to soften his position and said the agreement would be reviewed before any decision was made.

“We need to look at that again before we decide on whether we go backward or continue the way we have had in the past: cooperating with those that have similar democratic values and systems of legislation, law enforcement and so on,” Rabuka said at the time.

When asked by the Fiji Sun newspaper this week about the China policing deal, Rabuka said he had not received any updates from the home affairs minister in relation to the agreement.

A former senior officer in the Fiji police force has raised concerns with the method of training Fijian officers receive under the China deal, highlighting the differences in values and systems between the two countries.

“Current service in the Fiji police force is not working out right now because we had copied Singaporean and Chinese kind of system, which is not relevant,” Tevita Ralulu, who worked as a senior investigative officer in Suva, told the Guardian this week.

“We are supposed to have our own culture of service and to modify a system to suit the culture of people living in Fiji, that’s why the training done in China really didn’t work,” Ralulu said.

The acting commissioner of police, Juki Fong Chew, said the Fiji police force was fortunate to benefit from various forms of assistance from regional and international partners.

“The assistance ranges from police-to-police exchange programs, technical support, study and training opportunities, capacity building initiatives, coordination and cooperation efforts based on operational needs,” he said.

Pacific nations rely on support from international partners – notably Australia and New Zealand – to help resource their police forces. China’s role in security and defence includes funding the construction of a new police training centre in Samoa in 2016 and funding police headquarters in the Cook Islands. Other assistance from Beijing includes suppling vehicles, riot equipment and uniforms to the Vanuatu police, and vehicles to Papua New Guinea.

Last year, China and Solomon Islands signed a deal on police cooperation as the nations continued to deepen ties, and after sealing a security pact in 2022 which caused alarm in the US and some Pacific neighbours including Australia. Also in 2022, China attempted to forge a regional security pact with Pacific nations but failed to secure support.

Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine picks ex-military commander as chief priest in move likely to anger China, South Korea

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3255467/japans-yasukuni-shrine-picks-ex-military-commander-chief-priest-move-likely-anger-china-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine has picked a former military commander as its chief priest in a move that could stir controversy over a site that other Asian nations see as a symbol of Japan’s wartime aggression.

Umio Otsuka, 63, a former Maritime Self Defence Force (SDF) commander and a one-time ambassador to Djibouti, confirmed his appointment, which marks the first time since 1978 for an ex-military official to assume the post.

The last retired military officer appointed as chief priest, Nagayoshi Matsudaira, enshrined 14 prominent convicted war criminals alongside the 2.5 million war dead honoured at the shrine, including World War Two-era prime minister Hideki Tojo.

“I feel very honoured that the next stage of my life will be to serve this shrine for peace, where the spirits of those who gave their precious lives for the country are commemorated and honoured,” Otsuka said.

As North Korea slams Japan troops’ shrine trip, Seoul and China stay silent

A spokesperson for Yasukuni Shrine, whose name means “peaceful country” in Japanese, declined to confirm his appointment.

Visits to the shrine by senior Japanese political figures have drawn criticism from countries such as South Korea, which was under Tokyo’s colonial rule for 35 years, and China, which Japan invaded.

Conservatives assert that Yasukuni, which was established in 1869 as Japan emerged from more than 250 years of isolation, is meant to commemorate all the nation’s war dead and is not a shrine dedicated to those blamed for waging war on Japan’s neighbours.

Otsuka’s appointment comes as Tokyo and Seoul deepen security cooperation with each other and their shared ally, the United States, in response to escalating regional threats from China, Russia and North Korea.

No serving Japanese prime minister has visited the shrine since Shinzo Abe went in 2013, prompting an expression of disappointment by then-US president Barack Obama.

China-India tunnel dispute, Hong Kong Article 23 bill unpacked, near-death experiences: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3255460/china-india-tunnel-dispute-hong-kong-article-23-bill-unpacked-near-death-experiences-scmps-7?utm_source=rss_feed

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

Beijing has lodged a diplomatic protest with New Delhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened a tunnel built in territories along the two countries’ disputed Himalayan border, weeks ahead of general elections in the South Asian state.

