Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) — China reiterated its stance on China-Africa cooperation on Wednesday, calling for more countries to think highly of Africa.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a press briefing in response to the groundless accusations made against China’s policy towards Africa, such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Project in Kenya will put the country in debt.
Geng cited Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta as saying that “in recent years, Kenya-China relations have become closer and closer, and cooperation between the two countries has become tighter in such fields as industry and infrastructure construction.”
The SGR is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in Africa and has brought great changes to the lives of the Kenyan people, the president said.
Geng said China appreciates that the leaders of many African countries, including Djibouti and Kenya, and people of insight from all walks of life have a fair evaluation of China-Africa relations and China-Africa cooperation.
China will intensify pragmatic cooperation in various fields with African countries under the Belt and Road Initiative, steadily implement the consensus reached by Chinese and African leaders and promote constant development of the China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
“We hope more countries will truly pay attention to Africa, attach importance to Africa, and invest in Africa, and work together with China to help Africa’s peace, stability, development and prosperity,” he added.
SHANGHAI, March 20 (Xinhua) — The number of licensed social workers in Shanghai has increased by over 10,000 from the end of 2017 to reach 27,344, according to data released by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.
As one of the first Chinese cities to pilot social work, Shanghai has witnessed healthy growth of professional social work organizations over the years, said Gu Donghui, president of the Shanghai Association of Social Workers.
There are currently 603 such organizations in the eastern metropolis, and many are offering more innovative services, according to Gu.
On Tuesday, Shanghai Children’s Hospital released six cartoon figures each representing a social worker in the hospital to help child patients be more familiar with them.
“Social workers in children’s hospital used to wear the same white gown as doctors, making it difficult for them to connect with the children,” said Niu Jun, head of the social work department of the hospital.
The number of licensed social workers has exceeded 440,000 in China, while registered volunteers have surpassed 100 million, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with president of Harvard University Lawrence Bacow at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with president of Harvard University Lawrence Bacow in Beijing Wednesday and expressed the hope that Sino-U.S. cultural and people-to-people exchanges could produce more positive results.
Noting that this is Bacow first overseas visit after taking office, Xi said the tour showcases the importance attached by Bacow to Sino-U.S. education exchanges.
Xi said education exchanges and cooperation are an important part of Sino-U.S. relations and help enhance the public opinion of the bilateral friendship. China advocates mutual learning, encourages Chinese students to study abroad and supports education exchanges and cooperation with other countries.
Xi said that he felt very happy that U.S. President Donald Trump also expressed support for bilateral cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in their meeting in Argentina at the end of last year.
Xi stressed that over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s rapid development has also benefited from the improvement of education. China is committed to advancing the modernization of education and making its education system satisfying for its people.
“We will expand the opening up of education, strengthen exchanges and experiences sharing with countries around the world, and jointly promote the development of education,” said Xi, expressing the willingness to conduct more extensive exchanges and cooperation with U.S. educational and research institutions such as Harvard University.
Bacow said he is visiting not only as the president of Harvard University but also as a representative of U.S. universities to promote education exchanges with China.
He said maintaining and deepening exchanges and cooperation between the two countries’ education and cultural institutions is crucial to promoting U.S.-China relations in the long run. Hailing the popularity of the Chinese language at Harvard, Bacow boasted that Harvard has a large number of Chinese students.
Bacow said it is admirable that the Chinese government attaches great importance to higher education and makes huge efforts in this regard, noting that Harvard will continue to promote exchanges and cooperation with Chinese educational and scientific research institutions.
Online influencers try to gain an advantage from homeless man’s wisdom and learning, but he says all he cares about is reading
Shen Wei has been living on the streets for 17 years and says he just wants to be left in peace after his online brush with fame
Shen Wei was filmed discussing literary classics including the Analects of Confucius. Photo: Red Star News
A homeless man in Shanghai has become an overnight celebrity for his eloquent commentary on classic Chinese texts such as the Analects of Confucius.
Videos of Shen Wei have been gaining momentum on Chinese social media since Wednesday, earning at least 14 million post views on microblogging site Weibo.
But despite the attention he has attracted, Shen said he would rather be left alone and told people that if they really cared about him they should read more books.
In one of these videos, the scavenger was filmed discussing the merits of Liao Fan’s Four Lessons, a Ming dynasty work from the 16th century, and the Analects.
Other videos show dozens of people swarming around him with their phones held out to catch a shot of him near an unfurnished building.
A March 20 video report by Thepaper.cn said they were online influencers hoping an appearance of Shen in their videos would gain them more views.
The report also showed several well-dressed young women seen live streaming with Shen before being ushered away by others who want their turn.
But Shen appeared unconcerned about his brush with online fame and dismissed suggestions that he was to be pitied.
“Since I was young, everything I’ve done has always been about reading,” Shen told news portal Thepaper.cn.
