• China reaffirms ties with North Korea in high-level Pyongyang meeting
• Climate change requires US and China to cooperate not compete, experts warn
• US general confirms China has reached out to discuss space safety as military ties show signs of thawing
• China’s No 3 Zhao Leji pledges to maintain friendship with North Korea in meeting with Kim Jong-un
• Tech war: US sanctions on key Nvidia distributor in China could push more customers towards domestic replacements
• China’s EU ambassador Fu Cong to take over United Nations role
• ‘Potentially so exciting’: Chinese team finds a way to mass-produce nanosheets with unusual properties
• ‘Yoked together’: Experts on US-China ties urge powers to embrace shared interests – and introspection
• Trump derailed Oval Office China talks with Stormy Daniels rant, book says
• Chinese navy steers a course for African ports in Beijing’s renewed diplomatic push
• Pakistan police link deadly attacks on Chinese workers to Taliban affiliate’s ‘broken switch’ terror cell
• Scientists discover ancient wells in China with 10,000 bamboo slips that offer insights into governance from 1,800 years ago
• Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China, something both countries are trying to fix
• Brazil’s Lula reunites with meat billionaire Batista brothers as China trade ties bloom
• China woman fights with husband over child taking her surname, triggers fierce debate online, attracts 44 million views
• South China Sea: Marcos says Philippine deal with US, Japan to change dynamic in disputed waters, won’t affect Beijing trade
• ‘Subdue the enemy without fighting’: how China’s powerful water cannon will change the game in South China Sea
• South China Sea: Philippines, US, Japan to step up maritime cooperation to deter Beijing’s aggression
• Ties with US and Japan will ‘change dynamic’ in South China Sea, Philippines president says
• Hong Kong’s ailing restaurants ask mainland Chinese operators for survival tips, call on veteran singers to strike a chord with diners
• China online racket using fake ethnic minority influencers to peddle bogus sob stories broken up by police
• The US is going about its competition with China all wrong
• China supporting Russia in massive military expansion, US says
• US says China is boosting Russia’s war machine in Ukraine
• US intelligence finding shows China surging equipment sales to Russia to help war effort in Ukraine
• How could an Aukus role for Tokyo affect China’s ties with Japan?

China reaffirms ties with North Korea in high-level Pyongyang meeting

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/china-reaffirms-ties-with-north-korea-in-high-level-pyongyang-meeting

A top ranking Chinese official reaffirmed ties with North Korea during a meeting Saturday with the country’s leader Kim Jong-un in the capital Pyongyang, China’s state media reported, in the highest-level talks between the allies in years.

The visit by Zhao Leji, who ranks third in the ruling Communist party hierarchy and heads the ceremonial parliament, came as North Korea has test fired missiles to intimidate South Korea and its ally, the United States.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that Zhao told Kim at the meeting concluding his three-day visit that China, North Korea’s most important source of economic aid and diplomatic support, looked forward to further developing ties, but made no mention of the political situation on the peninsula or the region.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 75 years ago, China and North Korea have been “good neighbours and struggled together to attain a common destiny and level of development,” Xinhua quoted Zhao as saying.

China fought on behalf of the reclusive communist state against the US and others during the 1950-1953 Korean War, and in recent years has helped prop up its weak economy, allegedly in violation of UN sanctions in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program which Beijing had endorsed.

Zhao met his North Korean counterpart Choe Ryong-hae on Thursday and discussed how to promote exchanges and cooperation in all areas, the official North Korean central news agency reported.

North Korea closed its borders during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic amid reports of a major outbreak and food shortages. Zhao’s visit to North Korea marked the first bilateral exchange involving a Chinese politburo standing committee member since the pandemic started. Prior to the outbreak, Kim and Chinese president Xi Jinping held two summits in 2019.

North Korea and China are expected to hold a number of exchanges this year to mark the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. North Korea has sought to boost its cooperation with Beijing and Russia in the face of a standoff with the U.S. and South Korea over its missile launches and nuclear program.

Kim traveled to Russia in September for a summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The US, South Korea and others accuse North Korea of supplying conventional weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine in return for advanced weapons technologies and other support.

China has refused to criticise the Russian invasion and accused the US and Nato of provoking Moscow, but says it will not provide Moscow with direct military support.

Climate change requires US and China to cooperate not compete, experts warn

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258938/climate-change-requires-us-and-china-cooperate-not-compete-experts-warn?utm_source=rss_feed

China and the US need to move beyond their perennial squabbles and chest thumping to address existential global problems, drawing on their collective creativity, financial expertise and manufacturing prowess, experts warned Saturday at a Harvard University conference on US-China relations.

Few expect the deep distrust between the two countries to abate any time soon. Differences over trade tariffs, semiconductor export restrictions, Taiwan, the South China Sea and other issues abound.

But the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in California last November and their 105-minute call this month provide some modest hope the two nations can focus on broader problems and shared concerns, the conference participants said.

“Looking back, what has been so successful has been … our willingness to forge consensus on important issues, our willingness to collaborate and cooperate [for] local public good and our willingness to agree to disagree,” said Bo Li, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. “At a challenging time like this, this willingness is both scarce and enormously valuable.”

Li, speaking at the Harvard College China Forum under the theme “Telling the US-China Story”, highlighted in particular the bleak outlook for global warming, adding that the world is far behind even its anaemic pledges to reduce greenhouse gas and needs the leadership of China and the US.

US-China ties experts urge powers to embrace shared interests and introspection

Greenhouse gases need to be cut by at least 25 per cent by 2030 to avoid the worst effects of climate change, Li said, yet announced targets would only bring it to 11 per cent – and even that is questionable given the shortage of political will.

“International coordination is key,” Li said. “Between the US, China, India and Europe, it would cover 60 per cent of global emissions and spur the rest of the world to action … Climate is a major threat to global economic stability, growth and jobs, not to mention life and health.”

Citizens of the two countries need to hold their leaders accountable and bolster that political will, said Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, whether involving climate change or a host of other bilateral issues and irritants.

“You have a unique understanding of China and the United States,” he told the audience of mostly Chinese Harvard students. “And when you know that the US government’s policy is wrong or the Chinese government’s policy is wrong, you need to speak out. If you don’t take the opportunity that you have got seriously, I despair [of] the future of US-China relations.”

Led by Beijing and Washington, with their formidable industrial prowess and financial clout, the world needs to adopt and meet more ambitious climate targets, embrace carbon trading and find ways to raise and channel trillions of US dollars of private sector capital into the clean-energy transition, Li said.

How far did Janet Yellen’s trip move the ball for US-China relations?

Speakers at this weekend’s forum said such a large transition must take into account the profit motive.

Among those speaking at the forum were William Li, founder and chairman of Chinese electrical vehicle company Nio, and Shawn Qu, founder and chief executive of Canadian Solar.

Both touted their role in the global energy transition, although they spent more of their time talking about corporate growth, expansion and stock exchange listings.

Qu highlighted in particular the explosive growth of artificial intelligence, information and data technology and its often overlooked gluttonous appetite for power. This is forecast to fuel a 10-fold increase in electricity demand from 800 terawatt hours per day to 8,000 per day by 2030. One terawatt hour is enough to cool 500,000 homes for a full year.

“This is a technological breakthrough, but crucially we have to make sure we don’t compromise clean energy goals,” Qu said.

Orlins said it took great political courage for then US President Jimmy Carter and Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping to normalise diplomatic relations in 1979 and at this “time of difficulty”, similar courage is needed to nudge the two largest economies closer together.

“What we need today is bravery from our leadership,” he said. “If they are brave, if they do the right thing, the relationship will be more productive.”

US general confirms China has reached out to discuss space safety as military ties show signs of thawing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3258918/us-general-confirms-china-has-reached-out-discuss-space-safety-military-ties-show-signs-thawing?utm_source=rss_feed

China has “proactively” reached out to the United States to discuss issues related to space safety, according to the chief of the US Space Command, in a rare show of cooperation as ties between the two rival nations show signs of thawing.

Military website Breaking Defence quoted the US Space Command’s Stephen Whiting as saying that China had in the past six months reached out to the US “on two things they wanted to talk to us about with space safety-related issues”.

“We think that is very positive and we would like to continue to build on that,” he said on the sidelines of a space symposium earlier this week.

US general raises alarm over ‘breathtaking’ growth in China’s space tech

According to the report, the four-star general said the US routinely shared data on potential orbit collisions with countries including China, but Beijing did not always respond to its engagement

It was unclear from the report how many times China reached out to the US. The report also did not elaborate on the two issues or when exactly the interactions took place.

Whiting also told reporters that the US had long underscored that close international collaboration on orbital data was crucial to prevent collisions and that Washington “would love to have a regular path to share safety data” with Beijing.

The American space commander’s comments came as frosty relations between the two major powers thawed on the back of high-level engagements in recent months.

China revives military safety talks with US, warns against sovereignty threats

In particular, military-to-military communications were restored following the meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco last November.

In December, senior officials from both sides held a videoconference to discuss the importance of working together to “avoid miscalculations and maintain open and direct lines of communication”, in the first senior military communication since engagements were halted in 2022.

More recently, after Xi and Biden held a phone call this month, the two countries agreed to “advance” military communications, with the defence chiefs of both countries expected to speak “soon”.

For space issues, US and Chinese officials met in October to discuss space situational awareness data – a meeting that was reportedly the result of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China in September.

Raimondo had discussed space commerce, among other economic issues, with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng during her trip.

China has rapidly ramped up its activities in outer space in recent decades. Whiting earlier said that Beijing’s military space abilities were growing at a “breathtaking pace”.

Turkey applies for China-Russia space programme to build base on the moon

China’s outreach to the US on space safety meant that space could emerge as one of a few areas of cooperation between the two global powers, joining issues such as climate change and artificial intelligence.

In another example of potential cooperation in space research between the US and China, Nasa in December gave the go-ahead for its researchers to study China’s moon samples, marking a notable exception as US law has kept the American space agency and its Chinese counterpart at arm’s length.

But that development also came with some controversy. Nicholas Burns, US ambassador to China, said at a forum that same month that he did not believe “the Chinese have shown much of an interest in working with the United States”, when asked about space engagement.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) hit back at Burns’ comments, saying that China welcomed scientists from all over the world, including the US, to apply for lunar samples collected by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020.

According to Chinese state media, a spokesman for China’s space agency said China attached great importance to international space cooperation and was “always open to space exchanges” with the US.

“I don’t understand whether the United States is playing with words or passing the buck,” Xu Hongliang of the CNSA said.

China’s No 3 Zhao Leji pledges to maintain friendship with North Korea in meeting with Kim Jong-un

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258929/chinas-no-3-zhao-leji-pledges-maintain-friendship-north-korea-meeting-kim-jong-un?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s No 3 official Zhao Leji met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday, pledging to maintain Beijing’s friendly relationship with its Communist neighbour.

State news agency Xinhua reported that Zhao, the head of the national legislature, told Kim: “It is our unswerving policy to maintain, consolidate and develop the traditional friendly cooperative relations between China and North Korea.”

Zhao was leading a delegation of senior officials to North Korea to mark 75 years of bilateral ties. He is the most senior Chinese official to visit after Pyongyang resumed diplomatic activities around a year ago following three years of border closures due to Covid-19.

Zhao also said that China stood ready to work with North Korea to promote stronger relations while continuing to “strongly support each other and safeguard the common interests of both parties”.