With lawmakers on Thursday unanimously approving the government’s changes to the bill and days away from writing it into the statute books, the Post takes a look at potential scenarios that have sparked public concern.

Is there a soul? How about an afterlife? A doctor, who has found no scientific explanation for the thousands of near-death experiences he has studied, discusses what he considers their implications to be.

Expanding rail and franchised bus networks, new roads and bridges, and changes in tolls have caused a big shift in how Hongkongers navigate the city.

After changes to its leadership and structure, and with draft laws altering its scope, China’s central bank looks to be taking on a different role from years past – one which seems notably distinct from Western norms.

Some Japanese men say White Day is just a marketing campaign and prefer to save the money for other things, while others find it an old-fashioned concept.

A former preschool teacher who became famous last year when she appeared in a video singing to children, has claimed she has become the target of an online pornography slur.

Moon miss: two Chinese test satellites fail to reach orbit after rocket’s upper stage falters

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255465/moon-miss-two-chinese-test-satellites-fail-reach-orbit-after-rockets-upper-stage-falters?utm_source=rss_feed

China said a pair of its technology test satellites failed to reach a planned orbit on their way to the moon – a rare miss in the country’s space mission launch record in recent years.

DRO-A and B lifted off atop a Long March 2C from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre at 8.51pm on Wednesday. The rocket’s first and second stages worked normally, but its Yuanzheng-1S upper stage did not, the official Xinhua news agency reported a day later.

“The satellites have not been inserted into their designated orbit, and work is under way to address this problem,” Xinhua said in a brief statement.

The plan was for the duo to head towards the moon and enter a so-called distant retrograde orbit, or DRO. From there they would fly in formation and work with DRO-L – a third satellite that was successfully placed into low Earth orbit by a Jielong 3 rocket last month – to test laser-based navigation technologies between the Earth and the moon, known as cislunar space

The DRO orbit is at a high altitude about tens of thousands of kilometres above the lunar surface. It is highly stable, allowing spacecraft to remain on track for a long time without using fuel, and is an advantageous waypoint for research and exploration, according to Chinese scientists.

US military and amateurs who monitor objects in space do not know the current orbit of DRO-A and B, according to Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launches and space activities.

“It often takes the US Space Force a long time to find objects that are in unexpected orbits, particularly high orbits,” he told the South China Morning Post in an email on Thursday.

The Xinhua announcement made it seem like the satellites were “indeed in an orbit around the Earth, just not one that is high enough to let them reach the moon”, he said.

Wednesday’s launch was an unprecedented failure for the Yuanzheng-1S upper stage, which has been helping Long March rockets deliver satellites – including BeiDou navigation satellites – to higher orbits since 2015.

Yuanzheng-1S probably suffered an engine failure on Wednesday, according to a Beijing-based rocket engineer who spoke with the Post on the condition of anonymity.

“Technically, there’s still a chance for the satellites to use their own propellant to climb to higher orbits, though that’ll significantly reduce the mission’s lifetime,” the engineer said.

Russia ponders putting nuclear power plant on the moon with China

All three DRO satellites were developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites which is under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Shanghai although little technical detail is known about it.

A Chinese paper published in the domestic Journal of Deep Space Exploration last year proposed a possible scenario to achieve high-precision relative navigation in deep space, based on the communications between two satellites placed in lunar DRO and a third in low Earth orbit using laser beams.

The DRO mission was designed to verify key technologies for deep-space laser communications and data transmission, a CAS researcher said.

DRO is increasingly important for China because the country planned for its next-generation space station in lunar orbit to allow a crewed moon landing and material delivery between the moon and Earth, said the researcher who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In the meantime, Nasa plans to use a different orbit, known as the near-rectilinear halo orbit or NRHO, to build its lunar Gateway station and support missions to the moon’s surface, Mars and beyond.

China and other emitters can cut methane emissions if they want to: IEA report

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255356/china-and-other-emitters-can-cut-methane-emissions-if-they-want-iea-report?utm_source=rss_feed

China and other major emitters could use existing technologies to ramp up their efforts to cut methane emissions from fossil fuels, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Despite its shorter lifespan in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide, methane has a more potent warming potential and is responsible for nearly a third of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, the IEA said.

