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.
Chinese geologists think they have formula that could help to increase control of market in the elements hi-tech industries depend upon
Simple combination of clay mined for porcelain production, granite bedrock and acid rain could point to lucrative sources of rare earths
China has 80 per cent of the reserves of rare earth elements the world needs to keep talking on its smartphones, and geologists in Guangzhou think they know why. Photo: EPA
Geologists in southern China say they have isolated a series of critical factors that could make it easier to find rare earth elements used in hi-tech consumer goods such as smartphones.
China has more than 80 per cent of the world’s reserves of heavy rare earths such as terbium, dysprosium and holmium concentrated in a few provinces to the south of the country.
The reason for the concentration is one of the biggest puzzles in geology, but researchers at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry in Guangdong province say the answer may be found in a combination of clay deposits, acid rain and granite that is distinctive to southern China.
Professor He Hongping and his colleagues came to the conclusion by testing the interaction between rare earths and different types of clay. Through their research they found that kaolinite – or china clay – was the best at absorbing rare earths from water.
The clay, named after Gaoling village near Jingdezhen, a centuries-old ceramic production centre in east China’s Jiangxi province, is a raw material for porcelain production.
While kaolinite is found in many countries, those places do not have rare earth deposits – probably because of the lack of acid rain, He said.
“You need the right environment.”
He said that rocks that contained tiny amounts of rare earth elements weathered faster in an acid environment, but the acidity could not be too high or the rare earth might run off before it could be captured by the clay.
Why Beijing cut tax rate on rare earths amid trade war
Rainwater with the right natural acidity often occurred in areas around 20 degrees latitude, such as southern China, he said.
The last step was to locate the source rock. Granite formed in volcanic eruptions between 100 million and 200 million years ago is considered to be the main source of rare earths.
He said that part of the Pacific tectonic plate containing rare elements might have been forced under the Eurasian Plate and was pushed to the surface as magma that formed rocks.
Other countries could learn from the Chinese experience, said He, whose team submitted their findings to the research journalChemical Geology.
Recent discoveries in Vietnam, Australia and North Carolina in the United States conformed to the Guangzhou team’s theory, but there was still more research to do, he said.
“Rare earth deposits are quite unlike minerals such as copper. Sometimes they occur in this mountain but not in another nearby with almost the same geological features. Sometimes they occur in one half of the mountain but not in the other.”
With China and the US engaged in a trade war, and Beijing cutting taxes on mining companies looking for these elements, the pressure was on to unlock the secrets of China’s abundant rare earth deposits, he said.
Does China’s dominance in rare earths hold leverage in trade war?
Dr Huang Fan, associate researcher with the China Geological Survey, said the Guangzhou discovery would help geologists to find more rare earths.
Most rare earth mines were located along the borders between provinces such as Guangdong and Jiangxi, but recently there were discoveries on a plateau in Yunnan province, where few geologists believed rare earths could be found, he said.
“There are many more rare earth deposits out there waiting for us.”
International rules on seabed mining set for approval in 2020, with China most likely to lead the race, UN body says
Governments, research institutions and commercial entities have already signed contracts for the exploration phase to extract minerals from the seabed, with China holding the most. Photo: Shutterstock
China is in pole position for the global race to start deep sea mining operations to extract valuable minerals used in smartphones and electric car batteries from the seabed.
The head of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) said China was likely to become the first country in the world to start mining seabed minerals if the international rules for exploitation were approved next year.
The ISA has already signed 30 contracts with governments, research institutions and commercial entities for exploration phase, with China holding the most, five contracts.
The body, which was established to manage the seabed resources by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is aiming to adopt seabed mineral exploitation rules by July 2020.
As China leads the hunt for deep-sea minerals, environmental concerns surface
“I do believe that China could easily be among the first (to start exploitation),” said Michael Lodge, ISA general secretary, who visited China last week.
“The demand for minerals is enormous and increasing, there is no doubt about the market.”
There is also interest from European countries including Belgium, Britain, Germany and Poland, as well as from the Middle East.
The quest to exploit seabed minerals – such as polymetallic nodules containing nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese – is driven by demand for smartphones and electric car batteries, and the need to diversify supply.
However, no one has yet shown that deep sea mining can be cost effective and some non-governmental organisations have questioned whether it would be possible to reach a deal on exploitation rules next year.
“I think, it’s pretty good. I think the current draft is largely complete,” Lodge said, when asked about prospects of adopting the rules by next July.
One of the issues yet to be agreed is proportionate financial payments to the Jamaica-based ISA for subsea mineral exploitation outside national waters.