“What we have gone through together is 75 years of good neighbourliness, fighting side by side, sharing a common destiny and common development,” he said.

The friendship between China and North Korea, he added, “has withstood various tests from the changing international situation and is our shared precious wealth”.

The meeting, which followed a series of high-level visits to Pyongyang from Chinese officials, came amid speculation about a potential meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim later this year.

North Korea’s Kim vows to deal ‘deathblow to enemy’ in event of war

The pair have not met since Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019.

The North Korean leader said the Chinese delegation’s visit demonstrated that ties between the two countries were “deeply rooted and unbreakable”.

“The DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is willing to strengthen cooperation in various fields and exchange of experience in state governance with China, deepen traditional friendship, and write a new chapter in the DPRK-China relationship,” he said.

Zhao, who was wrapping up a three-day visit to Pyongyang, met his North Korean counterpart Choe Ryong-hae on Thursday, saying China was willing to “intensify high-level exchanges” and strengthen “strategic coordination” with North Korea.

Zhao’s trip came amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula and coincided with a maritime exercise involving the US, Japan and South Korea.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that Communist Party international liaison chief Liu Jianchao, Culture and Tourism Minister Sun Yeli, foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu and commerce vice-minister Li Fei were part of the Chinese delegation.

US sanctions on North Korea target individuals and China, Russia-based firms

Zhao’s goodwill visit to Pyongyang also took place at a time when North Korea is seeking to strengthen ties with Russia as Western countries accuse Pyongyang of supplying arms to Moscow to support its invasion of Ukraine.

In September, Kim made a rare trip abroad to meet President Vladimir Putin.

Tech war: US sanctions on key Nvidia distributor in China could push more customers towards domestic replacements

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3258911/tech-war-us-sanctions-key-nvidia-distributor-china-could-push-more-customers-towards-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese companies have lost access to one of the country’s largest distribution channels for Nvidia processors after the US added a major reseller to its export blacklist, strengthening Washington’s efforts to curb artificial intelligence (AI) development in China while pushing more Chinese businesses towards local replacements.

Sitonholy (Tianjin) was among four Chinese companies added to the US Entity List on Wednesday for allegedly helping China’s military acquire AI chips, according to a post published on the Federal Register.

The firms were “involved with providing AI chips to China’s military modernisation programmes” and military intelligence users, Kevin Kurland, an export enforcement official at the US commerce department, said at a Senate subcommittee hearing, according to a Reuters report.

In a statement, the Chinese commerce ministry called the US sanctions “abusive” and “a weaponisation” of export controls.

Sitonholy is one of a few “elite-level” Nvidia data centre product solutions providers in China, having retained its franchise rights for being able maintain strong sales year after year, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

While Nvidia has been banned by the US from exporting to China its advanced A100 and H100 data-centre graphics processing units (GPUs), which have become sought-after for AI training, it has come up with new replacements for China-based clients, such as the H20, L20 and L2 GPUs.

However, being blacklisted by the US has effectively ended Sitonholy’s distributorship of Nvidia products, forcing it to sell mostly domestic chips from now on, sources said.

Sitonholy has been distributing Huawei Technologies’ Ascend 910B AI chips – an alternative to Nvidia’s A100 GPUs – and other Huawei data-centre solutions such as Atlas 800I A2 inference servers.

Various tests have shown the Huawei 910B capable of performing at about 70 per cent of the level of Nvidia’s A100.

It is not immediately clear if Nvidia would complete orders placed through Sitonholy before it was blacklisted. The South China Morning Post was unable to reach Sitonholy for comments on Saturday.

China has accelerated efforts to substitute foreign chips and software with domestic products to safeguard national and industrial security.

Huawei has emerged as a powerful supplier that is crucial for forging an ecosystem built on home-grown hardware and software solutions, such as HarmonyOS.

The Shenzhen-based giant last year defied US sanctions to release a 5G smartphone equipped with a 7-nanometre-grade mobile system-on-a-chip made by Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).

Huawei and SMIC are among more than 600 Chinese companies that have been added to Washington’s export control lists, preventing US suppliers from shipping goods and technologies to these Chinese firms without special permission.

China’s EU ambassador Fu Cong to take over United Nations role

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258912/chinas-eu-ambassador-fu-cong-take-over-united-nations-role?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s former ambassador to the European Union Fu Cong has been named as the country’s new permanent representative at the United Nations.

Fu has led China’s diplomatic mission in Brussels since Decmber 2022, a time marked by worsening relations as a result of what Europe saw as China’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and probes into claims that Beijing was unfairly subsidising electric vehicle makers.

Fu takes on the UN role at a time when China is seeking to bolster its support among members of the so-called Global South. In announcing his appointment, the China International Development Cooperation Agency, a government foreign aid organisation, called for greater cooperation between the agency and China’s diplomats at the UN.

Despite the growing tensions with the EU under his watch, Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said “Fu’s work in Europe was commendable to the leadership.”

He said that by moving to the UN: “His official rank remains the same, but the new role means more responsibility as that involves China-US confrontation.”

Fu left his posting in Brussels last month, and in his farewell reception, he urged China and the EU to “build more roads and bridges instead of erecting walls or digging holes or creating small yards”.

EU follows US move to assess China’s dominance of legacy chips

“The tripartite description of China as a partner, a competitor and a systemic rival is inappropriate and does not correspond to reality,” he said.

He also noted that protectionism or the “frequent use of anti-subsidy and anti-dumping measures under the banner of de-risking” will not only harm the China-EU relationship, but also go against the long-term interests of the EU.

His successor in Brussels has yet to be named. A Chinese international relations specialist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “China has always attached special importance to relations with the EU as we try to estrange the bloc from the United States, but I think it’s just wishful thinking since we don’t share values with Europeans.”

Fu will be the 15th ambassador since the People’s Republic of China took over the country’s seat at the UN and the Security Council from Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, in 1971.

The Dutch software company that could shape EU-China relations for decades

China’s diplomatic mission to the UN said the current ambassador, Zhang Jun, would be returning to China without specifying what his next posting would be.

The 63-year-old has technically passed the official retirement age, although such restrictions do not usually apply to diplomats. Hong Kong’s Sing Tao newspaper reported last month that he was going to take over as secretary-general of the Boao Asia Forum.

---

‘Potentially so exciting’: Chinese team finds a way to mass-produce nanosheets with unusual properties

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3258858/potentially-so-exciting-chinese-team-finds-way-mass-produce-nanosheets-unusual-properties?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have found a way to mass-produce nanosheets from transition-metal tellurides – a 2D material they say could have many applications, from lithium batteries to solar panels.

The team led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University said their “fast and scalable” production method could bring the nanosheets out of laboratories and into practical use.

Writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature last week, they said their method was faster and safer than existing ones that have a much smaller yield, and it could be used to make batteries with higher stability and energy density.

TMTs are a combination of the metal tellurium and transition metals such as tungsten and niobium. They can be turned into 2D nanosheets where the transition metal is “sandwiched” by tellurium, the CAS said in a statement.

It said TMT nanosheets were a promising area for development because of their unusual properties, including semiconducting and superconducting, insulation and magnetic activity.

The nanosheets could be used in areas ranging from energy storage and developing “novel electrodes” for supercapacitors and batteries, to hydrogen production and photovoltaics, the statement said.

They could also be used as electrocatalysts to improve the performance of lithium-oxygen batteries due to being more stable and having a bigger storage capacity, according to the paper.

“The list of industries that would enjoy significant efficiency improvements from the mass production of TMT nanosheets is extremely long,” Wu Zhongshuai, corresponding author and a chemist with the CAS’ Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, said in the statement.

“This is why this 2D material is potentially so exciting.”

China can win EV battery race if industry, academia cooperate: leading scientist

But the potential of TMT nanosheets has not been explored as much as other 2D materials outside labs because of the lack of “industrial-scale, safe, reproducible and scalable synthesis techniques”, the researchers wrote in the paper.

Nanosheets are typically produced through an “exfoliation” method, where chemical solutions are used to peel off thin layers from a compound to eventually create extremely thin 2D sheets, according to the CAS.

Previous production methods relied on toxic and flammable chemicals, and could only create nanosheets at the gram level with long processing times of more than 30 minutes, which restricted their applications, the paper said.

The team discovered a new method based on hydrolysis – the breaking of chemical bonds using water – which they found could produce more than 100 grams of nanosheets in less time.

“To the best of our knowledge, our exfoliation method is the only one that allows production on such a large scale in only 10 minutes,” the team wrote.

Chinese scientists produce a powerful winter-proof lithium battery

Their method starts with lithiation – where hydrogen atoms in molecules are replaced with lithium – followed by exfoliation, performed through hydrolysis.

They were able to produce 108 grams of niobium telluride nanosheets, two orders of magnitude more than previous methods. The team also used their method to create nanosheets using other transition metals, which showed the method was universal, according to another CAS statement.

“We have developed a general solid lithiation and exfoliation method for the hundred-gram synthesis of high-quality TMT nanosheets that has the potential to revolutionise their commercial manufacture,” the team wrote in the paper.

They said their “universal and scalable” method could be used to explore “new quantum phenomena, potential applications and commercialisation”.

‘Yoked together’: Experts on US-China ties urge powers to embrace shared interests – and introspection

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3258900/yoked-together-experts-us-china-ties-urge-powers-embrace-shared-interests-and-introspection?utm_source=rss_feed

The sooner the US and China accept the fact that they have common interests, the better it will be both for their respective nations and for the wider world, experts said on Friday at a conference at Harvard University.

The gathering of China experts in business, academia and politics comes at a delicate time following the summit last November between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Woodside, California that stabilised ties even as it left looming questions about their bilateral future.

“We are yoked together by common interest in mutual success, even if there are many areas of sharp ideological difference,” said Larry Summers, former US treasury security and ex-president of Harvard University. “That is the challenge that the US and China face today.”

How far did Janet Yellen’s trip move the ball for US-China relations?

“What happened in San Francisco at the summit between President Xi and President Biden was the creation not just of a floor under what had been a rapidly deteriorating relationship but actually a pretty strong foundation,” said Graham Allison, a Harvard professor and former US assistant defence secretary.

“This San Francisco consensus, as Xi Jinping calls it, has not just been embraced by President Biden on the American side … President Xi has made it his own,” he said, speaking at the 27th Harvard College China Forum.

The new approach – evidenced by recent trips to Beijing on the part of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with Wang in Germany – involves continuous private, candid conversations about delicate issues out of the public spotlight, Allison said.

“This is what’s required if you’re going to have serious countries dealing with each other seriously,” Allison said.

“This foundation they’re building, I believe will bring a much more constructive and productive relationship, at least this year.”

Xi-Biden call was a timely talk about ‘strategic perception’ as tensions flare

Summers said China has had an amazing and historic rise, noting that the country had dramatically increased its per capita income.

“This is a remarkable achievement in which China can and should take pride,” he said.

But both giants need to engage in some introspection, he added.

Even as China has accomplished miraculous economic growth, it faces the middle income trap, environmental degradation and a demographic transition “on steroids” amid a sharp decline in birth rates.

The US, for its part, is deeply divided politically, suffers from massive economic inequality and is weathering social resentment and a loss of confidence in its institutions.