As the world’s largest methane emitter from fossil fuels, China accounts for an estimated 17.5 per cent of the 120 million tonnes of total global emissions, mostly from the coal sector.

The US and Russia rank second and third, respectively and derive most of their emissions from oil and gas.

At last year’s Cop28 summit, China’s top climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said the country was taking steps to reduce its methane emissions, but that China and other developing countries “still lack the capabilities” to control emissions.

Climate envoy says China has ‘done a lot’ on methane despite criticism of plan

However, in its Global Methane Tracker report released on Wednesday, the IEA said that technology to curb methane emissions from oil, gas and coal operations required “no technological breakthroughs”.

Methane emissions from fossil fuels increased slightly last year, despite the 2021 Global Methane Pledge – spearheaded by the US and the European Union to achieve a reduction to 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030.

The IEA report noted that the number could start to decline as National Determined Contributions (NDCs) – due under the Paris Agreement – kick in, alongside renewed global support to reduce emissions after Cop28.

China, which is not a party to the pledge, released a Methane Emissions Control Action Plan in November to enhance monitoring and utilisation of methane emissions across sectors.

The action plan did not specify reduction targets, which the IEA said may be outlined in China’s NDCs.

However, the elimination of 75 per cent of the world’s methane emissions from fossil fuels by 2030 “is imperative to stop the planet from warming to a dangerous level” and keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

The IEA estimates that current global policies and initiatives will only achieve a 20 per cent reduction, but said the number could rise to 50 per cent if post-Cop28 action plans are successfully implemented.

“Now, we must focus on transforming commitments into action … Well known policies and existing technologies could reduce methane emissions from fossil fuels substantially,” Birol said.

According to the report, China could avoid an estimated 53 per cent of its oil and gas-related methane emissions with “tried and tested measures”, and 57 per cent from coal with promising measures like mine degasification.

The IEA report acknowledged that money may still be a barrier for developing nations, with around US$170 billion needed to meet the world’s emissions reduction goal. However, the amount is just 5 per cent of the income generated in 2023 by the fossil fuel industry, it said.

Some measures for abatement – such as capturing methane and selling it for use in different industries – could even save money because of the product’s market value, the report said.

Crouching tiptoe ‘angel squat’ pose of famous China actress widely copied on social media, sparks injury warnings

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3254339/crouching-tiptoe-angel-squat-pose-famous-china-actress-widely-copied-social-media-sparks-injury?utm_source=rss_feed

Health concerns have been raised about an “angel squat” pose made famous by a renowned actress in China which is being widely copied by people on the mainland.

The pose, where people squat down barefoot on her tiptoes, was popularised by Dilraba Dilmurat in a fashion magazine shoot which went viral on mainland social media, inspiring widespread imitation.

In the magazine images, Dilraba, who was born and raised in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang in the Uygur autonomous region, is styled like an angel, adorned with platinum blonde hair and white wings, creating the epitome of ethereal beauty.

Many people have taken to the Xiaohongshu social media platform to share their attempts at mastering the pose.

However, it is challenging because it demands significant balance and sustained muscle tension in the legs and back to maintain stability for an extended period.

“This move is hard to learn,” one person noted.

“I tried it, and it’s quite difficult, mainly because your soles have to be vertical, which is not as simple as it seems,” another said.

There have also been some humorous reflections.

“Joining the trend, I tried the Dilraba angel squat and realised the significant divide between me and a female star. Those who can do the angel squat are not angels,” one online observer said.

Another person posted photos of herself alongside photos of Dilraba’s pose and joked: “This is the difference between a monkey and a fairy.”

“Poor squat versus Dilraba’s angel squat. When she squats, it’s like an angel coming down to earth, but when I do it, it looks like I’m preparing to use a squat toilet,” another person quipped.

Amid the frenzy, a trending hashtag #WhyYouShouldn’tTryDilraba’sAngelSquat surfaced on mainland social media, with medical experts warning of health risks.