“We are looking at ad valorem royalty that would be based on the value of the ore at a point of extraction … The middle range is 4 per cent to 6 per cent ad valorem royalty, potentially increasing over time,” Lodge said.
New iPhone models to use recycled rare earths, Apple says
If the rules are approved, it could take about two to three years to obtain permits to start deep sea mining under the current draft, Lodge said.
Canadian Nautilus Minerals had tried to mine underwater mounds for copper and gold in the national waters off Papua New Guinea, but ran out of money and had to file for creditor protection earlier this year.
This has not deterred others, such as Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), a unit of Belgian group DEME, and Canada’s DeepGreen, to continue technology tests and research.
In July, Greenpeace called for an immediate moratorium on deep sea mining to learn more about its potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, but the ISA has rejected such a proposal.
Image copyright HONGXING NEWSImage caption A pet cafe in China’s Sichuan province lets people play with dogs dyed to look like pandas.
Animal cafes have been springing up all over the world for the last two decades as a place for animal lovers to enjoy a meal alongside their furry friends.
But a new “panda” cafe in Chengdu in south-western China – internationally known as the home of the giant panda – is raising eyebrows and a lot of concern.
According to the Chengdu Economic Daily, a cafe recently opened in Chengdu, seems at first glance to be home to six giant panda cubs.
But the “panda” cafe is – in fact – all bark and no bite because on closer inspection, it turns out they are actually the Chow Chow breed of dogs, which have been dyed to look like China’s national animal.
‘Could damage their fur and skin’
The owner of the cafe, Mr Huang, says that as well as serving food and drink, the cafe provides a dyeing service.
He tells Hongxing News that he imports his dye from Japan and has hired special staff for dyeing the dogs.
“Every time we dye it costs 1,500 yuan [$211; £163],” he says. “The dye is really expensive.” He says that this is to ensure the quality of the dye, and says that it in no way affects the animals.
Hongxing News says that a short video inside the cafe had raised awareness of it nationally and has boosted visitor figures.
But it has also raised a lot of concern. One vet, Li Daibing, told Hongxing News that he urged people not to dye their pets, saying: “This could damage their fur and skin.”
Image copyright VCGImage caption Chengdu has become a popular tourist site for seeing the vulnerable species, and national Chinese treasure: the giant panda.
‘Has become normal’
Dyeing pets became a full-blown craze in China in the early 2010s, first for competitions, but then amidst a domestic wave of “extreme dog pampering”.
Since, however, there has been a growing consciousness in China about animal ethics and testing. Many of the thousands of social media users commenting on the popular Sina Weibo microblog have voiced their concern about such treatments being used on animals.
Many call the idea “crazy” and note that hair dye can “damage people’s hair and scalp”, so could similarly affect a dog.
But others argue that “it’s really cute”, and say that they perceive animal dyeing “has become normal”.
‘Snow Dragons’ Xuelong and Xuelong II leave on China’s 36th Antarctic expedition
Mission to resource-rich continent carries great scientific and economic weight
A ceremony is held for the maiden voyage of China’s home-built polar icebreaker Xuelong II in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Photo: Xinhua
China has sent two icebreakers to the Antarctic in its most ambitious polar expedition to the Earth’s resource-rich southernmost continent yet.
The Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, left Shanghai on Tuesday morning with a crew of 107 and 1,450 tonnes of supplies on board. It is expected to meet another icebreaker, Xuelong II, at Zhongshan Station on Prydz Bay in East Antarctica in late November before the ships carry out separate missions in the region.
This will be the 36th official Antarctic expedition for China, and the first involving two research icebreakers. Xuelong II, the first Chinese-built vessel of its kind, was commissioned in July and left for its maiden Antarctic journey last week. The ships will be back in China by late spring next year.
The voyages have been hailed by state media as “the start of China’s new era of polar exploration”. Zhao Yanping, the captain of Xuelong II, was quoted by the Science Daily website as saying that experts believed the ships could significantly expand Chinese science missions in the polar regions.
China’s Xuelong icebreaker was bought from Ukraine in 1994. Photo: Handout
Xuelong II, with propellers at bow and stern, can make up to 15 knots (28km/h) in open water and three knots (5.6km/h) when breaking ice. Observers said it could pave the way for a nuclear-powered icebreaker.
Xuelong, the country’s first polar research vessel, bought from Ukraine in 1994, is to carry out surveys in the Amundsen and Ross seas.