“I am someone who has always thought of himself as a friend of China, whose instincts have been that the United States will succeed in its relationship with China, will succeed in its global objectives, if it avoids truculence, if it avoids measures that can be seen as trying to suppress or hold China down,” Summers said.

Yet a successful, open regime should be based on the power of rules, rather than the rule of power, he added, and the growth in China’s military spending, wolf warrior diplomacy, cybersecurity policies and intrusions into other societies have made it harder to defend norms in the mutual relationship, Summers added.

“My hope in this crucial juncture in the year 2024 is that on both sides, we can find some areas, perhaps artificial intelligence, perhaps the environment, where we could cooperate,” Summers said. “And we can find other areas in which we can respect each other’s boundaries.”

In Wang-Blinken call, China urges US to play constructive Middle East role

Allison said the good news was that it had been 79 years since the last great power war, a “historically long peace”, but the bad news was that there was a genuine Thucydides rivalry – the idea that a rising power and a declining power are often destined for confrontation – between the nuclear-armed US and China, “and neither will give much”.

Allison added that the hope is for some sort of strategic framework – what Xi and Biden attempted to initiate during their summit in California – that can allow fierce competition and serious cooperation to coexist.

Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and former chairman of the US Council on Economic Advisors, added that China and the US have benefited enormously from their long and interconnected relationship in business, supply chains and their broad economies.

“The two countries clearly have common interests like climate change, and global debt,” he said. “It helps set the stage for doing a better job on global peace and security.”

Trump derailed Oval Office China talks with Stormy Daniels rant, book says

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/13/trump-china-stormy-daniels-rant-randall-stephenson-book

Donald Trump has made antipathy to China a cornerstone of his campaign to return to the White House next year, but according to a new book, he allowed another obsession, over women and sex, to derail a White House meeting with a senior US tech executive meant to address Chinese threats to US telecoms networks.

“You don’t say no to the president,” Randall Stephenson, then chief executive of AT&T, tells the New York Times reporter David Sanger about a summons to the Oval Office in 2019.

Trump had seen Stephenson talking on television about China and wanted to discuss the matter further, Sanger writes. But in the event, Stephenson says, Trump ranted about women and in particular Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who claimed an affair and whose hush-money payments from Trump are set to be the subject of his first criminal trial, starting in New York on Monday.

“Trump burned up the first 45 minutes of the meeting by riffing on how men got into trouble,” Sanger writes in his book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.

“It was all about women and private planes, he claimed. Then he went into a long diatribe about Stormy Daniels, the former porn star who claimed she had had an affair with him. It was ‘all part of the same stand-up comedy act’, Stephenson later recalled … and ‘we were left with 15 minutes to talk about Chinese infrastructure.’”

New Cold Wars will be published in the US on Tuesday. The Guardian obtained a copy.

Stephenson says that when Trump finally got round to discussing China, he “seemed fixated on the question of whether the Chinese, by moving their equipment into western markets, could listen in on phone calls or read emails – the ‘back door’ problem that intelligence agencies often briefed Trump about”.

Stephenson was less concerned, given Chinese proficiency in hacking that made such fears largely irrelevant, and tried to explain bigger risks: that China, through companies such as Huawei or ZTE, might be able to “cripple the US communications grid”, and that Beijing might gain global dominance through investment in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

But Stephenson “could see that the president’s mind was elsewhere. ‘This is really boring,’ Trump finally said.”

An entrance by Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, gave Stephenson his excuse to change the subject then leave.

Stephenson had another, more bruising brush with Trump – which also contained a link to the Stormy Daniels affair.

The year before the abortive China meeting, the AT&T chief told employees the company had seen its reputation damaged by a decision to spend $600,000 on hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant.

“Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged,” Stephenson wrote in a memo. “There is no other way to say it: AT&T hiring Michael Cohen … was a big mistake.”

Cohen was hired to advise on regulatory matters. But his appeal as a consultant arose from his work as Trump’s lawyer and fixer, before and after Trump entered politics.

Cohen orchestrated and was reimbursed for the hush-money payments to Daniels that produced the 34 criminal charges against Trump now set to be tried in Manhattan. Jailed for fraud and lying to Congress, Cohen turned on Trump. He is due to be a key government witness.

Trump denies wrongdoing and claims political persecution – as he does regarding 54 criminal charges in three other cases and multimillion-dollar penalties in two civil suits.

Chinese navy steers a course for African ports in Beijing’s renewed diplomatic push

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258645/chinese-navy-steers-course-african-ports-beijings-renewed-diplomatic-push?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese navy has stepped up its port calls around Africa as part of Beijing’s growing military diplomacy with the continent.

After the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) paused many of its African port visits during the pandemic, it is getting back to full strength again in a bid to cement diplomatic ties as well as show off military hardware, according to observers.

Earlier this week, China’s 45th naval fleet, including guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, missile frigate Linyi and comprehensive replenishment vessel Dongpinghu, visited Madagascar after a visit to Tanzania and Mozambique last month. Such visits were an established practice before the Covid-19 pandemic threw them into disarray.

On March 23, the ships arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for a five-day stopover before heading to the port of Maputo in Mozambique on April 1 for another five-day tour.

While in Tanzania, representatives visited the Dar es Salaam Station of the Tazara Railway, as well as the Chinese Experts Cemetery where they paid their respects to those who died during the railway’s construction.

Before that, the 45th naval fleet had completed an anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.

It has since been replaced by the 46th Chinese naval escort task force, which includes the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Jiaozuo, the Type 054A missile frigate Xuchang, and the Type 903A replenishment vessel Honghu, with over 700 crew members including dozens of special forces personnel and two helicopters on board.

State broadcaster CCTV reported in December that by the end of 2023, the PLA Navy had escorted more than 7,200 vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia in more than 1,600 missions.

The recent deployment of vessels to the region comes at a time when Red Sea trade routes have been paralysed following attacks on commercial ships by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are protesting Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

But it was not just the Gulf of Aden that saw Chinese vessels last year. During 2023, the PLA navy made port calls in Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and South Africa.

David Shinn, a China-Africa expert and professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said the PLA Navy is resuming a practice that it had institutionalised before the pandemic when its ships would make calls at African and Indian Ocean ports, usually after completion of a three or four-month anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden.

Shinn said that, except for routine calls that continued throughout the pandemic in Djibouti in connection with the anti-piracy patrol, port visits in Africa were paused in 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The port calls did not resume until February 2023, Shinn said, with a trilateral exercise involving naval vessels from China, Russia and South Africa off the South African coast, dubbed Mosi, which means smoke in the local Tswana language.

This was followed by naval visits at ports in West Africa in July 2023, he said, and now the current visits to Tanzania, Mozambique – and probably a few more African ports before this series is finished.

Shinn said some of these visits have involved exercises with other navies and often gifts of low-cost items such as sports equipment are given.

“[The visits] provide positive publicity for both China and the African host,” Shinn said.

He noted that most of these countries also welcome visits by naval ships from Western nations, allowing leaders to demonstrate their “non-alignment”.

For China, though, it is about building alliances.

“China wants to cement the security relationship with African governments and port cities so that it can access them quickly in times of need,” Shinn said.

Paul Nantulya, a China specialist at the National Defence University’s Africa Centre for Strategic Studies in Washington, said the visit of the 45th naval fleet to Tanzania and Mozambique “forms part of what I like to call the PLA’s multipurpose employment of its naval task forces”.

Nantulya said the missions began in 2008 and have grown in duration, sophistication and tasks – with their main mission being anti-piracy patrols, primarily in the Gulf of Aden.

But Nantulya said the Chinese navy has used them for other missions, such as citizen evacuations in Libya, Yemen and Sudan, military exercises and drills with African forces, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and military diplomacy, as seen in the recent visits to Tanzania and Mozambique.

“These port calls reinforce Chinese strategic diplomacy, strengthen military to military ties, demonstrate China’s improving naval capabilities, and afford the PLA opportunities to market its military hardware to African customers,” Nantulya said. Algeria, for instance, has bought Chinese submarines.

Another benefit for the PLA Navy, Nantulya said, is the operational experience it gains, as well as the ability to test and field new equipment.

“All the assets China deploys into African waters are new or upgraded. The operational experience is critical as China has not fought a war since 1979,” Nantulya said.

And while not all the operations China conducts in African maritime domains are necessarily transferable to high intensity combat scenarios, he said they are better than nothing.

Meanwhile, there are also benefits for the African countries. They get to demonstrate their strategic and diplomatic ties to China, expose their forces to foreign military practices and doctrine, and they get to achieve a level of interoperability, which is also a benefit to China, Nantulya said.

They also “increase their leverage to negotiate economic agreements with China in exchange for permitting the PLA to dock in their yards”, he said.

Naval visits are a recognised role for navies as they spread goodwill and show military prowess, according to Francois Vrey, a professor emeritus of military science and a research coordinator at the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University.

They also give an indication of China’s diplomatic intent in various political situations, Vrey added.

He said while China keeps ships on station in the northwest Indian Ocean, they are not the same vessels that visited Tanzania and Mozambique. The ships that made those visits were, however, recently involved in an exercise in the Arabian Sea with Russia and Iran. Also, amid the Red Sea crisis, Russian ships conducted exercises with the Djibouti Navy, right at the southern part of the Red Sea.

“This is about the diplomatic value of naval power to extend political influence given that the current Chinese administration elevated the oceans and maritime interests very close to the top of its overall policy plans and programmes architecture,” Vrey said.

He said the Chinese naval visits also show a presence on Africa’s east coast, but the programme for the visits are low-key and not in the same category as, for example, the Mosi exercise in South Africa.

“Navies are such versatile instruments of power and influence if one looks beyond the war-fighting domain,” he said.

Pakistan police link deadly attacks on Chinese workers to Taliban affiliate’s ‘broken switch’ terror cell

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3258846/pakistan-police-link-deadly-attacks-chinese-workers-taliban-affiliates-broken-switch-terror-cell?utm_source=rss_feed

Police investigations into a vehicular suicide bombing that killed five Chinese nationals in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month have uncovered evidence linking it to an identical attack in the area carried out in July 2021.

Both attacks, which targeted employees of China Gezhouba Group Co (CGGC) working on a dam, are believed to have been carried out by the same faction of the Pakistani Taliban – led by militants originally from the Kohistan region – three senior police officers told This Week In Asia on condition of anonymity as they are not allowed to speak to the media.

Suicide bombers in both cases detonated explosives-laden cars as a convoy of security escort vehicles and buses carrying workers from the Dasu hydropower project attempted to overtake them on the Karakoram Highway, the sole overland link between Pakistan and China’s Xinjiang region.

Chinese firm halts work on dam, fires Pakistani workers after bus blast

Nine Chinese nationals were killed in the previous attack on the highway in July 2021.

Both bombing were carried out using second-hand Japanese cars – a Honda Accord in 2021 and a Suzuki Vitz last month – driven over the border from Afghanistan.

Using a SIM card recovered from the site of the attack on March 26, police traced the suicide bomber’s movements from Khost city in eastern Afghanistan to the Chaman border crossing in Pakistan’s western Balochistan province.

Police believe the attacker was an Afghan national, but are carrying out DNA testing to confirm their suspicions.

From Chaman, he is thought to have driven more than 1,000km north to the town of Chakdara, passing through a number of security checkpoints in areas that have long been plagued by attacks without the explosives-laden car once being searched.