Young women were seen queueing up to livestream themselves with Shen. Photo: The Paper
He told Red Star News he has been living on the streets of the city’s Pudong district since he was evicted from his flat in 2002.
Shen spends most of his days picking rubbish and sorting through it and also enjoys reading, drawing and caring for stray cats.
When he was young, he did not have enough money to buy books, he continued. So he picked rubbish and sold whatever was valuable. The habit stayed with him, even after he started working at the Xuhui district audit bureau.
His manager reprimanded him for collecting rubbish at work and thought he had a mental illness and decided to suspend him.
He is still technically an employee of the bureau and has been on sick leave since 1993. Shen continues to receive a sickness benefit of around 2000 yuan (US$300) a month, according to the report. The bureau said it was looking into why he continues to be paid after all these years.
The former civil servant has been sent to a psychiatric hospital for assessment twice, according to Thepaper. The results of the assessment were not known.
The 52-year-old also said that his brother and two sisters had cut off contact with him.
Shen said he wanted to be left in peace to read. Photo: Red Star News
But despite an outpouring of sympathy on social media, Shen did not take kindly to the attention he received.
“At first glance, I pitied him. When he started speaking about the knowledge in the books, I pitied myself,” a Weibo user from Sichuan wrote. “He might be wearing ragged clothes but he has dignity and freedom. Many of us are dressed in suits but are constrained by our materialism.”
“Out of politeness, I won’t turn away anyone… But if you really care about me, please read more books,” Shen said in the video. “I can’t really handle this. I just want peace and quiet. I don’t want the attention.”
The online influencers who helped bring him to public attention also attracted widespread criticism for apparently taking advantage of his situation.
“What kind of world is this? Before nobody paid him any attention. Now internet influencers are buzzing around him like flies,” one user commented.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionChina has bought up a majority stake in the Greek port of Piraeus – and Italy might be next
China’s president lands in Rome on Thursday, where he is expected to sign a landmark infrastructure deal that has raised eyebrows and suspicions among Italy’s Western allies.
Xi Jinping’s project is a New Silk Road which, just like the ancient trade route, aims to link China to Europe.
The upside for Italy is a potential flood of investment and greater access to Chinese markets and raw materials.
But amid China’s growing influence and questions over its intentions, Italy’s Western allies in the European Union and United States have concerns.
By land and by sea
The New Silk Road has another name – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – and it involves a wave of Chinese funding for major infrastructure projects around the world, in a bid to speed Chinese goods to markets further afield.
It has already funded trains, roads, and ports, with Chinese construction firms given lucrative contracts to connect ports and cities – funded by loans from Chinese banks.
The levels of debt owed by African nations to China have raised concerns in the West – but roads and railways have been built that would not exist otherwise:
In Uganda, Chinese millions built a 50km (30 mile) road to the international airport
The country slipped into recession at the end of 2018, and its national debt levels are among the highest in the eurozone. Italy’s populist government came to power in June 2018 with high-spending plans but had to peg them back after a stand-off with the EU.
It is in this context that China’s deal is being offered – funding that could rejuvenate Italy’s grand old port cities along the Maritime Silk Road.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has mentioned the cities of Trieste and Genoa as likely candidates.
“The way we see it, it is an opportunity for our companies to take the opportunity of China’s growing importance in the world,” said Italy’s undersecretary of state for trade and investment, Michele Geraci.
“We feel that amongst our European partners, Italy has been left out. We have wasted a little bit of time,” he told the BBC.
Italy’s move is “largely symbolic”, according to Peter Frankopan, professor of Global History at Oxford University and a writer on The Silk Roads.
But even Rome admitting the BRI is worth exploring “has a value for Beijing”, he said.
“It adds gloss to the existing scheme and also shows that China has an important global role.”
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionPresident Xi Jinping has made the BRI a flagship policy
“The seemingly innocuous move comes at a sensitive time for Europe and the European Union, where there is suddenly a great deal of trepidation not only about China, but about working out how Europe or the EU should adapt and react to a changing world,” Prof Frankopan told the BBC.
“But there is more at stake here too,” he added. “If investment does not come from China to build ports, refineries, railway lines and so on, then where will it come from?”
Ahead of his arrival, President Xi declared that the friendship between the two nations was “rooted in a rich historical legacy”.
“Made in Italy has become synonymous with high quality products. Italian fashion and furnishings fully meet the taste of Chinese consumers; pizza and tiramisu are liked by young Chinese people,” he wrote in an article published by Corriere della Sera.
Image copyrightOXFORD SCIENCE ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGImage captionExplorer Marco Polo’s travels along the Silk Road were immortalised in the “Book of Marvels”
That “made in Italy” label carries a reputation for quality worldwide, and is legally protected for products items processed “mainly” in Italy.