They cautioned that people not accustomed to regular exercise could easily injure their hip joints, knee cartilages or ankle joints, according to the media outlet, City Link.

The “angel squat” is similar to a pose used in yoga and can offer health benefits when practiced as part of a learned yoga routine.

However, people with issues such as problems with the arches of their feet may find it painful due to a lack of elasticity and flexibility, as well as weaker shock absorption capabilities.

Relying on the small area of the tiptoes for balancing is complicated and increases the chance of falling.

Concerns about potential injury have been echoed online.

“There are always people who fail to see that it’s the person who is beautiful, not the pose,” one observer wrote.

“This is a pose for a magazine shoot. People shouldn’t try to imitate everything,” another said.

In 2021, a 33-year-old woman from Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan province, tried the trending “Asian squat” pose online – squatting with one foot on tiptoe and the other leg resting on the foot.

She lost her balance and fell, damaging her right knee.

Taiwan firms in mainland China turn ‘more cautious’ with investments as cuts and offshoring increase, survey finds

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3255379/taiwan-firms-mainland-china-turn-more-cautious-investments-cuts-and-offshoring-increase-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwanese firms, a historical source of capital for mainland China, have grown extra cautious when it comes to expanding those investments, and many are also considering capacity cuts or offshoring as they seek safeguards against geopolitical risks.

About two-thirds of Taiwanese firms in mainland China plan to sustain their current levels of investment over the next three to five years, but the number planning to make cuts is twice that of those anticipating increases, according to a recent industry group survey.

The Taipei-based Chinese National Federation of Industries, an industrial association that represents most Taiwanese manufacturing businesses and comprises 158 separate trade organisations, said that 21.5 per cent of surveyed investors expected to cut back assets while 10.6 would add them. It also found that 41.6 per cent of respondents planned to reduce staffing, and 38.7 per cent were looking to reduce capacity.

“This shows that manufacturers are worried about market prospects and are becoming more cautious about investing in the mainland,” the federation said in a summary of the survey conducted last year.

As mainland China seeks more Taiwanese money, why aren’t more listening?

Meanwhile, hitches in the Chinese economy, concerns about any potential impacts from a military conflict, and the enduring impact of geopolitical tensions – including from the US-China trade war – are said to be underpinning the decisions of Taiwanese businesspeople with regard to the mainland.

China is trying to ease unemployment, control a housing crisis, and stimulate domestic consumption to inject more life into its economy.

Taiwanese investors have also watched the cost of business rise, and cross-strait political tensions have heated up over the past few years.

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

For their part, investors have no interest in finding themselves caught in the crossfire. As a result, some Taiwan firms have funnelled more business toward the West in the midst of supply-chain decoupling that has resulted from the US-China trade war.

The Taiwan cabinet has said that approved investment in mainland China from 1991 to 2022 reached US$203.33 billion, covering 45,195 projects. But last year, those investments dipped to a 22-year low of US$3.04 billion.

Among survey respondents, 44.2 per cent planned to invest outside mainland China, and more than half of that total were looking to target Taiwan, while just over a third pointed to Vietnam.

Vietnam has been seen for the past decade as a “China-plus-one” alternative for multinational manufacturers.

And the fast-growing Southeast Asian country is prospering from a contentious US-China trade environment, S&P Global Market Intelligence’s former Asia-Pacific chief economist, Rajiv Biswas, said in an October commentary.

Higher US tariffs on Chinese exports have “driven manufacturers to switch production of manufacturing exports away from China and towards alternative manufacturing hubs in Asia”, including Vietnam, he said.

Goertek to open Vietnam factory as part of Apple’s supply chain diversification

However, just 10.1 per cent of surveyed investors said they were considering putting an end to their operations on the mainland.

“Taiwan needs to diversify its trade partners but does not need to give up mainland China as an important trade partner,” said Hu Jin-li, a professor with the Institute of Business and Management at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taipei.

Most Taiwanese firms in mainland China cluster near Shanghai and in the Pearl River Delta due to those regions’ advanced infrastructure, transport and human resources, Hu said.

