17/08/2019

‘Risks still too big’ for China to send in troops to quell Hong Kong unrest

  • Chinese government advisers say Beijing has not reached direct intervention point but that could change if the violence continues
  • Military action would trigger international backlash, observers say, as US expresses concern over reported paramilitary movements and ‘erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy’
Footage of trucks from the paramilitary People’s Armed Police in Shenzhen has circulated online. Photo: Handout
Footage of trucks from the paramilitary People’s Armed Police in Shenzhen has circulated online. Photo: Handout
The unrest in Hong Kong does not yet warrant direct intervention by Beijing despite hardening public sentiment and calls for tougher action in mainland China, according to Chinese government advisers.
Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University and an adviser to the State Council – China’s cabinet – said China would risk damaging its ties with the United States and other major foreign powers, upsetting its own development and losing Hong Kong’s special status if it took the matter directly into its hands.
“I don’t think we need to use troops. Hong Kong police will gradually escalate their action and they haven’t exhausted their means,” Shi said, expressing a view shared by other mainland government advisers and academics.
But he warned that if the violence and chaos continued, it “won’t be too far away from reaching that point”.

A US State Department spokeswoman said the United States was “deeply concerned” about reports of paramilitary movements along the Hong Kong border and reiterated a US call for all sides to refrain from violence.

She said it was important for the Hong Kong government to respect “freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly” and for Beijing to adhere to its commitments to allow a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.

She said the protests reflected “broad and legitimate concerns about the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy”.

“The continued erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy puts at risk its long-established special status in international affairs,” she said.

It comes after massive anti-government protests at Hong Kong International Airport

brought the city’s air traffic to a halt and triggered a huge backlash on the mainland
, where the public feel they have been wrongly targeted by the increasingly violent protesters. Many demanded the central government take action to end the chaos.
The tension deepened after US President Donald Trump, citing intelligence sources,

tweeted that the Chinese government was moving troops

to the border with Hong Kong. Trump described the situation in the city as “tricky” and called on all sides to remain “calm and safe”.

Footage of trucks from the paramilitary People’s Armed Police rolling into Shenzhen began circulating online on Saturday.
Beijing ‘unlikely to intervene’ in Hong Kong as pressure mounts on police

But Shi and others said direct intervention would be too costly to China and would only be used when all other methods had been exhausted.

“As the trade war with the US goes on, Hong Kong’s importance to our financial system is getting bigger,” Shi said. “If Beijing intervenes with too much assertiveness, the US might revoke the preferential status of Hong Kong.”

He was referring to the US’ 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act which gives the city a special status. In June, American lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill requiring the US government to examine Hong Kong’s autonomy annually to decide whether to extend the arrangement.

Losing that status could cripple the operations of many businesses based in Hong Kong, said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international affairs expert.

A satellite image appears to show a close-up of Chinese military vehicles at Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in Shenzhen. Photo: Maxar Technologies
A satellite image appears to show a close-up of Chinese military vehicles at Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in Shenzhen. Photo: Maxar Technologies

Wang Yong, another specialist on international political economy with Peking University, agreed.

“There would be a lot of opposition from interest groups in the US. Hong Kong is the bridgehead for many multinational corporations and investors from Wall Street to get into the Chinese market,” said Wang, who also teaches at an academy affiliated with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Hong Kong and the Chinese government will need to handle this with extra care, so as not to give any ammunition to hawks in the United States.

“If Hong Kong is not handled properly, it could add tensions to the bilateral ties and ruin any prospect of a trade deal.”

China rejects requests for US warships to visit Hong Kong amid protests Pang Zhongying, an international relations specialist at Ocean University of China in Qingdao, said direct intervention could also damage China’s ties with other countries.

“The whole world is watching. Beijing has exercised restraint for two months and still hasn’t taken any clear action because this is not an easy choice,” said Pang, who is also a member of the Beijing-based Pangoal Institution, a think tank that advises several ministerial offices.

While some observers said Beijing was under political pressure to end the protests in Hong Kong before October 1 – the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, Shi said the central government would not lose patience so easily.

“National Day [on October 1] is an important time, but the Chinese government is not naive to believe there has to be peace under all heaven then,” he said.

“It’s only a bit more than a month from now, we can almost say for sure the trade war will still be on by then and a major turning point in Hong Kong is not likely to happen. But the celebration must go on.”