Police say the bomber was met at a car showroom in Chakdara by Shafiq Ahmed, who worked at a government school in Kohistan. On March 15, Ahmed accompanied the bomber from Chakdara to Besham, near where the attack was later carried out.

Parking the vehicle overnight at a local petrol pump, they drove the next day to Oghi district, a neighbouring remote area notorious as a hideout for criminals and terrorists, to meet terrorism cell chief Hazrat Bilal, another Kohistan native.

Bilal was also involved in the July 2021 attack, police said, but he has evaded arrest by regularly changing his appearance.

The suicide bomber and his guide drove back into Besham at 6.17am on March 26 and lay in wait for the CGGC convoy, which they knew was coming because workers had been transported between Dasu and Islamabad every second day at fixed times, police said.

Ahmed, acting as a spotter, saw the convoy arrive in Besham at 12.49pm and informed the bomber, who launched his attack at Lahore Nullah, some 3.5km ahead, around 11 minutes later.

The impact of the explosion instantly killed the driver of the bus, which careered off the highway and dropped about 50 metres into a ravine, setting bushes alight.

Two men – believed to be Bilal and Ahmed – could be heard exchanging congratulations and discussing the lethal outcome of the bombing in a monitored mobile phone call that took place immediately after the attack on the outskirts of Besham.

The man identified as Bilal voiced his disappointment that one of the two buses carrying CGGC employees had only sustained minor damage.

Arriving on the scene minutes later with the emergency services, This Week in Asia found the Chinese occupants of the second bus hidden under a truck some 500 metres from the highway in the same ravine. They were deeply traumatised and unable to speak.

The findings have convinced police investigators that both attacks involved suicide bombers who were trained in eastern Afghanistan by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), previously led by Tariq Rafiq until his reported assassination in Kunar province in July 2022.

Tariq, also known as “Button Kharab” (broken switch), was given his strange nickname by TTP colleagues after a suicide bomber’s jacket that he once made failed to detonate during an attempted attack. Bilal was a close associate of Tariq, police said.

The TTP has repeatedly denied any involvement in either of the two attacks that were carried out against Chinese nationals on Pakistan’s Karakoram Highway.

Investigators suspect this is because the TTP’s leaders, alongside some 5,000 militants, have sought refuge in Afghanistan under its Taliban regime, which has rejected repeated demands from Pakistan to disarm and relocate the group to prevent it from staging cross-border attacks.

Tired of the Taliban’s intransigence, Pakistan launched air strikes against TTP targets in eastern Afghanistan on March 18.

Afghanistan’s Taliban regime continues to called on both Pakistan and Tajikistan to reach a negotiated political settlement with the group’s affiliates within their borders, arguing that a crackdown would only prompt the militants to defect to Islamic State-Khorasan Province (Isis-K), the group found to be behind the March 22 terrorist attack in Moscow.

Since seizing power in the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has pursued good relations with Beijing and sought to encourage Chinese investment in their impoverished country’s moribund economy.

China views the Taliban as an important security partner against Uygur separatists aligned with al-Qaeda and Isis-K cells based in Afghanistan. In February, Beijing recognised the diplomatic credentials of the Taliban’s first official envoy to China.

‘Vested interests’: why China is backing Taliban regime in Afghanistan

Terrorism researcher Riccardo Valle described the so-called Button Kharab group as part of a “freelance jihadist, semi-independent network” that operates with the TTP and other associated groups.

“It maintains a degree of independence when it comes to its own planning of attacks,” he said.

Valle believes that Button Kharab himself may have survived the assassination attempt in July 2022 and gone into hiding, so could still be managing the network.

The TTP didn’t confirm his death at the time, saying only that the group had lost contact with him and did not know his whereabouts.

But even if he was killed, official investigations into the 2021 attack revealed that Button Kharab and his associates had built a militant network “running on family lines which facilitated the movements of vehicles and explosives through legal ways”, said Valle, who is director of research for The Khorasan Diary, an Islamabad-based security news and analysis platform focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Hence, whoever may have replaced Button Kharab might be using the same network,” he said. The police officers who spoke to This Week In Asia have come to the same conclusion.

They also complained about a lack of coordination on the part of security agencies tasked with protecting Chinese nationals working on projects in Pakistan.

How to stem terrorist attacks on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

This was evident at the site of the March 26 blast, where This Week in Asia saw the security detail that had been assigned to protect the CGGC workers rejecting a police officer’s plea to relocate the cowering survivors, citing the threat of a follow-up attack.

Official blame for the security failures that led to the March 26 attack has fallen on the region’s top three police officers, all of whom were suspended on Tuesday.

Scientists discover ancient wells in China with 10,000 bamboo slips that offer insights into governance from 1,800 years ago

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3258889/scientists-discover-ancient-wells-china-10000-bamboo-slips-offer-insights-governance-1800-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed

Archaeologists in China hope that around 10,000 bamboo slips discovered in a 1,700-year-old well can help them unlock certain mysteries about life and governance during the Three Kingdoms (220-280) period.

The artefacts found in central China’s Hunan province are a series of bureaucratic updates about how the town of Dutou city operated day to day.

Dutou was the head of government for the county, which was ruled by the state of Wu, and the discovery of the slips should illuminate how the region was governed.

They included information about household registration, taxation, farming, mining and other economic activities in the town, according to a press release from the Institute of Archaeology from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Bamboo slips, called jiandu in Chinese, were the primary medium for writing for thousands of years, and their excavation has proven to be an invaluable source for understanding the history of China. Archaeologists have found more than 300,000 bamboo slips to date.

The slips were found in two wells, one of which was far better preserved than the other.

The archaeologists are confident that the slides are from the Wu state because the timestamps say they are from “jiahe year one” or “jiahe fifth year. Jiahe was the reign name of Sun Quan (r. 222-229), who declared the formal independence of Wu from its rival state Wei in 222. It had previously been a vassal state of Wei for two years.

That declaration of independence from the Wu state from its rival state, Wei, kickstarted the Three Kingdoms period, defined by the competition between three states — the other being Shu — for supremacy over all of China.

The period was defined by constant war between the three kingdoms, and it was only finished when Sima Yan usurped the leadership of the Wei state, established the Jin dynasty, and eventually conquered the Wu capital.

The Three Kingdoms period was relatively short-lived by Chinese history standards, lasting only 60 years. The Zhou dynasty (1046 BC-256 BC) was the longest-lasting dynasty at 790 years, with the shortest being the Qin (221 BC-206 BC) at just 15.

However, the Three Kingdoms has been romanticised in the country thanks to the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical fiction that follows the lives and intrigue of lords during the three-way split of China and the eventual reunification.

Fans of literature may recognise a parallel to Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

Most of the recently discovered bamboo slips are taxation records, which describe in immense detail how taxes were collected and how the government allocated resources.

It also detailed trade between local counties, helping archaeologists learn about the nature of small-scale trade during the Three Kingdoms.

The press release, referencing the inhabited Nanling mountain region, said: “[Dutou’s] special geographical location and multicultural factors provide important examples for studying the development of economic and cultural exchanges and transportation between the north and south of Nanling.”

Dutou was excavated for seven years, during which time the scientists unearthed more than 360 unique pieces of infrastructure, such as moats, roads, tombs, and houses.

They also found an immensely diverse collection of pottery and a metallurgy site about 10km from the city, which they believe was used to make an ancient version of tin or another non-metallic metal.

Dutou is the only well-preserved ancient city along the Hunan-Guangdong road, part of an extensive network of roads connecting much of southern China. Those roads were often used as primary forms of transport for everything from trade and military to migration.

The Hunan-Guangdong road was about 201km long and connected south China with the central plains.

Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China, something both countries are trying to fix

https://apnews.com/article/china-american-students-universities-f5f6e53cd5d3bc686590f2f961165281David Moser, an American and associate professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, poses for a photo at the university, Friday, March 22, 2024 in Beijing, China. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students are at U.S. schools. Without these U.S. students, “in the next decade, we won’t be able to exercise savvy, knowledgeable diplomacy in China,” warned Moser, an American linguist who went to China in the 1980s and is now tasked with establishing a new master's program for international students at Beijing Capital Normal University. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

2024-04-13T04:01:52Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns.

The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone.

These days, only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of close to 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at U.S. schools.

Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see as diminishing economic opportunities and strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

Whatever the reason for the imbalance, U.S. officials and scholars bemoan the lost opportunities for young people to experience life in China and gain insight into a formidable American adversary.

And officials from both countries agree that more should be done to encourage the student exchanges, at a time when Beijing and Washington can hardly agree on anything else.

“I do not believe the environment is as hospitable for educational exchange as it was in the past, and I think both sides are going to need to take steps,” said Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

The U.S. has advised its. citizens to “reconsider travel” to China over concerns of arbitrary detentions and widened use of exit bans to bar Americans from leaving the country. Campbell said this has hindered the rebuilding of the exchanges and easing the advisory is now under “active consideration.”

For its part, Beijing is rebuilding programs for international students that were shuttered during the pandemic, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited tens of thousands of U.S. high school students to visit.

The situation was far different after President Barack Obama started the 100,000 Strong initiative in 2009 to drastically increase the number of U.S. students studying in China.

By 2012, there were as many as 24,583 U.S. students in China, according to data by the Chinese education ministry. The Open Doors reports by the Institute of International Education, which only track students enrolled in U.S. schools and studying in China for credit, show the number peaked at 14,887 in the 2011-12 school year. But 10 years later, the number was down to only 211.

In late 2023, the number of American students stood at 700, according to Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, who said this was far too few in a country of such importance to the United States.

“We need young Americans to learn Mandarin. We need young Americans to have an experience of China,” Burns said.

Without these U.S. students, “in the next decade, we won’t be able to exercise savvy, knowledgeable diplomacy in China,” warned David Moser, an American linguist who went to China in the 1980s and is now tasked with establishing a new master’s program for international students at Beijing Capital Normal University.

Moser recalled the years when American students found China fascinating and thought an education there could lead to an interesting career. But he said the days of bustling trade and money deals are gone, while American students and their parents are watching China and the United States move away from each other. “So people think investment in China as a career is a dumb idea,” Moser said.

After 2012, the number of American students in China dipped but held steady at more than 11,000 for several years, according to Open Doors, until the pandemic hit, when China closed its borders and kept most foreigners out. Programs for overseas students that took years to build were shuttered, and staff were let go, Moser said.

Amy Gadsden, executive director of China Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, also attributed some of the declining interest to foreign businesses closing their offices in China. Beijing’s draconian governing style, laid bare by its response to the pandemic, also has given American students a pause, she said.

Garrett, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, or SAIS, had lived in Hong Kong as a teenager and interned in mainland China. He said he’s still interested in traveling to China but not anytime soon, citing the lack of access to information, restrictions on discussions of politically sensitive issues and China’s sweeping anti-spying law.

Some American students remain committed to studying in China, said Andrew Mertha, director of the China Global Research Center at SAIS. “There are people who are interested in China for China’s sake,” he said. “I don’t think those numbers are affected at all.”

About 40 U.S. students are now studying at the Hopkins-Nanjing center in the eastern Chinese city, and the number is expected to go up in the fall to approach the pre-pandemic level of 50-60 students, said Adam Webb, the center’s American co-director.

