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.
Two people from the circus have been detained after the animal managed to get out of its cage and run towards nearby cornfields on Friday evening
It was found the next morning and police used a tranquilliser to subdue the tiger but it died on the way to the zoo, which believes it had been hit by a car
Video footage shows circus handlers using sticks to try to coax the tiger back inside the cage after it escaped on Friday night. Photo: Thepaper.cn
A circus tiger that escaped from its cage during a show in central China was captured by police after an overnight search, but died while it was being transported to a nearby zoo, according to media reports.
Two people from the circus where the tiger was raised in the county of Yuanyang, Henan province, have been detained, Beijing Youth Daily reported, without elaborating. It said the tiger escaped during the circus’ first public show, which had not been registered with the local authorities.
The tiger was part of a performance for a local school on Friday evening when it managed to get out of its cage and run towards nearby cornfields.
A video posted by news site Thepaper.cn shows the moment it escaped from the cage, with its handlers using sticks to try to coax the animal back inside. The scene is chaotic, as people scream and run from the venue.
A tranquilliser dart was used to subdue the tiger on Saturday morning and it was transported to a zoo in Xinxiang. Photo: Thepaper.cn
The police were called in, and officers used drones, police dogs and thermal imaging equipment to hunt for the tiger, according to the local government.
The authorities also put out an emergency advisory telling residents to stay indoors and contact police if they had any information on the tiger’s whereabouts.
It was spotted the following morning, and a tranquilliser dart was used to subdue the animal at about 10.30am on Saturday. The tiger was then transported to a zoo in the city of Xinxiang.
According to one of its zookeepers, the animal had already died by the time it was delivered to the zoo, China Youth Daily reported on Sunday.
The \jsq, surnamed Feng, said the tiger was hit by a car after it escaped and may have sustained internal injuries. The zoo is conducting an autopsy.
Chinese circus tiger attacks two children after breaking out of cage in middle of performance
Thousands of social media users expressed their sympathy for the tiger’s plight, saying it must have suffered greatly, with many people calling for animal circuses to be banned in China.
“Tigers don’t belong in cages, they belong in the wilderness,” one person wrote on microblog site Weibo.
Chinese circus defends using rare animals in its acts despite poor crowds at shows and criticism of its methods.
Image copyright EPAImage caption Ms Merkel calls for dialogue while Mr Li says China can handle its own matters
China’s Premier Li Keqiang has said Beijing supports the Hong Kong government “to end the violence and chaos”.
He is the most senior Chinese official to comment on the unrest which has rocked Hong Kong for months.
His comments came during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing.
Hong Kong has seen months of often-violent protests calling for democracy and less influence from China.
The protests were sparked by changes to a law that would allow extradition to mainland China, but have since widened to include calls for an independent inquiry into police brutality and demands for greater democracy.
Image copyright EPAImage caption Hong Kong activists hope for Western support
Instead, protests continued on Friday evening, when clashes erupted between police and the demonstrators outside a subway station on the Kowloon peninsula.
Riot police fired both tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters before clearing the nearby streets as the crowd of protesters was forced to retreat.
What did the Chinese premier say?
In August, China had likened to protests to terrorism, warning activists not to “underestimate the firm resolve” of the Beijing government.
Li Keqiang, China’s second highest-ranking leader, told reporters on Friday: “The Chinese government unswervingly safeguards ‘one country, two systems’ and ‘Hong Kong people govern Hong Kong people’.”
He said China backed Hong Kong “to end the violence and chaos in accordance with the law, to return to order, which is to safeguard Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability”.
Two classrooms on Nanjing campus were chosen for pilot project
Camera automatically captures students’ faces without their cooperation
Students pass through a facial recognition turnstile at China Pharmaceutical University in Nanjing. Photo: Weibo
A university in eastern China has installed a facial recognition system at its entrance and in two classrooms to monitor the attendance and behaviour of students.
China Pharmaceutical University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, announced on its website on Thursday that it was one of the first higher education institutions in the country to put such a system in place.
“It can effectively solve the management difficulties and low efficiencies in a traditional attendance system, and make it easier for managers to track their students,” Xu Jianzhen, director of the university’s library and information centre, told news website Thepaper.cn
In a pilot project, two classrooms were equipped with an attendance system using facial recognition software, with a camera that automatically captured the faces of students in class without their cooperation, the university said.
“Besides attendance, the system installed in the classroom can provide surveillance of the students’ learning, such as whether they are listening to the lectures, how many times they raise their heads, and whether they are playing on their phones or falling asleep,” Xu told the news website.
