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 (Reuters) – General Motors’ sales in China saw double-digit year-on-year growth in April, its two local ventures said on Sunday, as the world’s biggest auto market recovers from the coronavirus.
GM’s (GM.N) joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS), which manufactures Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles, said its sales in China grew 13.6% compared to a year earlier. It said it had sold 111,155 units in April, including exported cars.
Meanwhile, SGMW, a separate GM venture with SAIC and Guangxi Automobile Group which produces no-frills minivans and has started to make higher-end cars, said its sales jumped 13.5% to over 127,000 units last month.
U.S. automaker GM, which is China’s second biggest foreign car company after Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), said its sales in China fell 43.3% in the first three months of 2020 compared with the same period last year.
To attract customers, GM and SAIC have hired social media celebrities to promote its new models and are offering free medical masks to customers.
China’s biggest automaker SAIC, which sold more than 6 million cars last year, said its sales rose 0.5% compared to the same period last year. As well as the GM venture, it also builds its own brand cars and operates a venture with Volkswagen.
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A northeastern Chinese city of 10 million people struggling with currently the country’s biggest coronavirus cluster shut dine-in services on Saturday, as the rest of China eases restrictions designed to hamper the spread of the disease.
Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang and its biggest city, said it temporarily suspended dine-in services for all eateries, reported the official CCTV citing an emergency epidemic prevention notice.
Catering services operating in the city, such as barbecue eateries and those selling skewers, shabu shabu, and stew, shall suspend dine-in meals until further notice and in accordance with changes in the epidemic situation, the notice said.
While mainland China reported only one case on Saturday and crowds returned to some of its most famous tourist attractions for the 5-day May holiday, the northern province of Heilongjiang is hunkering down to prevent further clusters from forming.
Of the 140 local transmissions in mainland China, over half have been reported as from Heilongjiang, according to a Reuters tally.
Heilongjiang province borders Russia and has become the frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic, with many new infections from citizens entering from Russia.
The province has already banned entry to residential zones by non-locals and vehicles registered elsewhere. It had also ordered isolation for those arriving from outside China or key epidemic areas.
On the back of the outbreak, deputy secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Wang Wentao said at a Friday meeting “we deeply blame ourselves”, according to local media.
“We had an inadequate understanding of epidemic prevention and control,” said Wang, adding that the failure to carry out testing in a timely manner contributed to the clusters.
Media caption Americans are taken from the docked ship to Haneda airport in Tokyo
Two planes carrying hundreds of US citizens from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship have left Japan, officials say.
One plane has landed at a US Air Force air base in California, and its passengers will be isolated at military facilities for 14 days.
There were some 400 Americans on board the Diamond Princess. The ship with some 3,700 passengers and crew has been in quarantine since 3 February.
Meanwhile, China reported a total of 2,048 new cases on Monday.
Of those new cases, 1,933 were from Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
More than 70,500 people across China have been infected by the virus. In Hubei alone, the official number of cases stands at 58,182, with 1,692 deaths. Most new cases and deaths have been reported in Wuhan, Hubei’s largest city.
In other developments:
In Japan, a public gathering to celebrate the birthday of new Emperor Naruhito later this week has been cancelled, due to concerns over the spread of the virus while organisers of the Tokyo marathon due to take place on 1 March are considering whether to cancel the amateur part of the race, reports say
In China, the National People’s Congress standing committee said it would meet next week to discuss a delay of this year’s Congress – the Communist Party’s most important annual gathering – because of the outbreak
At the weekend, an American woman tested positive for the virus in Malaysia after leaving a cruise liner docked off the coast of Cambodia
A Russian court has ordered a woman who escaped from a quarantine facility to go back and stay there until she is confirmed to be disease-free, Fontanka news agency reports. Alla Ilyina has until Wednesday to return
What’s happening on the Diamond Princess?
The cruise ship was put in quarantine in Japan’s port of Yokohama after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was found to have the virus.
On Monday, Japanese officials said there were 99 new cases of infections on board the ship, bringing the total to 454 confirmed cases. It is the largest cluster of cases outside China.
A Russian woman who was on board and tested positive is thought to be the first Russian national to contract the virus after the two previous cases found in Russia were Chinese nationals, Reuters news agency reports.