Among them is Chris Hankin, 28, who said he believed time in China was irreplaceable because he could interact with ordinary people and travel to places outside the radar of international media. “As the relationship becomes more intense, it’s important to have that color, to have that granularity,” said Hankin, a master’s student of international relations with a focus on energy and the environment.

Jonathan Zhang, a Chinese American studying at the prestigious Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said it was more important than ever to be in China at a time of tense relations. “It’s really hard to talk about China without being in China,” he said. “I think it’s truly a shame that so many people have never stepped foot in China.”

Zhang was met with concerns when he deferred an offer at a consulting firm to go Beijing. “They’re like, ‘oh, be safe,’ or like, ‘what do you mean, you’re going back to China?’” Zhang said. “I feel like the (Chinese) government is trying with an earnest effort, but I feel like a lot of this trust has been broken.”

Gadsden said U.S. universities need to do more to nudge students to consider China. “We need to be more intentional about creating the opportunities and about encouraging students to do this deeper work on China, because it’s going to be interesting for them, and it’s going to be valuable for the U.S.-China relationship and for the world,” she said.

In China, Jia Qingguo, a professor of international relations and a national political adviser, has suggested Beijing clarify its laws involving foreign nationals, introduce a separate system for political reviews of foreign students’ dissertations, and make it easier for foreign graduates to find internships and jobs in Chinese companies.

Meanwhile, China is hosting American high school students under a plan Xi unveiled in November to welcome 50,000 in the next five years.

In January, a group of 24 students from Iowa’s Muscatine High School became the first to travel to China. The all-expenses-paid, nine-day trip took them to the Beijing Zoo, Great Wall, Palace Museum, the Yu Garden and Shanghai Museum.

Sienna Stonking, one of the Muscatine students, now wants to return to China to study.

“If I had the opportunity, I would love to go to college in China,” she told China’s state broadcaster CGTN. “Honestly, I love it there.”

—

Kang reported from Beijing.

DAKE KANG Kang covers Chinese politics, technology and society from Beijing for The Associated Press. He’s reported across Central, South, and East Asia, and was a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting in China. twitter mailto

Brazil’s Lula reunites with meat billionaire Batista brothers as China trade ties bloom

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3258902/brazils-lula-reunites-meat-billionaire-batista-brothers-china-trade-ties-bloom?utm_source=rss_feed

The billionaire Batista brothers’ stunning comeback is thrusting them into Brazil’s highest circles of power less than three weeks after their appointment to the board of JBS SA.

Wesley and Joesley Batista – who grew their family butcher shop into the world’s largest meat producer with crucial help from Brazil’s development bank during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s past administrations, then became involved in a massive corruption scandal that brought down thousands of politicians including Lula – are now hosting the leftist leader in one of their plants that will start exporting to China.

Friday’s encounter in Campo Grande, a centre-west capital in Brazil’s agricultural heartland, is part of Lula’s bet that increasing agricultural exports to the world’s second-largest economy can help reproduce the commodities-fuelled good times he oversaw in the beginning of the century.

They met at a JBS factory that is set to make the first shipment of meat to China as part of new export agreement reached in the wake of Lula’s trip to the country last year. A total of 38 Brazilian plants recently received authorisation to send products to the Asian nation.

“This family is predestined for success,” Lula said during the event. “Joesley and Wesley are responsible for this company becoming the largest animal protein company in the world. This is a source of pride for me. If we want, we can do anything we dream.”

Brazil soybean city seeks to lure Chinese investments in grain-crushing industry

JBS plans to invest roughly 150 million reais (US$29 million) to double daily production capacity at the Campo Grande facility to 4,400 cattle heads, Chief Executive Officer Gilberto Tomazoni said during Friday’s ceremony.

Brazil already relies on China for more than half of its beef exports and 70 per cent of its soybean shipments. But Lula last year sent hundreds of leaders from the country’s influential agribusiness sector to Beijing in hopes of convincing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government to further deepen its dependence on Brazilian farm products.

The authorisation of the 38 plants is expected to boost Brazil’s trade balance by 10 billion reais (US$2 billion) over the next year, Roberto Perosa, the agriculture ministry’s secretary of commerce and international relations, said at a Thursday press conference.

It comes at a crucial time for Lula: A year after a bumper harvest helped fuel an export boom and better-than-expected growth, Latin America’s largest economy is widely expected to slow across 2024 – in part because of lingering uncertainty about China’s strength.

For the Batistas, who control JBS through their family holding firm J&F Investimentos SA, the event is the latest step in their return to prominence in Brazil and worldwide. The brothers who spearheaded the company’s overseas expansion left it after confessing to bribing hundreds of politicians in a 2017 plea deal with Brazilian authorities.

But they were part of the delegation that Lula sent to China last year. And in late March, they were named to the JBS board, paving the way for their return to the meat giant their father founded as a small butchery more than 70 years ago.

JBS is now the world’s largest supplier of beef and chicken. In Brazil, its US$73 billion in annual revenues rank second only to Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the country’s state-controlled oil behemoth.

US must update Latin America toolkit to keep pace with China sway: officials

The brothers are set to join the board in the midst of the company’s push to list its shares in the US, as it attempts to access cheaper financing and more equity to continue making deals. The effort, however, has faced pushback from lawmakers in the UK who argue that its practices pose a threat to the environment.

It remains unclear whether Lula’s government will back the company it once helped boost. Brazil’s national development bank, which will be key for the proposal’s approval, has not yet said publicly whether it supports the move.

Asked about the administration’s position on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro did not comment.

China woman fights with husband over child taking her surname, triggers fierce debate online, attracts 44 million views

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3257426/china-woman-fights-husband-over-child-taking-her-surname-triggers-fierce-debate-online-attracts-44?utm_source=rss_feed

The story of a married couple in China whose relationship hit the rocks after their child was given the mother’s surname has gone viral on mainland social media.

The husband and wife, from Sichuan province in southwestern China, had been arguing about the name of their first son since he was born in August 2023.

Constant wrangling has brought them to the brink of divorce, Toutiao News reported.

The 27-year-old wife, Xiangjia, said she did not have a particularly strong desire for their son to take her surname, but her mother who insisted on carrying on the family line demanded it.

Before Xiangjia married more than three years ago, both families had agreed to use her family name for their first child regardless of gender.

As soon as her son was born, she put the name on his birth certificate. Since then, the relationship with her 34-year-old husband has been fraught.

“When will you change our son’s surname?” he would ask her repeatedly in their many quarrels. “Children all over the world use their fathers’ surnames, so why do you not follow the rule?”

Xiangjia pointed out that using his name was not mandatory because both of them shared the right. He told her it upset him every time doctors called their son’s name.

“It tears my heart every time,” he said.

With tensions increasing, Xiangjia suggested divorce and child custody. Her husband’s response was: “The house, car, and son are mine, so you leave them alone.”

Xiangjia had to go into the hospital for surgery and when she came home she discovered her mother-in-law had renamed her son. From then on, her husband called their son by his new name.

It is unclear whether the couple have separated, but Xiangjia said she was disappointed.

“Neither my husband nor I want to talk about it any more. I feel tired,” she said.

At the time of writing, the Weibo news story had attracted 44 million views and 8,750 comments, with many online observers in favour of taking the mother’s surname.

“What year does her husband think he is living in? Can’t she use her surname for the son she gave birth to?” one person asked.

“What is the problem with men respecting women’s wishes on child rearing?” said another.

As more women in China enjoy independence and higher status, the practice of children taking their mother’s surname has increased.

According to the Ministry of Public Security’s annual report on names, 7.7 per cent of newborns in 2020 took the maternal last name. In certain major cities, such as Shanghai, it was 8.8 per cent.

In May 2023, a woman in eastern China told her boyfriend she would pay the bulk of their wedding bill and that she wanted two children, one of whom must take her surname.

In the same month in 2020, mainland internet celebrity Papi Sauce gave her father’s surname to her newborn son.

---

South China Sea: Marcos says Philippine deal with US, Japan to change dynamic in disputed waters, won’t affect Beijing trade

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3258898/south-china-sea-marcos-says-philippine-deal-us-japan-change-dynamic-disputed-waters-wont-affect?utm_source=rss_feed

A cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Friday, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.

“I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,” Marcos told a press conference in Washington a day after meeting President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the nations’ first trilateral summit.

“It is going to change the dynamic, the dynamic that we see in the region, in Asean in Asia, around the South China Sea,” Marcos said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The three leaders expressed “serious concerns” about China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce with various maritime disputes among China and other countries.

Still, Marcos said the summit was “not against any country” but had focused on deepening economic and security relations among Manila, Washington and Tokyo.

Duterte claims China threatened war over South China Sea if status quo not kept

Marcos also said the business deals that the Philippines secured at the summit will not affect China’s investments in the country.

“This [trilateral agreement] is separate from any proposed or potential Chinese investments in the Philippines. How do I see it, how will it affect? I don’t see that it will affect, one way or the other,” he said.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found Beijing’s sweeping claims had no legal basis.

Philippine and Chinese ships have had a series of run-ins in the past month that included the use of water cannon and heated verbal exchanges.

Beijing on Thursday summoned Manila’s ambassador to the country and a Japanese embassy official to oppose what its foreign ministry described as “negative comments” against China.

The deepening China-Philippines row coincides with an increase in security engagements with the US under Marcos, including expansion of US access to Philippine bases, as well as with Japan, which is expected to sign a reciprocal troop pact with Manila.

Biden has asked Congress for an additional US$128 million for infrastructure projects at the Philippine bases.

Marcos also expressed confidence that around US$100 billion in possible investment deals over the next five to 10 years from the summit will come into fruition.

While in Washington, Marcos also met with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who assured him of continued US support.

“This whole cooperation is critical to our collective security and continued prosperity across the region,” Austin said, reiterating Biden’s strong defence commitment.

‘Subdue the enemy without fighting’: how China’s powerful water cannon will change the game in South China Sea

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3258772/subdue-enemy-without-fighting-how-chinas-powerful-water-cannon-will-change-game-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed

The world’s first “smart” water cannon, controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), has been developed by researchers in central China – and it could take the non-lethal weapon to new heights.

Beijing increasingly sees the weapons as vital to bolstering its hold over the disputed waters while also lowering the odds of armed clashes.

The use of water cannons in South China Sea disputes is likely to increase in frequency and intensity, potentially changing the rules of the game in this sensitive region, according to some Chinese coastguard researchers.

A water cannon is a device driven by a high-pressure water pump to generate a strong, high-speed jet. A powerful water cannon can attack targets over 100 metres (328 feet) away, generating a pressure of more than 1.2 megapascals. An adult male facing that head-on could be subjected to an impact force of nearly nine tonnes, equivalent to being stepped on by an African elephant.

In recent months, the Philippine navy has frequently been hit by water cannons during stand-offs with Chinese coastguard vessels. In one notable incident last month, a cockpit windscreen was shattered, injuring several personnel.

In another clash at Second Thomas Shoal, known as Renai Reef in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines, crew members of a Philippine navy supply ship waved a white flag due to the relentless barrage of the weapons.

However, based on videos released by both sides, the accuracy of these weapons leaves much to be desired, often missing their mark in rough seas.

It is a problem the smart water cannon aims to address. Developed by the Wuhan Marine Electric Propulsion Device Research Institute, it can automatically identify targets and adjust its power and jet trajectory based on real-time feedback from a photoelectric camera.