“The school is taking action to cut down on students skipping class, leaving classes early, paying for a substitute to attend classes for them and not listening in class,” he said.
The plan was not well received online, with some critics raising privacy concerns for staff and students.
Why are Hong Kong protesters targeting lamp posts?
“What kind of talent are they trying to cultivate?” a user of the Twitter-style Weibo network asked. “I’ve never seen such a method.”
Another wrote: “If this system was being installed in Europe or America, they’d be sued and the school would have to close down.”
But Xu said the university had consulted the police and sought legal advice, and was told the system would not be considered an invasion of privacy as classrooms were public spaces.
“You are complaining about [a system] that’s meant to urge you to learn? Are you a student?” he told the news website.
A spokesman said China Pharmaceutical University was using a facial recognition system to improve class attendance. Photo: Weibo
The university would seek feedback from teaching staff before deciding whether to install facial recognition systems in all of its classrooms, according to the report.
In May last year, a school in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, installed cameras to monitor pupils’ facial expressions and attentiveness in class as part of a “smart classroom behaviour management system” to give teachers real-time information on their students.
Elsewhere, facial recognition has been used to catch unlicensed drivers in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, jaywalkers in Shanghai, and criminal suspects at public events across China.
The highest number of such cases has been registered in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which borders Delhi.
“At least 46 cases have been reported until 29 August. In all cases, we found that there was no evidence of child trafficking,” director general of police OP Singh told the BBC.
“We appeal to the people to not believe in such rumours. If you are in doubt, just reach out to the police through phone [dial in number 100] or social media,” he added.
Media captionThe India WhatsApp video driving people to murder
In Ghaziabad district, which is on the outskirts of Delhi, six cases were registered in August.
“In one case, a group of people attacked a grandmother while she was out with her grandchild. People attacked her because her skin colour was different to her grandchild,” senior police officer Neeraj Jadaun said, adding that all suspects in the case had been arrested.
While incidents like this are being reported across India, it is not clear if kidnappings are on the rise.
Rumours of child kidnappings often spread over text messages or WhatsApp, according to reports.
Officials have urged people not to believe messages linked to child abductions and are yet to find any incidents of child abduction related to the spate of messages and videos being shared online.
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is in the news in India after a judge asked an activist to explain why he had a book “about war in another country”.
Vernon Gonsalves had appeared in the high court in Mumbai city on Wednesday for a hearing on his bail plea.
The judge’s question sparked a flurry of tweets, with users both outraged and bemused by it.
Five activists, including Mr Gonsalves, were arrested in August 2018 in connection with caste-based violence.
Police raided and searched their homes at the time and submitted a list of books, documents and other belongings to the court. The public prosecutor told the court that police had found “incriminating evidence” in Mr Gonsalves’ home, including “books and CDs with objectionable titles”.
“Why were you having these books and CDs at your home? You will have to explain this to the court,” the judge told Mr Gonsalves.
Police said that all five activists incited Dalits (formerly untouchables) at a large public rally on 31 December 2017, leading to violent clashes that left one person dead. They accused them of “radicalising youth” and taking part in “unlawful activities” which led to violence and showed “intolerance to the present political system”.
The arrests had been criticised by many at the time who saw them as an attack on free speech, and even a “witch hunt” against those who challenged the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
So the judge’s question quickly made news and War and Peace was soon trending on Twitter.
The tweets ranged from jokes to shock over the state of India’s judiciary.
Others wondered how they would fare in a courtroom given what’s on their bookshelf, and some have issued a call out asking people to share books from their own “subversive” collection.
Image caption Wang Qi has been waiting for months to see his family in India
In 1963, a former Chinese army surveyor crossed into India and was captured weeks after a war between the two countries. Wang Qi was then left in a central Indian town for more than five decades before he was allowed to travel back home to China in 2017.
The BBC reported his story at the time and videos of the emotional family reunion in China were watched by millions.
But now, more than 30 months later, his story has taken an unexpected turn – Mr Wang is stuck in China and unable to return to India.
He has been waiting for more than four months for officials to renew his Indian visa so that he can travel back to India where his children and grandchildren live.
“Why are they doing this? I’ve been fighting for such a long time. How much longer can I fight?” Mr Wang told me over the phone from his home city of Xianyang.
The BBC has emailed the Indian embassy in Beijing and is yet to receive a response.
Born to a farmer family in Shaanxi with four brothers and two sisters, he studied surveying and joined China’s People’s Liberation Army in 1960.
Mr Wang says he was “tasked with building roads for the Chinese army” and was captured when he “strayed erroneously” into Indian territory in January 1963.