She will be taken to a hospital for treatment, the Russian embassy in Japan said.
At least 40 US citizens who were on board are infected and will be treated in Japan, Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told US broadcaster CBS.
Image copyright AFPImage caption Those bound for the US left from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport
The two aircraft chartered by the US government left Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in the early hours of Monday. The second flight was due to land at another base in Texas.
More than 300 passengers are being repatriated voluntarily, the US state department said. Fourteen of them were reported during transit to have tested positive for the virus and were being kept separate from the other passengers, it said.
we would like to just finish the quarantine on the ship as planned, decompress in a non-quarantine environment in Japan for a few days, then fly back to the U.S. pursuant to our own arrangements. What’s wrong with that?
The smartphones were distributed so people could use an app, created by Japan’s health ministry, which links users with doctors, pharmacists and mental health counsellors. Phones registered outside of Japan are unable to access the app.
Other evacuation flights have been arranged to repatriate residents of Israel, Hong Kong and Canada. On Monday, Australia announced that it would evacuate 200 of its citizens too.
What is happening in China?
According to official figures for 16 February, 100 people died from the virus in Hubei, down from 139 on Saturday.
The Chinese authorities are tightening curbs on movement to combat the outbreak. People in Hubei province, which has 60 million people, have been ordered to stay at home, though they will be allowed to leave in an emergency.
In addition, a single person from each household will be allowed to leave the building or compound they live in every three days to buy food and essential items.
On housing estates, one entrance will be kept open. It will be guarded to ensure that only residents can enter or leave.
All businesses will stay closed, except chemists, hotels, food shops and medical services.
“The effects of epidemic prevention and control in various parts of the country can already be seen.”
The proportion of infected patients considered to be in a “serious condition” has dropped nationwide from more than 15% to just over 7%, according to China’s State Council.
Taiwan has reported a death from the illness – a taxi driver, 61, who had not travelled abroad recently but had diabetes and hepatitis B, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.
The minister said many of his passengers had come from China.
Outside China, there have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 countries. Four others have died outside mainland China – in France, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying 175 evacuated Nepalis, mostly students, has arrived in Kathmandu from Wuhan.
BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) — A slew of preventive measures have been taken to contain the novel coronavirus as a growing number of Chinese people hit the road and return to work after the Spring Festival holiday, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said Thursday.
According to big data analysis, passenger flow is expected to pick up around this weekend, said Cai Tuanjie, an official with the MOT, at a press conference.
To contain virus infections during the trips, railways, airports and other public transportation operators have intensified disinfection, ventilation and sanitation of vehicles and stations, Cai said.
Passengers will go through body temperature screening at both entrances and exits of operating public transportation stations across the country. People found to have caught a fever above 37.3 degrees Celsius will be transferred to health departments.
Meanwhile, steps have been taken to make sure vehicles are not fully booked to allow a safe distance between passengers, Cai said, adding that temporary isolation areas had been set in the vehicles to avoid cross-infections in case of emergency during the journey.
(Reuters) – Asian companies dominate the market for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and they are expanding their production capacity in Europe, China and the United States in a fight to win lucrative contracts from global automakers.
Some carmakers worry, however, there won’t be enough batteries for all the EVs they plan to launch in the coming years and a bitter row between South Korea’s SK Innovation and LG Chem risks exacerbating the potential shortfall.
Below are details of the world’s leading EV battery makers with details of their customers and expansion plans:
CATL
China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s biggest EV battery maker, counts BMW (BMWG.DE), Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), Daimler (DAIGn.DE) – which makes Mercedes cars – Volvo, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Honda Motor Co (7267.T) among its customers.
The company emerged as a major force partly thanks to Beijing’s policy of only subsidising vehicles equipped with Chinese batteries in the world’s biggest EV market. Beijing is phasing out EV subsidies next year.
CATL, which operates factories in China, is building its first overseas plant in Germany and is considering a U.S. factory.
Japan’s Panasonic, a supplier of U.S. EV pioneer Tesla (TSLA.O), said it has installed equipment to ramp up production at Tesla’s Nevada plant to 35 GWh from its current production of around 30 GWh as of late October. Panasonic has said it is investing about $1.6 billion in the factory.