The water cannon is also equipped with motion sensors that collect the swing state of the ship to alter the ballistic parameters.

Conditions at sea create complex environmental wind and fluid patterns and mechanical transmission errors, so it can be challenging to lock onto and hit a precise spot on a ship in the distance, such as a smokestack, with a water jet on a swaying coastguard vessel.

But by using inverse reasoning based on the changing environment as well as self-learning, AI has proved it is up to the task, according to the Chinese research team.

In shooting experiments, the smart water cannon could hit surface targets with an error of only two metres under rough sea conditions with four-metre waves and high winds.

This represents a 33 to 54 per cent improvement over traditional automatic water cannons, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in March in the Chinese academic journal Ship Electric Technology by the team led by project scientist Cheng Bosen.

Cheng’s research institute is the largest supplier of naval ship electric propulsion equipment for the Chinese navy and runs some industry-leading laboratories on naval technology.

The world’s first rotatable water cannon was invented by American engineer Antonio Marchese in 1944, and the water cannon driven by an electric motor also first appeared in the United States in the 1950s. Since then, the technology has remained more or less the same due to its limited range of applications.

China has been vigorously developing its maritime forces in recent decades, including electromagnetic catapult aircraft carriers, hypersonic anti-ship missiles, ultra-high-power electronic warfare systems and other cutting-edge equipment.

They are formidable weapons, aimed squarely at the US military, but they are too much for territorial disputes against smaller Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

The vast disparity in military strength renders China’s hi-tech arsenal impractical against these neighbours. For instance, the Philippines’ entire naval force owns only two frigates capable of launching missiles.

Recognising this imbalance, the Chinese government has ramped up investment in water cannon technology, developing a range of increasingly automated and powerful products.

The technology has also been aided from an unlikely quarter – China’s infrastructure projects. With large-scale land reclamation and other infrastructure projects under way, China has some of the world’s most powerful dredging vessels that suck seabed sediment to redistribute it to designated areas. The water pump technology involved in that process is perfectly suited to driving high-performance water cannons.

In 2022, China officially listed a water cannon with a range exceeding 100 metres in its export control catalogue, strengthening its dominant position in the use of the weapon.

So far, in South China Sea disputes, only China has used water cannons; the Philippines has not used any in retaliation.

Zhang Yuqiang, a researcher with the People’s Armed Police Maritime Police Academy Command Department, said that shipboard non-lethal weapons including water cannons “will play an increasingly important role in future maritime conflicts”.

“In recent years, competition and struggles around marine interests and power have become increasingly fierce, and maritime disputes have become a common challenge faced by most maritime countries in the world,” Zhang and his colleagues wrote in a paper published in the journal China Equipment Engineering in February.

Because all sides are “fighting for every inch of land and refusing to cede an inch”, using traditional lethal weapons in small-scale skirmishes can see them escalate into large-scale armed conflicts. It is a situation that neither China nor other countries around the South China Sea wish to see.

“Non-lethal weapons do not directly cause human death, equipment destruction and ecological damage. They only use specific technical means to deprive the other party’s personnel or equipment of their combat effectiveness, achieving the goal of ‘subduing the enemy without fighting’,” Zhang’s team wrote.

Other major maritime countries are now stepping up research and deployment of other types of non-lethal weapons, including blinding lasers and microwaves that can cause skin-burning sensations, they said.

There is also a particularly strong interest in infrasound weapons that “can cause dizziness, nausea, dyspnea and even neurological disorders”.

“Infrasound weapons have the characteristics of strong penetration, fast propagation speed, good concealment and long-range. In addition to attacking ships on the ocean surface, they also pose a significant threat to submarines in deep seas and will play an essential role in future naval battles,” they added.

South China Sea: Philippines, US, Japan to step up maritime cooperation to deter Beijing’s aggression

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3258875/south-china-sea-philippines-us-japan-step-maritime-cooperation-deter-beijings-aggression?utm_source=rss_feed

The trilateral summit in Washington between the leaders of the Philippines, United States and Japan saw a number of announcements focused on strengthening maritime defence cooperation in the South China Sea to counter Beijing’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

Of particular interest to those in the Philippines was confirmation that the country’s coastguard would be included in Manila’s mutual defence treaty with the US, as well as a number of “high-impact infrastructure projects”.

The joint statement released by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the conclusion of Thursday’s summit made it clear that the meeting was aimed at opposing Beijing’s recent maritime activities.

“We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea,” the statement said. “We are also concerned by the militarisation of reclaimed features and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.”

The statement also expressed “steadfast” opposition to “the dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea”, a reference to Beijing’s strategy of using both military and paramilitary maritime forces.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China “firmly opposes the relevant countries manipulating bloc politics, and firmly opposes any behaviour that provokes or lays plans for opposition, and hurts other countries’ strategic security and interests”.

Japan and the Philippines “should not invite factional opposition into the region, much less engage in trilateral cooperation at the cost of hurting another country’s interests”, Mao said, adding that China’s actions in the East and South China Seas “are appropriate and lawful, and beyond reproach”.

The summit leaders also reiterated “serious concern over [China’s] repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal”.

The Second Thomas Shoal is a maritime landmark located within the West Philippines Sea – Manila’s term for the section of the South China Sea that lies within its exclusive economic zone.

In recent years, Chinese vessels have repeatedly attempted to disrupt resupply missions to troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre – a World War II era Philippine Navy vessel that was deliberately grounded on the shoal to strengthen Manila’s territorial claims to the surrounding waters – including through the use of high-pressure water cannons.

While in Washington, Marcos Jnr held a separate meeting with his US counterpart, after which he told the media: “President Biden reinforced the ironclad US alliance commitment to the Philippines under the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty [MDT], which extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – to include those of its Coast Guard – in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea.”

The mention of the coastguard was seen as particularly significant since security analysts had earlier pointed out that the MDT does not explicitly apply to “armed attacks” on the coastguard, which has in recent months borne the brunt of water cannon attacks from Chinese coastguard vessels.

Biden also reiterated that “any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defence treaty”.

Why are Philippines-China tensions heating up and will US get involved?

The Chinese embassy in Manila said it was unimpressed by the summit’s mention of the MDT.

“China is determined to uphold our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. The [MDT] will not move us a bit from our will and resolve,” it said in a statement.

During the summit, the three countries said their respective coastguards would work closely together in the Indo-Pacific and hold joint exercises and other maritime activities to “improve interoperability”.

Asked if his organisation had been expecting the announcement of joint activities, Rear Admiral Armand Balilo, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, told This Week in Asia: “Yes, we have been in coordination with Japan and the US for interoperability exercises. In fact, we have invited them to join the exercise this June in western Visayas.”

He said the focus of the exercises was interoperability “in functions like search and rescue, law enforcement and environmental protection”.

Asked if such exercises and joint operations might escalate tensions with China, Balilo said, “I don’t think so. This is white-to-white ship engagement and focused on coastguard functions.”

At the summit, the three leaders also launched the “Luzon Economic Corridor” – named for the Philippines’ biggest island – which is meant to “support connectivity between Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas”. Subic and Clark are former American military bases – the biggest outside the continental US during the Cold War.

The three countries also said they would invest in “high-impact infrastructure projects, including rail; ports modernisation; clean energy and semiconductor supply chains and deployments; agribusiness and civilian port upgrades at Subic Bay”.

Duterte claims China threatened war over South China Sea if status quo not kept

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Chinese state-run news outlet Global Times published online on Thursday, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte criticised the close ties between his country and the US.

“So I am very sure of that – America is giving the instructions to the Philippine government to ‘not be afraid because we will back you up’,” he said.

“But I do not think that America will die for us. And yet, America has so many bases in the Philippines now; I objected to it when the US wanted to build a military base in the Philippines. Then, with the consent of the president of the Republic of the Philippines, they have so many bases.”

Duterte claimed that “there was no quarrel” during his time as president. “I hope that we can stop the ruckus over there, because the Americans are the ones pushing the Philippine government to go out there and find a quarrel and eventually maybe start a war,” he said.

---

Ties with US and Japan will ‘change dynamic’ in South China Sea, Philippines president says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/dynamic-in-south-china-sea-is-changing-through-growing-us-and-japan-ties-says-philippines-president

A cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, the Philippine president has said, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.

“I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,” Ferdinand Marcos Jr told a press conference in Washington on Friday, a day after meeting President Joe Biden and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in the nations’ first trilateral summit.

“It is going to change the dynamic, the dynamic that we see in the region, in Asean in Asia, around the South China Sea,” Marcos said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The three leaders expressed “serious concerns” about China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3tn of annual ship-borne commerce, with various maritime disputes between China and other countries.

Still, Marcos said the summit was “not against any country” but had focused on deepening economic and security relations between Manila, Washington and Tokyo.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea despite a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal that found Beijing’s sweeping claims had no legal basis.

Philippine and Chinese ships have had a series of run-ins in the past month that included the use of water cannon and heated verbal exchanges.

Beijing on Thursday summoned Manila’s ambassador and a Japanese embassy official to criticise what its foreign ministry described as “negative comments” against China.

The deepening China-Philippines row coincides with an increase in security engagement with the US under Marcos, including expansion of US access to Philippine bases, as well as with Japan, which is expected to sign a reciprocal troop pact with Manila.

Biden has asked Congress for an additional $128m for infrastructure projects at the Philippine bases.

Marcos also expressed confidence that around $100bn in possible investment deals over the next five to 10 years from the summit will come to fruition.

While in Washington, Marcos also met the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who assured him of continued US support. “This whole cooperation is critical to our collective security and continued prosperity across the region,” Austin said, reiterating Biden’s strong defence commitment.

---

Hong Kong’s ailing restaurants ask mainland Chinese operators for survival tips, call on veteran singers to strike a chord with diners

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3258894/hong-kongs-ailing-restaurants-ask-mainland-chinese-operators-survival-tips-call-veteran-singers?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong’s beleaguered dining industry has turned to its counterparts in mainland China for survival tips, with some operators resorting to staging small shows by veteran singers to lure customers amid closures and a drop in business.

Several restaurant owners told the Post they had used every possible tactic to attract diners, from issuing coupons and rolling out new offerings to slashing the prices of set meals, linking up with other operators and putting on small-scale concerts.

Operators said they had turned to seasoned entertainers such as 73-year-old former TVB actor and singer Lee Lung-kei, who was among the most popular bookings, as they looked to improve the atmosphere and draw in customers.

Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, estimated more than 700 restaurants had shut down in the past few months amid a trend of diners increasingly heading north and overseas, while over 400 outlets had been set up.

“The wave of business closures may be worsening, especially in April as restaurants have been hard hit by outflows of customers to the mainland and overseas,” he said.

Wong pointed out that some outlets had begun asking counterparts in neighbouring Shenzhen and other mainland cities for advice on managing areas such as cost control and digital tools as they grappled with the bleak conditions.

‘Miserable’: Hong Kong restaurants lament drop in business over Easter holiday

Hongkongers have been drawn to the mainland, especially Shenzhen, for dining and shopping because of lower prices, as well as the range of quality services and delicacies available.

“Facing the economic chill, many restaurants can’t afford to dish out more promotions or roll out more products. They’re not in the mood to innovate. At present, they are most concerned about controlling costs,” Wong said.

Some were looking to draw inspiration from the “very creative” practices of mainland operators, he said.