Better connections for cheap raw materials from China – and the return of finished products from Italy – could exaggerate that practice.
“Predatory” investment
The non-binding deal being signed by the two countries on Thursday comes amid questions over whether Chinese firm Huawei should be permitted to build essential communications networks – after the United States expressed concern they could help Beijing spy on the West.
That is not part of the current negotiations in Italy.
As President Xi tours Rome, EU leaders in Brussels will be considering 10 points for relations with China.
While they include deepening engagement, they also involve plans to “address the distortive effects of foreign state ownership” as well as “security risks posed by foreign investment in critical assets, technologies and infrastructure”.
In March, US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis pointed out that Italy was a major economy and did not need to “lend legitimacy to China’s vanity infrastructure project”.
Members of Italy’s ruling right-wing League party have their owns concerns about national security
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini warned that he did not want to see foreign businesses “colonising” Italy.
“Before allowing someone to invest in the ports of Trieste or Genoa, I would think about it not once but a hundred times,” Salvini warned.
Setting the scene
Italian officials are keen to point out that the deal being signed is not an international treaty, and is non-binding.
“There are no specific projects,” Mr Geraci said. “It is more of an accord that sets the scene.”
Other European nations already accept Chinese investment through something called the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, he said – something the UK was the first to sign up to.
BEIJING (Reuters) – PetroChina, Asia’s largest oil and gas producer, plans to boost its capital expenditure to a near record 300 billion yuan (£34.16 billion) in 2019, up 17 percent from last year, a company filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed.
The surge in spending came as PetroChina pledged to ramp up oil and gas production and reserves to answer Beijing’s call for greater energy security.
PetroChina’s fourth-quarter net earnings, though, fell 18 percent from the same period the previous year to 4.46 billion yuan, making it the worst quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2016, Reuters calculations showed.
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (R) meets with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Beijing, capital of China, March 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)
BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi here Tuesday, and hoped that the two countries would deepen all-round cooperation.
“China and Pakistan are good neighbors, and the friendly relationship between the two countries has stood the test of times and the changing international situation,” said Wang, adding that leaders of the two countries frequently met in recent years and the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership has yielded continuous progress.
Wang said establishing good-neighborly and friendly relations and creating a good surrounding environment on the basis of mutual understanding and mutual trust is an important condition for a country to achieve peaceful development.
He said China supports Pakistan in seizing opportunities and tackling challenges, and properly handling relations with its neighbors, to achieve stable development.
Wang expressed the hope that the two countries would continue to deepen all-around cooperation, and promote the progress of important projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Qureshi said Pakistan appreciates China’s constructive role in moderating tensions between India and Pakistan.
He said Pakistan stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in various fields and push the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.
NANNING, March 19 (Xinhua) — China and Vietnam officially opened a new cross-border bridge on Tuesday linking the city of Dongxing in China and the city of Mong Cai in Vietnam.
The 27.7-meter-wide Beilun II bridge has four main lanes and two auxiliary ones. Its opening means that the busy port of Dongxing will have two bridges, and improved capacity to serve booming border trade between China and Vietnam.
Construction of the bridge started in 2014 and was completed in September 2017, involving an investment of about 220 million yuan (32.7 million U.S. dollars) from China and Vietnam.
It will shorten waiting time for customs clearance, thus boosting border logistics and trade and promoting connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative, said Huang Xiong, deputy director of Dongxing Customs.
The new bridge will be used for freight vehicles, while the existing Beilun bridge, 3 km away, will be reserved for the passage of personnel only, officials said.
Dongxing, in southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, faces Mong Cai across the Beilun river and has become an important goods channel between China and Southeast Asia.
In 2018, trade between Dongxing and Vietnam reached 24.45 billion yuan. The Dongxing port last year handled over 47,000 vehicles and about 12 million passengers, a record high.
Last year, trade volume between China and Vietnam reached a record high of nearly 150 billion U.S. dollars, and China accounted for the largest number of foreign tourists in Vietnam, roughly 5 million people.
on Wednesday said the future of the China-backed East Coast Rail Link project, in limbo for months, was unlikely to be resolved before he visits Beijing in April for a summit on the
’s signature project to fund and build infrastructure across Asia – faces the threat of cancellation after work was suspended last July.
Mahathir: green light for China-backed ECRL, if price is right
Mahathir’s administration, with the premier’s top confidante Daim Zainuddin at the helm, is in direct government-to-government negotiations with Beijing to drastically reduce the project’s price tag.
According to Kuala Lumpur’s latest estimates, the true cost of the 688km line would be 130 billion ringgit (US$32 billion), rather than the 55 billion ringgit (US$13 billion) touted by Mahathir’s predecessor as prime minister, Najib Razak.
Mahathir claims Najib offered the contractor, China Communication Construction Company, a sweetheart deal.