Panasonic also produces EV batteries in Japan, China and plans to shift some of its plants to a new joint venture with Toyota. Panasonic’s clients also include Honda and Ford Motor Company (F.N).
China’s BYD, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, is also one of the world’s biggest EV battery makers. It mainly uses them in-house for its own cars and buses. BYD said last year it is was considering cell production in Europe.
The South Korean firm was an early industry mover, winning a contract to supply General Motor’s (GM.N) Volt in 2008. It also supplies Ford, Renault (RENA.PA), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo.
It is investing 3.3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) to build and expand production facilities near Tesla’s plant in Shanghai. It has a joint venture (JV) in China with Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK), which makes Volvos, and is in talks with other carmakers about JVs in major markets.
The firm is considering building a second U.S. factory in addition to its facility in Michigan and is expanding its plant in Poland.
SAMSUNG SDI CO LTD (006400.KS) Samsung SDI an affiliate of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), has EV battery plants in South Korea, China and Hungary, which supply customers such as BMW (BMWG.DE), Volvo and Volkswagen. Samsung SDI is investing about 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to expand its factory in Hungary though the EU is investigating whether Budapest’s financial support complies with the bloc’s state aid rules.
Samsung started production last year on the Hungary plant, which will produce batteries for 50,000 EVs a year.
SK INNOVATION CO LTD (096770.KS) LG Chem’s cross-town rival SK Innovation supplies batteries to Volkswagen, Daimler and Kia Motors (000270.KS), as well as Jaguar Land Rover [TAMOJL.UL] and Ferrari (RACE.MI).
An oil refiner that came to the battery industry late, SKI is investing about $3.9 billion to build three plants in the United States, China and Hungary, with a goal of expanding its annual production capacity to 33 GWh by 2022.
SKI currently operates one battery factory in South Korea, with a capacity of 4.7 GWh annually.
It set up a joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) of China in August 2018 and another Chinese partner. It is in talks with Volkswagen about another battery JV and is building a $1.7 billion factory in the U.S. state of Georgia, not far from Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant.
Image copyright EPAImage caption China is getting dressed up for its big birthday party
One week from now, the People’s Republic of China will mark its 70th anniversary with celebrations on a scale not seen in China in decades.
Beijing is pulling out all stops and 1 October will be flush with fireworks, fanfare and a huge military parade.
To ensure it goes smoothly, authorities have been ramping up security in the capital – and online – for weeks.
But with yet more protests expected in Hong Kong, the territory might just rain on China’s parade.
What is it all about?
The birth of modern China was declared on 1 October 1949, after the communists under Mao Zedong won the civil war that followed World War Two.
Image copyright EPAImage caption Exhibitions are highlighting the achievements of the Communist Party
The date is marked every year, but celebrations for this 70th anniversary are expected to eclipse previous events.
It’s the first big anniversary since China has emerged as a global power. While 10 years ago China was a superpower in the making, it is now the world’s second largest economy, almost eye-to-eye with the United States.
What to expect?
The main celebrations will take place in the capital, Beijing, where there will be a grand military parade with “advanced weapons” on display, followed by a “mass pageant”.
President Xi Jinping – considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao – will address the Chinese people. His speech is expected to celebrate China’s rapid growth and which will be closely watched for any indication of the country’s direction in the coming years.
The president will also hand out honours for contributions to the country and in the evening there will be a grand gala and fireworks show.
All official Chinese celebrations are carefully choreographed and the success of this one is particularly important to the government.
The Dos and Don’ts
The parade – open to invited guests only – will take place around Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. The surrounding area will be practically under lockdown, and in fact has been so several times already.
During rehearsals leading up to the big day, hotels near Tiananmen Square told guests that for several hours each day, no-one would be able to leave the hotel or return to it should they be out, leading to much travel chaos and rebookings.
Many shops and restaurants in the centre are also closed or have shortened hours and some subway stations are temporarily shut.
Image copyright EPAImage caption Security is tight ensure the party goes to plan
Trains to Beijing are running numerous safety checks on their passengers and vehicles going into the city are also being tightly watched.
On the big day itself, areas around Tiananmen Square will be blocked and guarded. Local residents will need to identify themselves if they want to pass.