“Local outlets have tried to draw on the mainland experience of using smart management such as digital payments to rein in costs and save manpower,” he said.

“Many local restaurants have been very outdated, still insisting on cash-only payments. This is not convenient for patrons.”

Ray Chui Man-wai, chairman of Kam Kee Holdings which runs 38 outlets and has closed seven this year because of the downturn, said the industry had started to reinvent itself by experimenting with the new offerings.

“Restaurants have resorted to every possible means to attract diners, such as innovative dishes and other offerings. They need to stop resting on their past laurels and try to figure out a new successful formula,” he said.

“We can’t just rely on our reputation as a gourmet paradise, as many other places such as Shenzhen have also become gastronomic hotspots with a greater variety of delicacies and cheaper prices.”

Chui said his restaurant, Chill Out Chaozhou Cuisine in Aberdeen, had hosted a mini-show by veteran singers such as Lee every month, charging about HK$5,000 (US$638) per table.

He added that the shows always drew a large crowd.

“We can’t make any profits out of this as we have to pay for the singers and the live band. We just want to spice up the atmosphere for attracting more local diners to stay in Hong Kong and spend at night,” said Chui, who is also the president of catering body the Institute of Dining Art.

“With the show we may break even, but without it we will be likely to suffer a big loss with just a few tables of diners at night.”

Singer Lee, who was recently in the media spotlight after his fiancée was accused of overstaying in the city and forging documents, told the Post an increasing number of restaurants had invited him to perform recently.

“We had a full house for every show. One time the response was so overwhelming that the restaurant had to open four more tables to cope with the booking,” he said.

“My fans are very supportive of me. There have been locals and mainland fans attending the show with some fans even bringing their parents along. I hope my performances can help the restaurants gain more business and retain diners.”

David Leung Chi-wai, chairman of Seafood Delight Group, which has 13 Chinese restaurants, said his group had staged a musical show once a month with discounted set meals.

‘Hong Kong restaurants ready for disposable plastics ban, but worried over cost’

“We have suffered a 20 per cent dip in business compared with last year. Facing the double blow of residents heading across the border to spend and landlords increasing rent amid a manpower shortage, we are in a dire situation,” he said.

Leung said apart from the industry improving its competitiveness, landlords also had to step up. He called on them to reduce rent and distribute vouchers to encourage spending at shopping centre restaurants.

Martin Chan Keung, owner of Fresh Seafood Restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, which suffered a drop of 50 per cent business during Easter, said the new deals and music shows only had a short-term impact.

“I have thought about all these measures and my restaurant also rolled out a promotional meal set of fish maw dishes at only HK$128 per person. But all these measures don’t have a lasting impact,” he said.

“Now we rely on our food quality and service standards to please and retain our customers.”

China online racket using fake ethnic minority influencers to peddle bogus sob stories broken up by police

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3257423/china-online-racket-using-fake-ethnic-minority-influencers-peddle-bogus-sob-stories-broken-police?utm_source=rss_feed

A sophisticated fake online followers racket has been broken up by police in China, landing eight fraudsters in jail.

Police in the southwestern province of Sichuan Chinese uncovered the fraud after people online expressed doubts about the story of a young woman who had amassed nearly 4 million followers by faking a story about her being from an ethnic minority and having a difficult life.

The 21-year-old, who used the pseudonym “Liangshan Mengyang”, said she came from the impoverished and mountainous Liangshan region in Sichuan and claimed she had raised her siblings herself after the death of her parents.

She said she sold “organic mountain products” to make money and posted videos of herself in ragged clothes in front of a crumbling home, projecting a narrative of tragedy while facing life with a smile.

She rose to fame in 2018 and eventually amassed 3.86 million followers.

Liangshan Mengyang’s narrative endeared her to many online and she quickly leveraged her follower count to venture into live streaming selling “local specialities” such as walnuts, edible bird’s nest and safflower from her “homeland”.

In one live stream set against a snowy backdrop, she promoted walnuts.

“The walnut shells are thin, and the flesh is thick and tasty. If you use the money you’ve spent on gifts to help me buy walnuts, my purchases will support many uncles, aunts, and local people here, do you understand?” she said.

Her live streams tapped into a growing interest in the Great Liangshan Mountains and people’s desire to aid local farmers. Her much touted “special agricultural products” consistently sold out.

However, suspicions were aroused after she became a celebrity.

Some people questioned whether edible bird’s nest and safflower are Liangshan specialities, while others discovered that the return addresses of their orders were not in Liangshan.

Online sleuths uncovered that her parents were still alive and her lifestyle was far from the poverty-stricken one she portrayed.

Her fraud was further exposed as she was frequently seen wearing designer clothes and visiting high-end venues.

This prompted an official investigation by the Zhaojue County Public Security Bureau, which subsequently exposed a vast fraud organised by a multi-channel network agency, Chengdu Aowei Culture Media Co., Ltd.

The company operated the entire business chain, from creating personas, writing scripts, recruiting and nurturing internet celebrities, and creating content.

Their goal was to exploit every possible avenue to monetise their stars.

The police also revealed that the so-called “organic agricultural products” were mostly sourced from wholesale markets in the capital city of Sichuan province, Chengdu.

The racket had generated revenue exceeding 30 million yuan (US$4.15 million) and profits of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million).

“The company would purchase the walnuts for about five yuan per half a kilogram, while the selling price to customers ranged from 10 to 13 yuan,” the police told state broadaster CCTV.

“Liangshan Mengyang” was just one of several internet personalities involved in the scam.

Eventually, a court in southwest China sentenced eight people to between 9 and 14 months in prison and fined them between 20,000 (US$2,800) to 100,000 yuan (US$13,800).

The public applauded the cracking of the case.

One online observer said: “I intended to support local farmers by purchasing their products, each time only to be more severely swindled.”

“Exploiting lies and deception for sympathy and traffic should be heavily punished!” said another.

The US is going about its competition with China all wrong

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3258660/us-going-about-its-competition-china-all-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed

Next week, US Congressman Mike Gallagher, chairman of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, will resign. From the committee’s first session early last year, his chairmanship has been characterised by one overarching philosophy: the US must win against China.

This idea was exemplified in his recent Foreign Policy article with Matt Pottinger titled “No substitute for victory: America’s competition with China must be won, not managed” – but it is by no means a fresh perspective.

Putting aside the more philosophical question of whether America should try to “win” the competition with China, presupposing that the competition can result in a definitive victory is unsophisticated and archaic. The premise is based on a misreading of the strategic landscape and an overreliance on assuming ideological superiority, ensuring that any policy recommendations based on this notion continue to miss the mark.

If we were to rewind time by 10 or 20 years, perhaps these ideas would have more merit. But it is far too late now for the US to significantly slow China’s rise. The common analogy that likens China to the Soviet Union during the Cold War is misleading. The Soviet Union was solely a military competitor to the US while 21st century China is a competitor on every level: diplomatically, economically, militarily, politically and technologically.

Moreover, the idea, put forth in Gallagher’s piece, that the US can engage in “intensive diplomacy with Beijing only from a position of American strength, as perceived by both Washington and Beijing” is unrealistic. China no longer cares to, or has to, conduct bilateral diplomacy on these terms – if it doesn’t feel as if the US is willing to make concessions, it will simply cease communication, as was the case with military-to-military dialogue in 2022.

Political leaders’ beliefs in the effectiveness of their strategy to “win” the competition with China stem from a common but flawed assumption: that if the US can create the right economic and social environment, Chinese citizens will demand democracy from their leaders.

This erroneous presumption, that the American system is both universally desirable and achievable through external influence, overestimates the US ability to catalyse democratic transformations.

This is the same mistaken assumption that led many in the US to support China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization in 2001. It is the same mistaken assumption that has allowed the Chinese political system to gain proponents in the developing world. It is the same mistaken assumption that has allowed democratic backsliding in America itself. Assuming that democracy is the given endpoint for societies leads to a failure to defend and live up to crucial democratic norms.

Additionally, the Chinese people do not think as a monolith. Some citizens indeed yearn for a society more akin to that of the US, advocating for greater freedoms in areas such as internet access or free speech. Conversely, others view the trade-offs between personal freedoms and the economic stability provided by the government as acceptable, or even desirable.

Unexamined, inconsistent assertions that everybody in China is waiting for the US to grant them the gift of democracy serve little purpose except to provide fodder for Chinese propaganda and diminish the reputation of the US on the international stage.

The policy recommendations that arise from insistence on the intrinsic ideological and practical supremacy of the US are thus inherently flawed.

For example, the US economic “de-risking” strategy temporarily hobbled China’s ability to manufacture semiconductor chips, but it also gave China the motivation to independently pursue semiconductor technology.

By underestimating China’s technological ability, the US significantly reduced its economic leverage in the medium term. China is now taking proactive steps to reduce its reliance on the US in areas as general as food security – and it has been relatively successful in doing so.

Military strategies regarding Taiwan that are based on an overestimation of American power are similarly problematic. They use the same incorrect logic – that the Chinese government will be deterred by an overwhelming show of US hard power, and that if the US provides Taiwan with enough military aid, Beijing will not take action against Taiwan.

However, regardless of its military capabilities, Taiwan’s extreme dependence on imported energy – at 97.8 per cent of its total consumption – and limited natural gas reserves are glaring vulnerabilities. American confidence in its military might cannot create a Taiwan that can repel a determined assault from mainland China.

There are valid critiques that the US can and should make of China and the Chinese system. But resorting to apocalyptic theories about the US becoming a “Xinjiang-lite” society – as Gallagher did in an interview last year – makes the US seem paranoid and delusional. Furthermore, suggesting that winning the competition with China would mean regime change is to invite war.

Those who assume, on either side of the Pacific, that there can be a “winner” in the competition between the US and China are mired in overconfidence and lack a practical view of the geopolitical landscape.

Oversimplification of the US-China competition into a game that can be won or lost highlights a pattern of reductionist, binary thinking that is a relic of the post-World War II era. This not only hinders the development of a more realistic and effective foreign policy but creates a dangerous environment for both American interests and the world.

China supporting Russia in massive military expansion, US says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/12/china-supporting-russia-in-massive-military-expansion-us-says

China is helping Russia undertake its biggest military expansion since Soviet times, ramping up sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for its war against Ukraine, according to a US assessment.

US officials are hoping the release of the intelligence will encourage European allies to press China, as the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, heads to Beijing this weekend and G7 foreign ministers meet next week in Italy.

Announcing US findings, officials said China was helping Russia in the production of drones, space-based capabilities and machine-tool exports vital for producing ballistic missiles.

China has been the key factor in revitalising Russia’s defense industrial base, “which had otherwise suffered significant setbacks” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“Russia is undertaking its most ambitious defense expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible early on in this conflict,” the official said.

“Our view is that one of the most gamechanging moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base,” the official said.

“Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC inputs,” he said.

US officials said that China provided more than 70% of the $900m (£723m) in machine tools – probably used to build ballistic missiles – imported in the last quarter of 2023 by Russia.

They also said that 90% of Russia’s microelectronics imports – used to produce missiles, tanks and aircraft – came from China last year.

The US has repeatedly warned China against supporting Russia and both Chinese and US officials say Beijing has stopped short of directly providing weapons to Russia, which has turned to heavily sanctioned North Korea and Iran to replenish its arms supply.