Image caption He joined China’s People’s Liberation Army in 1960
“I had gone out of my camp for a stroll but lost my way. I was tired and hungry. I saw a Red Cross vehicle and asked them to help me. They handed me over to the Indian army,” he said.
After he was captured, he spent the next seven years in multiple prisons before he was released by a court order in 1969.
Police took him to Tirodi, a far-flung village in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where he ended up living for most of his life.
Instead he worked at a flour mill, eventually marrying a local woman and raising a family with her. Neighbours said they lived in “utter poverty”.
It was never clear whether Mr Wang was actually a prisoner of war. But he was denied official Indian documents or citizenship, and he was also denied permission to return to China. Officials told the BBC in 2017 that there were “deficiencies” and a “lack of interest” in the case over the years.
A Chinese passport holder, Mr Wang was reunited with his family in China in 2017. After the BBC reported his story, he received a one-year multiple entry Indian visa.
Media caption Wang Qi did not see his family in China for decades
He kept coming back to India to meet his wife, children and grandchildren who continued to live here.
When Mr Wang first arrived in China, he received a rapturous welcome. Crowds met him with banners reading, “Welcome home, soldier, it’s been a rough journey”.
But according to Mr Wang’s son, Vishnu, his father’s request to local officials to clear his salary for the period of his stay in India, remains unanswered.
Vishnu also adds that it’s unclear if his father still has any claim to ancestral property in China after being away for so many years.
“He was ecstatic to have met his family after decades. He didn’t want anything else.”
In 2017, Mr Wang rushed back to India to take care of his wife, who was hospitalised due to “liver complications”.
“Getting funds for the expensive treatment was very difficult. We tried everywhere, begged for money but didn’t receive any response,” Vishnu says.
She died within a fortnight.
Image caption Mr Wang married an Indian woman and raised a family with her
“My father’s visa was renewed in 2018. He applied again in April 2019 but he is still waiting,” Vishnu adds.
Xianyang and Beijing, where the Indian embassy is located, are more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) apart – and travelling between the two cities isn’t easy for Mr Wang, who is nearly 80 years old, Vishnu says.
“My father is fed up. He doesn’t understand why this is taking so long.”
Police say man from Fujian province was detained while trying to burn body on remote farm after strangling girlfriend
Online lender contacted officers after its verification software spotted that the victim’s eyes weren’t moving
Police were tipped off by an online lending company after its software could find no signs of movement in the victim’s eyes. Photo: Simon Song
A man accused of murdering his girlfriend in southeast China was caught after facial recognition software suggested he had tried to scan a dead person’s face to apply for a loan.
Officers in Fujian province said the 29-year-old named Zhang was caught while trying to burn the body on a remote farm, but they had been tipped off by an online lending company after its software could find no signs of movement in the victim’s eyes, Xiamen Evening News reported on Sunday.
Zhang is suspected of strangling his girlfriend with a rope in Xiamen on April 11 after they argued about money and she threatened to leave him. He then allegedly went on the run with the body hidden in the boot of a rented car.
Zhang is also accused of pretending to be the unnamed victim and contacting her employers via her WeChat account to ask for time off work.
Ugandan police spend US$126 million on surveillance system from Huawei
When he arrived in his hometown of Sanming the next day, police said he tried to apply for a loan using an app called Money Station, which uses artificial intelligence to verify the applicants’ identity and asks them to wink to help the process along.
But the facial recognition technology found no signs of eye movement.
Staff at the lender contacted police after a manual check found bruises on the unnamed woman’s face and a thick red mark around her neck.
Its voice recognition software also detected that it was a man, rather than a woman, applying for the loan.
Zhang, whose formal arrest was approved by prosecutors earlier this month, is accused of using the victim’s phone to take 30,000 yuan (US$4,200) from her bank account, and lying to her parents that she was “going away for a few days to relax”.
Although a trial date has yet to be announced, details of the case have shocked many people.
Some Chinese social media users suggested that the plot would be too gruesome or far-fetched for a horror movie and another wrote: “[I] never thought the facial recognition process could be used in this way.”
State media says presence is part of preparations for major drill, but analyst calls it a ‘psychological warfare tactic’
Fears that the armed presence was a show of power to Hong Kong
Dozens of trucks line a street next to the entrance of the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in Shenzhen on Monday. Photo: SCMP
A convoy of armed police trucks has been stationed at a sports centre in a mainland Chinese city bordering Hong Kong, adding to speculation online that Beijing could be preparing to intervene directly in the protests roiling the special administrative region.
But a Beijing-based military expert said the movements were part of regular exercises and not cause for concern.