To ensure the sun will shine brightly on the celebration in notoriously polluted Beijing, several coal plants and construction sites in and around the city have been ordered to stop work for the duration.
There’s also a ban on any low-flying aerial vehicles in place. That means anything from light aircraft to drones, balloons and even racing pigeons.
Censorship galore
Across much of the city centre, there are national flags set up at every door. Voluntary inspectors are monitoring the streets and locals have told the BBC they’re being questioned after having even brief conversations with foreigners
One person said she was asked by an inspector: “Who were those foreigners? Why were they here?”
The tight control naturally extends online as well. Popular social media platform Weibo said it was deleting content that “distorts” or “insults” the country’s history ahead of the anniversary.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Every house and every shop is sporting a national flag
Chinese journalists are always expected to toe the party line anyway, but starting in October they will have to pass an extra test to prove they are versed particularly in Xi Jinping’s teachings, officially called Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, which has been written into the constitution.
Whether or not they pass the exam will then determine whether they’ll be accredited as journalists.
“The fundamental point with this ‘training’ and indoctrination process isn’t so much about the content,” David Bandurski of China Media Watch told the BBC.
“It is about reinforcing the message and understanding among journalists that they work, first and foremost, for the Chinese Communist Party, and serve its agenda.”
So not only will the events be choreographed – the domestic coverage of them will also be tightly guarded.
What about Hong Kong?
Despite Beijing’s determination to let its achievements shine on 1 October, there’s a good chance Hong Kong will pull focus.
Anti-Beijing protests always take place in Hong Kong on China’s National Day, but this time, the activists know that the world is watching.
Anti-government protests have rocked the city for months and the situation shows no sign of dying down.
Clashes between police and activists have been becoming increasingly violent, with police using tear gas and activists storming parliament.
Image copyright AFPImage caption The protests have often escalated into violent clashes
That means two things for 1 October: official celebrations in the territory are being toned down to avoid clashes – the annual fireworks display has been cancelled – while at the same time, activists are planning to step up their protests.
On Sunday 29 September, a “Global Anti Totalitarianism March” is scheduled to take place at various locations around the world in support of Hong Kong.
On 1 October itself, a march in central Hong Kong is planned with everyone asked to wear black.
If the past weeks’ demonstrations are anything to go by, the smiles and celebrations in Beijing will be competing for media space with pictures of tear gas and angry young protesters in Hong Kong.
BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Segway-Ninebot Group, a Beijing-based electric scooter maker, on Friday unveiled a scooter that can return itself to charging stations without a driver, a potential boon for the burgeoning scooter-sharing industry.
Ninebot said Uber and Lyft, the ride-hailing giants that are expanding into scooter-sharing, would be among the customers for the new semi-autonomous vehicles that are expected to hit roads early next year.
Gao Lufeng, Ninebot chairman and chief executive, told Reuters in an interview that AI-driven scooters, controlled remotely from the cloud, could radically improve the economics of scooter-sharing.
“The pain point for scooter operators is to better maintain the scooters at a lower cost,” he said. Currently, operators of scooter sharing fleets have to collect the machines manually for re-charging.
Formed by the 2015 combination of China’s Ninebot and U.S. transportation pioneer Segway, the company has quietly become the largest supplier for scooter-sharing companies such as Bird and Lime.
“I believe scooters will replace bicycles as the prime solution for micro-mobility,” Gao said. “It’s human nature to save energy when commuting.”
The scooter-sharing fad was triggered two years ago with the launch of Bird in California. Venture-capital investors have since poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the sector, and fleets of electric-powered scooters now operate in cities across the U.S. and Europe.
Segway-Ninebot Group has applied to list its shares on the China’s new Nasdaq-style board for homegrown tech firms, the STAR Market. The company sold 1.6 million scooters in 2018, according to a prospectus filed in April.
Lyft and Uber did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
The new scooters will be priced at close to 10,000 yuan ($1,420), more than the company’s traditional scooters, which it sells to scooter companies for $100-$300.
The new machines will start road testing next month and will be largely commercialized in the first quarter of 2020.
The company also launched two self-driving delivery robots — one for outdoor delivery, the other for indoor services.