Taiwanese began establishing factories on the mainland as far back as the 1980s for its cheap land and labour.

But today, in the mainland’s petrochemical sector, roughly 1,000 Taiwanese investors are losing out to mounting “overcapacity”, said Danny Ho, chief executive of the DMI energy consulting firm in Taiwan.

Ho contends that state-owned Chinese firms have spawned that overcapacity as they work to create an upstream-midstream-downstream domestic ecosystem through 2026.

“Petrochemical investors will do their best to take funds out of China, and I don’t mean just Taiwanese investors,” he said.

More than half of the survey respondents agreed that geopolitical conflicts had hurt their product orders and profits. They pointed to supply-chain shifts resulting from US-China frictions, falling confidence among their foreign customers, and economic woes in mainland China.

Cross-strait tensions escalated after Nancy Pelosi, then the US House speaker, defied repeated warnings from Beijing by visiting Taiwan. Her trip led to the deployment of a People’s Liberation Army destroyer and guided missile frigate in waters east of Taiwan. The US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and amphibious ship USS Tripoli were also reported to be operating near the island.

Kent Chong, a partner with professional services firm PwC in Taipei, said Taiwanese companies have responded to the rise in tensions by re-evaluating their mainland exposure, particularly in the past year. PwC helps Taiwanese clients manage their wealth.

“There’s always talk about conflict,” Chong said, adding that, because of cross-strait politics, as well as bumps in the mainland Chinese economy, “none of the Taiwanese investors are comfortable with their positions in China”.

Seventy per cent of the survey respondents added that rising interest rates, plus sluggish demand in Europe and the US, had also hurt their profits and orders.

Meanwhile, the survey summary acknowledged that Taiwan was contending with its own issues.

Eyeing fix for talent shortage, Taiwan opens door wider for foreign graduates

The federation pointed out that Taiwan “faces the problem of a severe labour shortage” and suggested that the government ease restrictions on the renewal period for migrant workers and find new countries as sources of labour. The island pledged in 2022 to bring in 400,000 foreign workers by 2030.

Taiwan’s flagship technology sector alone is expected to experience “persistent talent shortages” this year, with 81 per cent of employers planning pay rises of 10 to 20 per cent to find people, said Kiera Lien, a marketing executive with the Robert Walters recruitment agency in Taipei.

More than 60 per cent of surveyed investors also said they would like government assistance in water and electricity supplies.

Government assistance should extend offshore, said Darson Chiu, a ­fellow with the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.

“The Taiwan government should expand the coverage of free-trade agreements and assist companies in diversifying overseas investments,” Chiu said. “The dispute between the United States and China is a structural issue, and the government should help companies grasp structural trends.”

France’s parliament votes to slow down fast fashion, with eye on China’s Shein

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3255442/frances-parliament-votes-slow-down-fast-fashion-eye-chinas-shein?utm_source=rss_feed

France’s parliament on Thursday backed a string of measures making low-cost fast fashion, especially from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to buyers.

The vote makes France the first country in the world “legislating to limit the excesses of ultra fast fashion”, said Christophe Bechu, minister for the ecological transition.

Key measures include a ban on advertising for the cheapest textiles, and an environmental charge slapped on low-cost items.

The French clothes market has been flooded with cheap imported clothes, while several home-grown brands have declared bankruptcy. But the main arguments put forward by Horizons – the party allied to President Emmanuel Macron submitting the draft law – were environmental.

“Textile is the most polluting industry,” said Horizons deputy Anne-Cecile Violland, saying the sector accounted for 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and was a major polluter of water.

She singled out Chinese company Shein and its “7,200 new clothing items per day” as a prime example of intensive fashion production.

France will apply criteria such as volumes of clothes produced and turnover speed of new collections in determining what constitutes fast fashion, according to the law.

Once the law comes into force – which still requires a vote in the Senate – precise criteria will be published in a decree.

Alibaba pushes AI tools to merchants wanting to tap overseas markets

Fast fashion producers will be forced to tell consumers about the environmental impact of their output.