A report by The Beijing News said that Xuelong’s crew would also visit Inexpressible Island in Terra Nova Bay on the Ross Sea to help in construction work on China’s fifth Antarctic scientific station, which is expected to be operational in 2022.
How Chinese access to Chilean port could give Antarctic exploration activities a boost
Since it joined the Antarctic Treaty in June 1983, China has steadily increased its stakes in a region that contains vast, untapped natural resources, including oil, gas and minerals.
Last year, China announced it would begin building its first permanent airfield on Antarctica – a 1,500 metre strip to be located on an ice cap about 28 kilometres from Zhongshan Station.
Meanwhile, Chinese businesses have taken an interest in the region. Food companies have been among the largest players in fishing krill – tiny, protein-rich shrimp-like creatures that are abundant in Antarctic waters. Tourists from China now account for 16 per cent of the total number of travellers to the world’s last great untouched wilderness, second to visitors from the United States, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
While Beijing said its engagement in the Antarctic would be “peaceful” and the focus of its expeditions was on protecting the environment, its growing presence there has raised concerns in the West, particularly among established explorers such as Australia and the US.
Australia said at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Hobart, Tasmania, this week, that despite opposition from China and Russia, it would push for the creation of marine reserves off East Antarctica.
China’s new icebreaker Snow Dragon II ready for Antarctica voyage later this year
China and Australia have also been at odds over Beijing’s proposal to establish a code of conduct for the region around Dome A on the Antarctic Plateau, an area on the top of the ice sheet ideal for space and satellite observation. Canberra rejected the proposal, saying that Dome A is inside its territory.
Together the two countries are home to more than 80% of the world’s unicorns.
It comes as Washington and Beijing fight a trade war and jostle to become the world’s technology leader.
“China and the US dominate… despite representing only half of the world’s GDP and a quarter of the world’s population,” said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.
Chinese payments company Ant Financial tops the list with a valuation of $150bn.
Founded in 2014, Ant Financial’s main business is online payment platform Alipay, which was spun out of e-commerce giant Alibaba.
China’s Bytedance ranks second, with a valuation of $75bn. The fast-growing technology firm owns popular video-sharing platform TikTok.
Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing rounds out the top three, valued at $55bn.
High-profile US companies including home-rental site Airbnb, office space firm WeWork and electronic cigarette maker Juul also feature in the top 10.
Technology tensions
The report comes at a time of tense relations between the world’s two largest economies.
The US and China have been embroiled in a trade battle for the past year. Their power struggle has also played out in the technology sector, with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei becoming a central part of their dispute.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India and Pakistan are set to sign an agreement on Indian pilgrims visiting a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbours at a time of tension that has brought exchanges of fire on their disputed border.
The pact will introduce visa-free access from India to the Pakistani town of Kartarpur, home to a temple that marks the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, died.
India’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Monday an understanding had been reached on most issues and India was prepared to sign the agreement on Wednesday.
Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment but Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper cited a foreign ministry spokesman as saying agreement had been reached and the two sides would sign the pact soon.
The Sikh minority in India has long sought easier access to the temple in Kartarpur, which is just over the border in Muslim-majority Pakistan.
The collaboration comes at a time of tension between the rivals, with Pakistan particularly aggrieved over recent Indian government measures in its part of the divided Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Both countries claim the Himalayan region in full but rule it in part.
India in August revoked special autonomy in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which was accompanied by a crackdown on dissent by India’s security forces there, angering Pakistan.
The dispute over Kashmir has bedevilled relations since their independence in 1947 and sparked two of their three wars.
India said on Sunday two soldiers and a civilian were killed in cross-border shelling in Kashmir while Pakistan said one of its soldiers and three civilians had been killed.
In February, they came close to war following a suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir that killed 40 paramilitary soldiers. In response, India launched an air strike on the Pakistani side and Pakistan shot down an Indian aircraft.
The new crossing will be inaugurated in early November, just before the 550th birthday of Sikhism’s founder on Nov. 12, officials from both sides have said.
The shrine is about 4 km (2-1/2 miles) from the border. The crossing and corridor, including a road, bridge over the Ravi River and immigration office, will replace a drawn-out visa process and circuitous journey through Pakistan.
But there is still disagreement over a $20 fee that Pakistan wants to charge each visitor.
India “has consistently urged Pakistan that in deference to the wishes of the pilgrims, it should not levy such a fee”, India’s foreign ministry said.
Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attends the opening ceremony of the sixth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Oct. 20, 2019. Before delivering his speech, Huang read Chinese President Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter to the conference. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)
WUZHEN, Zhejiang Province, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) — The sixth World Internet Conference opened Sunday in the river town of Wuzhen in east China’s Zhejiang Province.
With the theme of “Intelligent Interconnection for Openness and Cooperation — Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace,” the three-day conference will bring together more than 1,500 participants from over 80 countries and regions, including members of the Internet Hall of Fame, Nobel Prize winners and Turing Award winners.
Executives from major tech companies from home and abroad such as Microsoft, Qualcomm, Alibaba Group and Huawei will share their insight on the future development of the internet at 20 sub-forums, covering popular and cutting-edge topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and industrial digitization.
Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the conference.
Fifty years after the birth of the internet, efforts should be made to seize new opportunities and address risks and challenges to build cyberspace into a shared community that benefits all humanity, Huang said.
The senior official also called for enhanced efforts to develop the digital economy, unleash the digital dividend, and protect the security and order of cyberspace.
During the conference, reports on China and world internet development will be released to forecast the future trend of internet development.
The reports will review global internet development over the past five decades and the history of Chinese internet during the last 25 years.
Around 15 top scientific and technological projects in the internet sector will also be unveiled, covering AI, 5G, big data, cloud computing, digital manufacturing, industrial internet and other internet-related fields.
The number of internet users in China hit 854 million in June 2019, with the internet availability rate reaching 61.2 percent, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.
Vice-ministerial meeting was last held in 2014 as Seoul agreed to the deployment of a US anti-missile system
China and South Korea are expected to resume their vice-ministerial strategic defence dialogue after a five-year break. Photo: Reuters
China and South Korea are set to hold high-level defence talks on Monday for the first time since 2014, when tensions emerged over Seoul’s plans to allow deployment of a US anti-missile system.
Lieutenant General Shao Yuanming, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, is expected to meet South Korean defence vice-minister Park Jae-min in Beijing, according to Yonhap News Agency.
They will talk on the sidelines at the Xiangshan Forum, a three-day gathering on Asia-Pacific security and defence which started on Sunday.
The defence ministry in Seoul said the officials were expected to “have in-depth discussions on the Korean peninsula security conditions and issues of mutual concern”, Yonhap reported.
Lieutenant General Shao Yuenming is expected to resume China’s part in a high-level defence dialogue with South Korea. Photo: Minnie Chan
Relations between China and South Korea were strained by Seoul’s decision to host American Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD) but ties have warmed as both countries have pushed back against pressure from the US.
Washington and Seoul are at odds over a cost-sharing agreement for the US military, with US President Donald Trump demanding South Korea contribute more for the presence of US forces.
Hwang Jae-ho, director of the Global Security Cooperation Centre at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, said the meetings, formally known as the China-South Korea vice-ministerial strategic defence dialogue, resumed mainly because the countries now had more mutual interests.
Seoul fears US is delaying envoy’s approval in retaliation for scrapping of security pact, sources say
“Now China has to make more friends in the international community as its ties with the United States have gone bad, and South Korea is looking for China to help rein in Pyongyang. At a time like this, it’s inevitable for the two countries to want to move closer,” Hwang said.
The deployment of THAAD, a proposed military hotline, and South Korea’s air defence identification zone are expected to be high on the agenda.
First held in 2011, the defence dialogue was hosted alternately by Seoul and Beijing. It was suspended in 2015 when South Korea, then under president Park Geun-hye, said it was considering THAAD as a deterrent against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Beijing disapproved and said China was the real target. Each country then placed unofficial economic and cultural bans on the other. These included Chinese sanctions against South Korea’s Lotte supermarket chain and a ban on TV airtime for South Korean bands.
Tensions began to slowly ease after November 2017, when the two countries said they had decided to set aside their differences and advance their strategic partnership. Seoul also promised not to host additional THAAD missiles nor join a US-led missile defence system that involved Japan.
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption The Giant salamander is ironically referred to as a “baby fish” in China
What do you get when you cross a baby with a fish?
It’s not the start of a dad joke, but one of a series of pictures drawn by Shanghai-based illustrator Frankie Huang.
Chinese is already one of the most pictorial languages in the world, but she’s taking it to the next level – by literally turning words into pictures. Her series, Putong Animals, re-imagines animals according to what they’re called in Mandarin Chinese – or Putonghua – the official language of China.
In Mandarin a zebra, for example, is literally a “patterned horse”. The dolphin has unflatteringly been turned into a “sea pig”.