Ninebot said the unmanned delivery robots will initially serve the food delivery industry in China.
The company is in talks with food delivery operators, including Meituan Dianping and Alibaba Group’s Ele.me, to begin service by the first half of next year.
One Sleeper Coach passenger bus travelling from Lucknow to Delhi met with an accident on Yamuna Expressway. It fell into the side fall about 15 feet deep.
20 passengers rescued so far. Efforts are on for the rest.
About 900 people have been killed on the road since it opened in 2012, according to authorities.
Road accidents in India are usually blamed on badly maintained vehicles, poor driving and the state of the roads.
Correspondents say buses in rural India are often old and rickety. Many also do not follow or enforce basic safety measures – it’s not uncommon to see people crowding into buses or even travelling on the roof if they cannot find a seat inside.
HAIKOU, March 13 (Xinhua) — China’s southernmost island province of Hainan requires all new vehicles for official business to use clean energy from 2019.
The provincial government offices administration said Wednesday that all government vehicles in Hainan, except cars providing special services, are scheduled to use clean energy by 2028.
The administration said 10 percent official cars in the province would use clean energy by 2020. The proportion will reach 70 percent by 2025.
Qiu Yu, deputy director of the administration, said Hainan had carried out more stringent policies to promote the use of clean energy in government vehicles, which included all-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.
The local finance department has budgeted for clean energy government vehicles purchase and relevant facilities. The government offices administration will be in charge of the construction and installation of charging facilities in government agencies’ parking areas.
Hainan has previously announced the ban of oil-fueled automobile sales throughout the province by 2030.
The province had 37,100 clean energy vehicles by the end of 2018, accounting for about 2.9 percent of the province’s total, among which 22,800 were NEVs. More than 4,500 charging facilities for electric cars have been built.
China has been repeatedly blocking India and several other countries’ efforts to bring about a global ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar in the UN’s anti-terror 1267 committee.
WORLDUpdated: Feb 22, 2019 16:35 IST
Press Trust of India
Beijing
Lethpora: Security agencies inspect the site of suicide bomb attack at Lethpora area, in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed yesterday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. (PTI Photo/S Irfan)(PTI2_15_2019_000037B)(AP)
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Friday sought to downplay the scathing statement issued by the powerful organ of the world body naming Jaish-e-Muhammad in the Pulwama terror attack, saying the mention of the Pakistan-based outfit was only in “general terms” and “does not represent a judgement”.
Forty Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in a suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14, sparking outrage in the country.
The powerful UN Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday strongly condemned the “heinous and cowardly” terror attack.
“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, which left 40 Indian paramilitary forces dead and dozens wounded on February 14, 2019, for which Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility,” it said in a statement.
Asked about the statement highlighting the role of JeM claiming the responsibility of the Pulwama attack, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that Beijing was closely following the developments related to the terror incident.
“Yesterday, the UN Security Council issued a press statement that mentioned that a particular organisation but only in general terms. It does not represent a judgment on the attack,” Geng said.
His remarks were seen as an attempt by China, without whose endorsement the UNSC statement could not have been released, aimed at placating its close ally Pakistan and play down the indictment of the JeM.
China has been repeatedly blocking India and several other countries’ efforts to bring about a global ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar in the UN’s anti-terror 1267 committee.
While China’s endorsement of the UNSC statement was reflection of wariness on the part of Beijing to repeatedly defend JeM in the UN body, which casts a shadow on its relations with India, observers say it is to be seen what stand Beijing would take when France moves its resolution seeking to list Azhar as a global terrorist in the UN.
France, also member of the permanent five of the UNSC, has officially announced that it would move a resolution soon in the 1267 committee seeking Azhar’s listing.
Since 2016, China has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by putting repeated technical holds.
In his response on Friday Geng said that “China also noted that the Pakistani government showed readiness to cooperate with India on the investigation and that it is also ready to resolve differences with India through dialogue”.
“China hopes all parties will work to find the truth about this attack. We hope Pakistan and India will engage in dialogue to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability,” he said.
The UN statement also underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these “reprehensible acts of terrorism” accountable and bring them to justice”.
The UN condemnation came a day after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi met top UN leaders including with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to brief them about the escalating tensions in the region in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 