Footage of the trucks rolling into Shenzhen in the southern province of Guangdong began circulating online on Saturday.
On Monday, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily and Global Times posted videos of the convoy in the city, saying the police were there to prepare for large-scale drills.
People’s Daily, China
✔@PDChina
In video: Chinese armed police armored vehicle fleet is prepared for a drill in Shenzhen, S China’s Guangdong province.
Dozens of the trucks as well as excavators lined a pavement next to the entrance of the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in Nanshan district on Monday, across the harbour from Hong Kong.
Personnel in camouflage uniforms stood at the entrances of the sports centre, but did not block access to civilians.
Asked whether they were in Shenzhen for a drill and what time they had arrived, the personnel shook their heads and said nothing.
Also on Monday, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office released a stern statement, calling attacks on police “signs of terrorism”.
Online, internet users speculated that the armed presence was a show of power to Hong Kong.
Excavators are among the heavy equipment stationed near the entrance of the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre on Monday. Photo: SCMP
“They are just waiting for an order before they’ll drive to Hong Kong to calm the riots. We hope the armed forces can enter Hong Kong and beat the hell out of these idiotic youth,” one commenter said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.
Beijing-based military specialist Zhou Chenming said that the armed police were taking part in regular drills and that people should not feel nervous.
“The central government has repeatedly stated it will only interfere if there are large-scale riots and the Hong Kong government has applied voluntarily for support,” Zhou said.
Hong Kong policeman filmed aiming gun at protesters hailed as a hero by Chinese state media
“If the situation does not reach that point, then this is only a deterrence measure, to deter these [small group of people] from stepping over the line.”
Dixon Sing Ming, a political-science professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said the move was a “psychological warfare tactic”.
“The drill is part and parcel of a well-coordinated attempt by Beijing to pressure the protesters and the general public to give up their five demands, including the one for universal suffrage immediately,” Sing said.
Hong Kong has been engulfed in protests since early June, at first to oppose the now-shelved extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong to send suspects to other jurisdictions, including mainland China.
Chinese police mass 12,000 anti-riot officers in Shenzhen for drill
But protesters now have five demands, including a complete withdrawal of the extradition bill and an independent investigation into the police’s use of force in handling the protests.
As the confrontations have escalated, public opinion in the mainland has grown steadily tougher, with many calling for more stern measures to restore order.
On August 6, 12,000 police officers gathered in Shenzhen for a drill, which included anti-riot measures similar to those seen on the streets of Hong Kong.
Although the police said the drill was part of security preparations for the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic on October 1, internet users saw it as a show of power and warning to Hong Kong.
Image copyright EPAImage caption Officials say about 5,000 gathered for the fourth day of protests at the airport
Hong Kong International Airport cancelled all departures on Monday, as thousands of anti-government protesters occupied and caused disruption.
Passengers have been told not to travel to the airport, which is one of the world’s busiest transport hubs.
In a statement, officials blamed “seriously disrupted” operations.
Many of those protesting are critical of the actions of police, who on Sunday were filmed firing tear gas and rubber bullets at close range.
Some protesters wore bandages over their eyes in response to images of a woman bleeding heavily from her eye on Sunday, having reportedly been shot by a police projectile.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said they were cancelling all flights that were not yet checked in.
More than 160 flights scheduled to leave after 18:00 local time (10:00 GMT) will now not depart.
Arrivals already heading into Hong Kong will still be allowed to land, but other scheduled flights have been cancelled.
Officials are now working to reopen the airport by 06:00 on Tuesday, a statement said.
Some passengers expressed annoyance at the disruption. “It’s very frustrating and scary for some people,” one man from Pakistan told the BBC. “We’ll just have to wait for our next flight.”
Helena Morgan, from the UK, said she was set to return to the UK to get her exam results on Thursday. “I’m hoping we get back for them and we’re not on a flight,” she said.
But others were more understanding of the protests. “I was expecting something, given all the news,” one arrival, Gurinda Singh, told Reuters news agency.
As rumours spread that police plan to move in on protesters on Monday evening, thousands opted to leave on foot. There are large backlogs for transport back into the centre, local reports say.
The BBC’s Stephen McDonell, who is at the scene, says the airport has effectively shut down while authorities work out how to deal with the crisis.
Hong Kong’s mass demonstrations and unrest show no sign of abating, more than two months after they were sparked by a controversial extradition bill.
Beijing officials have strongly condemned Sunday’s violence and linked violent protesters to “terrorism”.
Image copyright REUTERSImage caption Many of those who gathered carried signs condemning police conduct
What happened on Sunday?