US officials believe that China, anxious after its Russian allies’ early setbacks on the battlefield, has instead focused on sending material that ostensibly has non-military uses.

President Joe Biden’s administration is hoping that European powers can make the difference with China, which is facing economic headwinds and is sensitive about trade pressure.

The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is expected to make the case on China’s ties with Russia as he meets top diplomats of other industrial democracies at the G7 talks in Capri, Italy.

Blinken is also planning a visit in the coming weeks to China, on the heels of a trip by the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

The administration hopes that such dialogue, including a recent telephone call between Biden and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, can help contain tensions between the world’s two largest economies but US officials have stressed they will still press on concerns.

The deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, said this week that Europe’s stability was the top interest historically of the US and that it would hold China accountable if Russia makes gains.

Also on Friday, the US and UK prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals in the latest effort to disrupt Russian export revenue.

The US treasury department said Friday’s action would prohibit the London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange from accepting new Russian production of aluminium, copper and nickel.

“Metal exchanges provide a central role in facilitating the trading of industrial metals around the globe,” the treasury department said in a statement.

US says China is boosting Russia’s war machine in Ukraine

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3258887/us-says-china-boosting-russias-war-machine-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed

China is backing Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by helping Moscow in its biggest military build-up since the Soviet era, providing drone and missile technology, satellite imagery and machine tools, senior US officials said on Friday.

However, the Chinese embassy in the US said it has not provided weaponry to any party, adding that it is “not a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis”.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US President Joe Biden raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping in their recent phone call and that it is a topic of discussion with US allies in Europe and around the world.

One official said Chinese materials are filing critical gaps in Russia’s defence production cycle and helping Moscow undertake its “most ambitious defence expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible early on in this conflict”.

“Our view is that one of the most game-changing moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade [China] to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base. Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC input,” the official said.

A Chinese embassy spokesman said that normal trade between China and Russia should not be interfered or restricted.

“We urge the US side to refrain from disparaging and scapegoating the normal relationship between China and Russia,” Liu Pengyu said.

Some of the information provided by the US officials in a small briefing with reporters was based on declassified intelligence. They sketched a wide array of ways China is helping Russia’s two-year war against Ukraine without providing lethal aid.

Senior US official explains how China risks crossing ‘red line’ with Russia

Biden has been pressuring Republicans who control the US House of Representatives to approve a major infusion of funding for providing weapons to Ukraine as it struggles to fend off the Russians.

The US and its allies have also been more blunt about confronting Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and against self-ruled Taiwan.

China complained about what it viewed as anti-China rhetoric emanating from Biden’s talks this week with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines, prompting a denial from the White House.

The Russians have likely used machine tool imports from China to increase its ballistic missile production, the officials said. They cited Dalian Machine Tool Group, one of China’s leading machine tool manufacturers, as one company supplying Russia.

In 2023, 90 per cent of Russia’s microelectronics imports came from China, which Russia has used to produce missiles, tanks and aircraft, the officials said.

They said that Chinese companies such as Wuhan Global Sensor Technology Co, Wuhan Tongsheng Technology Co and Hikvision are providing Chinese optical components for use in Russian systems, including tanks and armoured vehicles.

In addition, Russia has received military optics for tanks and armoured vehicles that Chinese firms iRay Technology and North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics manufacture, they said.

US blacklists 4 Chinese firms for helping military get AI chips

The officials also said China has provided Russia with drone engines and turbojet engines for cruise missiles, and that Chinese and Russian entities have been working to jointly produce drones inside Russia.

Chinese companies are likely providing Russia with nitrocellulose to make propellants for weapons, helping Russia rapidly expand its capacity to make key munitions like artillery rounds, they added.

The US officials also said China is helping Russia improve its satellite and other space-based capabilities for use in Ukraine, increasing the Russian threat across Europe.

And they said the US has information China is providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine.

US intelligence finding shows China surging equipment sales to Russia to help war effort in Ukraine

https://apnews.com/article/united-states-china-russia-ukraine-war-265df843be030b7183c95b6f3afca8ecIn this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping meets at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 9, 2024. China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry. That's according to two senior Biden administration officials who discussed the sensitive findings on the condition of anonymity. Russia's microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used missiles, tanks and aircraft. (Li Xueren/Xinhua via AP)

2024-04-12T18:32:05Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine, according to a U.S. assessment.

Two senior Biden administration officials, who discussed the sensitive findings Friday on the condition of anonymity, said that in 2023 about 90% of Russia’s microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used to make missiles, tanks and aircraft. Nearly 70% of Russia’s approximately $900 million in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 came from China.

Chinese and Russian entities have also been working to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia, and Chinse companies are likely providing Russia with nitrocellulose needed to make propellants weapons, the officials said.

Beijing is also working with Russia to improve its satellite and other space-based capabilities for use in Ukraine, a development the officials say could in the longer term increase the threat Russia poses across Europe. The officials, citing downgraded intelligence findings, said the U.S. has also determined that China is providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine.

The officials discussed the findings as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks. President Joe Biden has previously raised his concerns directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping about Beijing indirectly supporting Russia’s war effort.

While China has not provided direct lethal military support for Russia, it has backed it diplomatically in blaming the West for provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the war and refrained from calling it an invasion in deference to the Kremlin.

China has also said it isn’t providing Russia with arms or military assistance, although it has maintained robust economic connections with Moscow, alongside India and other countries, amid sanctions from Washington and its allies.

Xi met in Beijing on Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who heaped praise on Xi’s leadership.

Russia’s growing economic and diplomatic isolation has made it increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the Communist bloc during the Cold War.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who returned to Washington this week from a visit to Beijing, said she warned Chinese officials that the Biden administration was prepared to sanction Chinese banks, companies and Beijing’s leadership, if they assist Russia’s armed forces with its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Democratic president issued an executive order in December giving Yellen the authority to sanction financial institutions that aided Russia’s military-industrial complex.

“We continue to be concerned about the role that any firms, including those in the PRC, are playing in Russia’s military procurement,” Yellen told reporters, using the initials for the Peoples Republic of China. “I stressed that companies, including those in the PRC, must not provide material support for Russia’s war and that they will face significant consequences if they do. And I reinforced that any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defense industrial base expose themselves to the risk of U.S. sanctions.”

Meanwhile, China on Thursday announced rare sanctions against two U.S. defense companies over what it called their support for arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary.

The announcement freezes the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems held within China. It also bars the companies’ management from entering the country.

Filings show General Dynamics operates a half-dozen Gulfstream and jet aviation services operations in China, which remains heavily reliant on foreign aerospace technology even as it attempts to build its own presence in the field.

The company also helps make the Abrams tank being purchased by Taiwan to replace outdated armor intended to deter or resist an invasion from China.

General Atomics produces the Predator and Reaper drones used by the U.S. military.

___

AP writer Fatima Hussein contributed reporting.

AAMER MADHANI Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter. twitter mailto

How could an Aukus role for Tokyo affect China’s ties with Japan?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258877/how-could-aukus-role-tokyo-affect-chinas-ties-japan?utm_source=rss_feed

With Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington this week, the talk on both sides of the Pacific was of a potential tie-up between Tokyo and Aukus.

Aukus is a security partnership between Australia, Britain, and the United States but there have been suggestions for some time that Japan could contribute to the pact’s so-called Pillar II, which focuses on developing advanced capabilities such as quantum and undersea technology.

On Monday, Beijing was quick to dismiss the idea, saying the pact – which revolves around the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia – would “increase the risk of nuclear proliferation” and “escalate the arms race” in the region.

In the end, little changed, with Kishida saying “nothing has been decided at this moment” on Japan’s direct cooperation with Aukus.

Nevertheless, Chinese observers say that the direction of travel is clear: Tokyo is tilting more towards US-led security structures.

China and Japan are at odds over a range of issues, from the long-standing territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands – known as the Senkakus in Japan – to the discharge of water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Yet, China remains Japan’s biggest trading partner, with US$318 billion in total trade last year, according to Chinese data, and their economies are highly intertwined.

Zheng Zhihua, research associate professor of the Centre for Japanese Studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the result of Tokyo’s tilting was a “complex and delicate” stalemate full of mistrust and suspicion.

The delicate strategic balance between the two countries would be unsettled by Japanese involvement in Aukus, even though their economic interdependence would remain strong, Zheng said.

China ‘gravely concerned’ about reports Japan could join Aukus security pact

“Amid the backdrop of Japan continuously stepping up defence cooperation led by Washington in recent years, the momentum for Sino-Japan relations will only be negative and unlikely to be improved in the near future,” he said.

That cooperation with Washington has taken various forms over the years. More recently, the US and Japan have been pushing for a deal that enables US Navy warships to be regularly overhauled and maintained at Japanese shipyards, relieving pressure on American yards struggling with maintenance backlogs.

But it is unlikely to extend to Japan becoming an official fourth member of the pact any time soon, given Tokyo’s non-nuclear weapons policy dating back to 1967, observers say.

Ryosuke Hanada, a researcher at Sydney’s Macquarie University, argued that hurdles still loomed for Japan to formally join Aukus.

“Japan’s formal entry requires synchronisation of rules and actions with Aukus members,” Hanada said, citing highly restrictive arms-trade rules and a lack of tough anti-espionage laws.

“At this stage, there is nothing more than consideration of Japan’s future participation or a project-by-project basis cooperation in some areas,” he added.

But if Japan did end up having some involvement in the alliance, it would be seen by China as destabilising, said Zhang Yilun, a research associate at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies.

Zhang said Beijing could respond by bolstering its military presence and increasing the frequency of air and maritime activities near Japan.

The challenge now was to keep a fragile balance between their strong economic ties and Japan’s security cooperation with the US, he said.

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

“As the US continues to push for closer security cooperation with Japan, Tokyo and Beijing need to figure out new opportunities to deepen their economic ties to balance out the negative impact of Japan-US cooperation,” he said.

Yoichiro Sato, an Asia-Pacific studies professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan, said the economic relationship between China and Japan was likely to continue, with any enhanced Aukus having a limited impact on overall bilateral ties.

“There is a degree of acknowledgement on both sides that the bilateral economic linkage must be sustained,” Sato said.

Ryo Sahashi, an associate professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo, said more dialogue was needed between Japan and China.

Sahashi said Japan was now positioned at the centre of Asia’s security architecture, and ought to deal with China, including engaging in dialogue.

“However, the dialogue between Japan and China has recently been narrowing, even compared to the United States, which is a concern,” he said.

One consequence of a partnership between Japan and Aukus would be the challenges China would face in applying Japan’s cheaply and readily available dual-use technologies for military purposes, according to Sato.

“The cooperation with Japan may evolve further into different spheres of policy coordination and may not be limited to the four parties, as would be a case in intelligence sharing among the Anglo-American partners including Canada and New Zealand,” he added.

US says China shouldn’t see Biden summits with Kishida, Marcos Jnr as a threat

While an Aukus partnership is not an immediate prospect, the likelihood of Japan’s formal entry will increase if the security situation in East Asia “further worsens” and “the confrontation between Western countries and China and Russia intensifies”, according to Zheng.

“China and Japan may be trapped in a pernicious circle of upgrading their defence capabilities,” he warned.

“The future security landscape of East Asia may rush headlong to disastrous situations, and their pursuits of one-sided, absolute security comes with greater insecurity.”