Mahathir Mohamad’s predecessor as prime minister, Najib Razak, at the launch of the East Coast Rail Link project. Photo: AP
Mahathir, 93, said negotiations on the rail link were unlikely to conclude before his visit to Beijing for next month’s Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, where he will join Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Philippine President
The second summit of its kind, the forum from April 25-27 will be Beijing’s biggest diplomatic event this year.
“I cannot say [it will conclude] before I go to China because at this moment, we depend not only on the Malaysian negotiators, but also the response from China,” he told reporters on the sidelines of parliament.
I’d side with rich China over fickle US, Malaysia’s Mahathir says
Fielding questions on the controversial project in the legislature earlier, Mahathir said the rail link would be allowed to continue “on an appropriate scale”.
In its current form, the double-track, fully electrified rail link could balloon in cost to 130 billion ringgit, he said.
That estimate is the highest yet, topping an 81 billion ringgit figure suggested by Mahathir’s Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Mahathir’s Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng. Photo: Bloomberg
At current levels, Malaysia would be servicing its debts for up to 30 years, the premier said.
The outcome of negotiations to pare down the cost of the project would be announced when a decision was finalised, he said.
“If the negotiations are fruitful, the government is confident the project can continue on an appropriate scale, with benefits for the people and saving Malaysia from the burden of large debts,” he said in response to questions from an opposition lawmaker.
The prime minister was also quizzed on why it was Daim, a retired finance minister, and not Lim, the current finance tsar, who was negotiating with the Chinese.
‘We’re too close to China’: is Thailand about to ‘do a Mahathir’?
To that, the prime minister said: “He [Daim] was chosen because of certain of his capabilities. Sometimes when we are negotiating, we need a person who will be accepted by the other parties. We face certain challenges in choosing the best person to carry out the negotiations.”
“That is why we chose someone outside [the government] after making the evaluation as to who is the best suited and capable to discuss this with China,” he added.
The Malaysian government has been sending out mixed signals on the ECRL for months.
In January the government issued a “gag order” on officials, authorising only Mahathir to comment on negotiations.
In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post this month, Mahathir said he would approve the project if the Chinese agreed to a price he had in mind. He refused to divulge the figure.
Scandal hit: Najib Razak. Photo: Reuters
The ECRL is the biggest of the China-backed infrastructure projects to have been cast into doubt by Mahathir, who questions the need for the rail link as well as its cost and claims his scandal-haunted predecessor signed up in blasé fashion.
Allies of Mahathir have claimed Najib signed up to the deals as a quid pro quo to Chinese firms that were bailing out massive losses at the 1MDB state fund , a scandal for which he is currently facing criminal charges.
Najib, who denies wrongdoing, claims to have endorsed the ECRL deal solely because it made good economic sense.
Besides the ECRL, Mahathir’s government last year cancelled two China-backed pipelines costing 9.3 billion ringgit after it discovered that, while 90 per cent of the project’s costs had been paid, only 13 per cent of it had been completed.
Image copyrightPIPAImage captionArmando, pictured, is now enjoying his retirement
A champion pigeon has been sold for a record €1.25m ($1.42m; £1.07m).
Auction house Pipa called Armando the “best Belgian long-distance pigeon of all time”. He’s also been dubbed the “Lewis Hamilton of pigeons”.
Before this sale, the record was €376,000 (£321,800). However, Pipa says this was beaten within a day of Armando being put up for bids.
The champ, who turns five this year, is now enjoying his retirement and has already fathered a number of chicks.
“It was unreal, the feeling – it was something out of this world,” Nikolaas Gyselbrecht, the CEO of Pipa – short for “Pigeon Paradise” – told the BBC of the moment someone put down a bid of more than €1m.
“In our wildest dreams, we had never hoped for a price like that. We hoped for around €400,000 to €500,000, and we only dreamed of €600,000.”
Image copyrightPIPAImage captionHe’s going to turn five this year
Mr Gyselbrecht said that two buyers from China ended up in a bidding war, escalating from €532,000 up to €1.25m in just over an hour.
To put it all in perspective, he says, the usual price for a racing pigeon is around €2,500.
But Armando is no usual pigeon. The last three races of his career were the 2018 Ace Pigeon championship, the 2019 Pigeon Olympiad and the Angoulême – and he won them all.
He has no shortage of admirers, either. Fred Vancaillie, president of the local pigeon fancying association in Perwez, told Belgian broadcaster RTBF that he was “the Lewis Hamilton of pigeons”, adding that he was one of the best in the history of the sport.
Although Armando’s racing days are behind him, Mr Gyselbrecht says that racing pigeons can carry on having chicks until they’re about 10, and live up to 20.
While Armando will now settle in for a quiet life, it’s likely his new owners will breed him and race his progeny.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