A surcharge linked to fast fashion’s ecological footprint of €5 (US$5.45) per item is planned from next year, rising to €10 by 2030. The charge cannot, however, exceed 50 per cent of an item’s price tag.

Violland said the proceeds from the charge would be used to subsidise producers of sustainable clothes, allowing them to compete more easily.

A measure to limit advertising for fast fashion was also approved, although conservative lawmaker Antoine Vermorel-Marques remarked that “a ban on advertising for textiles, especially fashion, spells the end of fashion”.

An initiative brought by left-wing and Green party deputies to include minimum penalties for producers breaking the rules as well as import quotas and stricter workplace criteria in the industry into the new law was struck down.

High-end fashion is a cornerstone of the French economy thanks to leading global luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Dior and Cartier.

But the French lower-end fashion segment has lost ground to European rivals Zara, H&M and, more recently, to Chinese behemoths Shein and Temu.

China wants to win the race in science with Manhattan Project-like campaigns. It may not work, some experts warn

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255319/china-wants-win-race-science-manhattan-project-campaigns-it-may-not-work-some-experts-warn?utm_source=rss_feed

Hou Jianguo, head of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was on a mission in the days after the Lunar New Year holiday, visiting research institutes in Beijing and Wuhan, as he urged them to take up the call from President Xi Jinping and speed up efforts to seize the high ground in science and technology.

Xi’s call itself is not new – it can be traced back to 2013. But this time the narrative from the top has appeared more aggressive. At an annual agenda-setting CAS conference, Hou urged scientists to “bolster the spirit of qiang”, saying that 2024 was a crucial year for China.

The Chinese word qiang usually refers to the act of getting something quickly, sometimes in an unethical or violent way, such as to rob or loot. But another meaning is to vie as a front runner in a competition.

In this context, it is more likely that qiang is used to express the urgency of the task, the rush to get to the top of the global scientific and technological race faster, rather than anything as nefarious as the word’s other meaning.

To realise this vision, CAS’ subordinate research institutes have been called on to “take advantage of the new ‘whole-nation’ system” by innovating the way their resources, including talent and platforms, are structured, according to Hou.

CAS is the world’s largest government research organisation, with more than 100 research institutes, 130 state-level key laboratories or engineering centres and 69,000 full-time staff. Along with major institutions such as Germany’s Max Planck Society, CAS was among the top five in a Nature Index that measured the research output of academic institutions between February 1, 2022 and January 31, 2023.

The “whole-nation system”, or juguo tizhi, refers to mobilising the resources of the entire country to achieve specific goals, such as gold medals in sporting events, key scientific breakthroughs or economic targets.

But while the centralised system has produced impressive gains, and it has been hailed as one of China’s main institutional advantages over the US, some scholars have questioned whether it continues to work well today.

Still, Xi’s call remains paramount. An annual CAS meeting in December, which set the agency’s agenda for the coming year, determined that the “overall goal, task and requirement” was taking the lead in science and technology.

Hou highlighted that, under Xi’s instructions, focusing on national strategic needs as well as global frontiers and accelerating the occupation of a number of top positions in science and technology is “a critical mission that the Chinese Communist Party has entrusted to CAS”.

A physicist at the academy surnamed Li, who declined to give his full name due to the sensitivity of the issue, said that almost since the beginning of the geopolitical shift between the West and China – marked by the start of the trade war – CAS has been promoting its role as “a national innovation power that should take on national responsibilities”.

But in recent months, the emphasis on the mission’s political priority has been “unprecedented” within the CAS system, he said, and all branches have held conferences to keep abreast of Beijing’s latest direction.

“I can smell a sense of anxiety in Hou’s talks,” Li said, though he described it as “understandable” given the pressure China is under both to achieve self-sufficiency in cutting-edge technology to counter Western containment and to transform its economy into an innovation-driven one.

Denis Simon, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank, who has been observing China’s science and technology sector for four decades, said Beijing is taking this approach to protect itself into the future.

“Since it can’t rely on easy access to the United States or Europe, the Chinese leadership has gradually realised that it must generate its own basic or fundamental knowledge that is going to feed the long-term trajectory of China’s innovation system,” Simon said.