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption The Zebra is referred to literally as a “patterned horse” in Mandarin
Frankie says she came up with the idea for the series after seeing people on Twitter discussing how some animals had “really funny names when you translate them literally”.
“I realised no-one had done a series of this and I thought to myself ‘I suppose it’s time then’,” she told the BBC. “I wanted to create something that was not just pretty but also interesting.”
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption Turkeys are “fire chickens” in Mandarin
“The turkey – or fire chicken – was the first one I drew. It was just a bunch of chickens on fire and a guy in a hazmat suit feeding them,” she said. “You can see that my technique actually developed as I got more into it.”
Frankie was born in the Chinese capital, Beijing, but grew up in the US, exposing her to both English and Mandarin from a young age.
“I’m both an outsider and insider [to the Chinese language] because of my upbringing, I think sometimes you need to be an outsider in order to really appreciate something,” said the illustrator.
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption The celestial lobster is known as a “dragon prawn”
Another one of Frankie’s favourite illustrations is the “dragon prawn” – or lobster.
“I wanted to make it look really majestic and godlike,” said Frankie. “Someone commented that it’s a celestial crustacean, I thought that was such a nice name for it.”
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption While the dolphin is given the less than graceful name of “sea pig”
It takes Frankie around three hours to produce one illustration, from conceptualisation to sketching it out and eventually colouring it in.
She has for now completed her series on Putong Animals, but she is looking into turning the animals into characters of their own.
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption Kangaroos are known as “pocket mice”, though they are far from tiny
“Even as far back as ancient Greece with Aesop’s fables, people were telling stories through animals,” she said.
“I actually started to write a story about the lives of the fire chicken. They’re on a planet where people use them in their lives, [like] putting them under their beds during winter to keep them warm. I want to eventually give them more personality.”
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption The tiny gecko on the other hand, has earned the imposing name of “Wall Tiger”
But it’s not just animals that she illustrates – she’s also delved into Chinese phrases.
This picture showing a cat in a pipe is meant to illustrate the Chinese phrase “xi mao”, which literally translated, means to “inhale cat”.
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption If someone is addicted to cats, they are “inhaling cat”
It’s a phrase that’s spread across young people in China, to describe someone who is a cat addict.
Another one she’s done shows stuffing spilling out of a dumpling – a literal translation of the Chinese phrase “lou xian”, or “for stuffing to leak out”. The phrase refers to a situation where truth is revealed.
“If you look closer, you’ll actually see some tentacles coming out of the dumpling, because I drew it after I watched Stranger Things 3,” Frankie laughingly admits.
Image copyright FRANKIE HUANGImage caption And the stuffing is out on this one
But she’s of course not the first person to have put a clever play on Chinese words – and sometimes others have done so for more political reasons.
Social media in China is heavily censored, and it’s not uncommon for social media companies in China to remove “sensitive” content. This was one of the obstacles that #MeToo – the movement that encouraged people to openly talk about their experiences of sexual harassment – faced in China.
The phrase #MeToo was heavily censored but to get around this, many instead began posting the Chinese words “rice bunny”, which is pronounced “mi tu” in Mandarin.
“One of the things that made me look more closer into pulling together and dissecting the Chinese language was the [phrase] mi tu,” said Frankie.
“The censorship forces [Chinese people] to constantly stay ahead of the government so they come up with these wonderful creations, sort of like how diamonds are created under enormous pressure. All these gems of wit are found on the Chinese internet.”
This is part of what Frankie hopes her illustrations will do – help people to recognise “humour and wit of the Chinese culture”.
“I want to hopefully reach more people to help them be interested in the Chinese language and culture,” she said.
“In this day and age, China is in the press constantly. [I want to show] there’s so much more to China than just the politics.
“I want to be independent of all these things and show people that you can love and enjoy the culture without all the politics. The politics are new, but this [language] is not.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with delegates to the first Party congress of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Joint Logistic Support Force in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, Oct. 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
WUHAN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with delegates to the first Party congress of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Joint Logistic Support Force and senior officers stationed in central China’s Hubei Province, respectively.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended congratulations on the convening of the congress and sincere greetings to all the delegates and service personnel in the joint logistic support force.
The congress opened Wednesday in Wuhan, during which the delegates discussed the development of the joint logistic support force since its establishment and the plan for the next five years.
When meeting with senior officers stationed in Hubei, Xi extended sincere greetings to all officers and soldiers of the armed forces stationed in the province.
Xi encouraged them to faithfully perform their duties, forge ahead with determination, push for new progress in all work, and contribute to the realization of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and the dream of a strong military.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 