On Sunday afternoon, a peaceful rally in the city’s Victoria Park led to clashes when protesters moved out of the area and marched along a major road despite a police ban.
There were confrontations in several central districts and police used rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators.
In the bustling central Wan Chai district, petrol bombs and bricks were thrown at police, who responded by charging at protesters.
A number of people, including a police officer, were injured in the clashes.
Videos on social media also showed officers storming enclosed railway stations and firing tear gas.
Footage inside another station showed officers firing what appeared to be rubber bullets at close range and several police officers beating people with batons.
Media caption Violence erupts in HK train stations
Local media outlets reported that suspected undercover police officers had dressed-up as protesters to make surprise arrests.
While protests in the city have turned increasingly violent, there were no reports of arrests during the three previous days of the airport sit-in.
What has the reaction been?
On Monday the Chinese authorities, who have not yet physically intervened to quell the unrest, used their strongest language yet to condemn violent protesters.
“Hong Kong’s radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging,” Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), said at a press briefing.
“This wantonly tramples on Hong Kong’s rule of law and social order.”
Demonstrations started in June in opposition to a proposed extradition bill, which would have allowed suspected criminals to be sent to mainland China for trial.
Critics said it would undermine Hong Kong’s legal freedoms, and could be used to silence political dissidents.
Although the government has now suspended the bill, demonstrators want it to be fully withdrawn.
Their demands have broadened to include calls for an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality, and an amnesty for all arrested protesters.
Hong Kong is part of China but its citizens have more autonomy than those on the mainland.
It has a free press and judicial independence under the so-called “one country, two systems” approach – freedoms which activists fear are being increasingly eroded.
Police in Hong Kong have been fighting running battles with activists in a third consecutive day of protests, after a call for a general strike caused widespread disruption on Monday.
Protesters blocked roads and paralysed train services at peak times on a day of action across the city.
More than 200 flights were cancelled as the protests entered their ninth week.
Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has pledged to restore law and order, rejecting calls for her resignation.
Initially the demonstrations, which began on 9 June, focused on a controversial extradition law, which would have allowed the transfer of suspects to mainland China. However, the protests have now become a wider challenge to Beijing’s authority.
Ms Lam warned that Hong Kong was “on the verge of a very dangerous situation”.
Media caption Protests take place in Hong Kong for the ninth weekend – for and against the authorities
In her first media address in two weeks, Ms Lam said the protesters’ actions had challenged the principle of “one country, two systems” – the extra freedoms granted to Hong Kong when it was returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
She also accused activists of using the extradition bill as a cover for their real goals.
“We continue to allow these violent protesters to make use of the [extradition] bill to conceal their ulterior motives,” she said. “Those ulterior motives are going to destroy Hong Kong.”
Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
The Chinese foreign ministry said no one should underestimate China’s resolve to safeguard the stability of Hong Kong, Reuters news agency reports.
What happened on Monday?
Police fired tear gas at several locations as protesters rallied into the night, setting fires and besieging police stations. In the North Point district, which has a reputation for pro-Beijing sympathies, men wielding long poles clashed with demonstrators before falling back.
More than 80 people were arrested, in addition to the 420 detained since 9 June. In that time, police said they had used more than 1,000 tear gas canisters and 160 rubber bullets.
Protest leaders had called for a general strike. While many people made it to work, in some areas protesters blocked trains from leaving stations and scuffled with commuters. Several lines of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) were suspended for a time, and the Cross-Harbour Tunnel was also blocked.
One video circulating on Twitter reportedly showed a car in the district of Yuen Long forcefully hitting a barricade set up by protesters, injuring one person.
It is not clear how many joined the strike, but tens of thousands of protesters were out on the streets. Several shops and businesses were closed, including international fashion retailers like Topshop and Zara.
Hong Kong airport, one of the busiest in the world, said travellers should check its website and seek updates directly from the airlines.
Most of the cancelled flights were with local carriers Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines.
The protests were initially sparked by a controversial bill that would allow China to extradite suspects from Hong Kong to the mainland.
Critics said it would undermine the territory’s judicial independence and could be used to target those who spoke out against the Chinese government.
Although the bill has now been suspended, demonstrators want it fully withdrawn.
Their demands have broadened to include an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality, Ms Lam’s resignation, and the dropping of riot charges linked to the protests.
Last week, more than 40 activists appeared in court charged with rioting. If convicted, they could be jailed for up to 10 years.
The Chinese army has so far stayed out of the dispute, but China’s top policy office in Hong Kong has previously condemned the protests, calling them “horrendous incidents” that have caused “serious damage to the rule of law”.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 