“Now the leadership is asking the CAS to play a constructive role in looking for special opportunities in the battle.”

In a speech in 2021, Xi outlined some indicators to define what the key areas are, saying they should be relevant to the country’s urgent and long-term needs, and that they are frontiers related to national security and future development.

It is a long list. Areas range from crop seeds, medical products and advanced chips to artificial intelligence, quantum information, space and deep-sea technologies.

Hou set the tone that the sub-institutes, as the basic building blocks of CAS, should base their development positioning and research layout on these needs, and concentrate their talent and other resources on this critical mission to produce a batch of core, original and leading technological innovations.

He also instructed that research projects in the academy should be condensed and organised to revolve around core tasks and avoid being “small and scattered”.

Tech given greater importance than defence in Beijing budget

Historically, China’s ability to pool limited national science and technology resources has yielded astonishing results, especially in high-priority national space and military missions, helping an economically impoverished and technologically backward China build the atomic bomb in 1964 and launch a satellite into space in 1970.

Similarly, the unprecedented mobilisation of people and resources by the US government during the second world war had far-reaching effects. Many wartime discoveries – intended for military use – are now widely used in civilian areas, such as medicine and communications.

In a speech in 2020, however, Xue Lan, a public policy scholar and dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, warned against unrealistic expectations of this policy.

He said for systematic projects with a clear scientific path, it is an effective way to divide the work and have different teams operate closely together, citing the success of the Human Genome Project as an example.

“But many major challenges entail high uncertainty, and in such circumstances, the whole-nation approach has its limitations,” Xue said. The production of advanced chips, for example, is far beyond specific scientific problems that can be easily solved by relying on national investment; it is a global, highly networked, capital-intensive industry.

Richard Suttmeier, who studies science and technology in the dynamics of US-China relations at the University of Oregon, also acknowledged to the Post the complicated landscape for generating large-scale innovation today.

China has become a very complex techno-industrial society, quite different from the early days, he said, and thus it is unclear how “incredibly diverse interests can be efficiently aligned”.

If not implemented properly, Suttmeier said the whole-nation mechanism “has the potential for failures and waste”.

For example, China’s National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (also known as the Big Fund), has raised US$45 billion since 2014 to fund a number of important projects, some of which have been found to be riddled with financial waste and corruption, and have failed.

Indeed, compared to some national missions, such as China’s manned space programme, many cutting-edge technologies today, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, are highly relevant to national security, but their sustained innovation is largely driven by the private sector.

Scientists are also concerned that a mission-driven innovation paradigm may run counter to the nature of scientific inquiry, which is supposed to be granted freedom and time.

“There seems to be an inherent contradiction between the new encouragement of curiosity-driven research and the continuing political pressure for research to serve national needs,” Suttmeier said.

As a scientist, Li echoed these sentiments.

Admittedly, he said, top-down policymaking combined with nationwide resource allocation might be pragmatic for achieving some important goals, such as catching up quickly in the tech war, but it comes at a cost, one of which is the potential loss of diversity in the scientific community.

He noted that there is a tendency for Chinese researchers to be eager to demonstrate that their studies can help solve China’s “neck-choking” problems. But he believes basic research should delve into uncharted territory, even if some of it may seem useless at first.

The risks and rewards as China makes a big push for science and tech

Likening the scientific community to an ecosystem, Li said strong task-oriented management is similar to productive farmland – but wild forests with less interference can thrive and withstand adverse conditions better.

That said, some historians also caution against the persuasive techno-libertarian sentiments that underestimate the role of government in advancing scientific progress.

For instance, in an article published in Wired in 2022, Margaret O’Mara, a professor of history at the University of Washington, disputed the claim that Silicon Valley’s success was purely the result of entrepreneurial hustle, saying that the billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts that poured into a 10-by-10-mile strip of rural California during the Cold War became the foundation of the tech hub.

Citing considerations such as investing at scale, supporting mass education and incentivising private markets to push the technological envelope, she summed it up, saying: “These are things that only governments can do.”