Source: SCMP

16/08/2019

China releases overall plan on new western sea-land transportation channel

CHINA-NEW WESTERN SEA-LAND TRANSPORTATION CHANNEL-PLAN (CN)

Photo taken on April 20, 2017 shows Chengdu railway container center station in the Qingbaijiang railway port of China (Sichuan) pilot free trade zone in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. China has released an overall plan about the country’s new western sea-land transportation channel to deepen the sea-land two-way opening-up and the development of western China, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The plan covers the period from 2019 to 2025 with an outlook extended to 2035. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)

BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — China has released an overall plan about the country’s new western sea-land transportation channel to deepen the sea-land two-way opening-up and the development of western China, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The plan covers the period from 2019 to 2025 with an outlook extended to 2035.

The new western sea-land transportation channel is located in the hinterlands of the western regions, connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt from the north, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road from the south and the Yangtze River economic belt.

According to the plan, the new western sea-land transportation channel is strategically positioned to support the country’s western regions in participating in international economic cooperation and promote the deep integration of transportation, logistics and the economy.

Source: Xinhua

16/08/2019

China-Arab States tourism fair to be held in NW China

YINCHUAN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — The China-Arab States Tour Operators Conference 2019 will be held from Sept. 4 to 7 in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, local authorities said Thursday.

According to the region’s department of culture and tourism, the four-day event will include a series of activities such as tourism resources promotion, tourism cooperation and exchange between China and Arab countries, and investment project negotiation.

Tourism officials from Indonesia, Morocco and Chad, as well as some 120 traders from China and 15 countries along the Belt and Road including Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Egypt, will participate.

Tourism resources and products such as the starry sky, the Great Wall, intangible cultural heritage and wine in Ningxia will be presented in the form of a stage drama at the fair.

Foreign participants will also introduce their tourism resources to further integrate Ningxia into regional tourism along the Belt and Road.

Traditional handicrafts such as papercutting, embroidery, wood carving and clay sculptures will be displayed to propel the development of the cultural tourism industry in the region, according to Zhao Mingxia, deputy director of the culture and tourism department.

Source: Xinhua

16/08/2019

Foreign ministers of China, Japan, South Korea to hold talks amid trade, history tensions

SEOUL (Reuters) – Top diplomats of South Korea and Japan plan to meet their Chinese counterpart in Beijing next week amid a flare-up in tension over trade and history, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

Foreign ministers Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea, Taro Kono of Japan and Wang Yi of China will meet from Tuesday to Thursday, the ministry said. The last such gathering was three years ago.

Kang and Kono are also expected to meet separately on the sidelines of the event, for the first time since South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday urged dialogue to mend ties. The ministry said the two-way talks had not yet been finalised.

Ties between the neighbors are arguably at their lowest ebb since their relationship was normalized in 1965, hit by a heated feud over the issue South Korean forced labor during World War Two which spilled over into a bitter tit-for-tat trade row.

In a speech marking Korea’s independence from Japan’s 1910-45 rule, Moon toned down his recent stringent rhetoric regarding Japan, saying Seoul would “gladly join hands” if Tokyo chose dialogue and cooperation.

At the meeting, the ministers are also expected to prepare for a summit planned later this year.

From 2008, the three countries had agreed to hold a summit every year to foster regional cooperation. But bilateral tension, including that between China and Japan, has often intervened.

“We expect the meeting will help reinforce the institutionalization and substantiate the foundation of the three-way cooperative scheme,” the ministry said in a statement.

Relations between South Korea and Japan worsened sharply after the South’s Supreme Court last year ordered Japanese companies to compensate some wartime forced laborers. Tokyo says the matter was settled by the 1965 treaty normalizing ties.

The talks come at a sensitive time ahead of the Aug. 28 date when Japan’s decision to end South Korea’s fast-track trade status takes effect, a move that prompted South Korea to follow suit.

As a countermeasure, Seoul has also warned it could consider scrapping an intelligence-sharing pact usually automatically renewed on Aug. 24 every year.

The accord, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), eases three-way intelligence gathering with Washington which is pivotal in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

In a separate statement, the South Korean foreign ministry expressed concern over Kono’s reported remarks that Moon should “exert his leadership” to resolve the dispute, saying they were unhelpful for stable management of two-way ties.

Source: Reuters
16/08/2019

China’s Ninebot unveils scooters that drive themselves to charging stations

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.

Source: Reuters

15/08/2019

Cameroon official hails higher education cooperation with China

YAOUNDE, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — Wilfred Gabsa Nyongbet, Secretary General of Cameroon’s Ministry of Higher Education, on Wednesday hailed as “excellent” the cooperation with China in higher education.

Nyongbet made the remarks during a ceremony to bid farewell to 128 Cameroonian students who will study in China with scholarships. “This is a true demonstration of the excellent bilateral friendship between our two countries,” he said.

“They are going to learn the type of technology that we need for the emergence of Cameroon… We are willing to continue the collaboration in the higher education sector,” Nyongbet added.

Among the 128 students, 45 benefit from the Chinese government scholarship, 83 from the Confucius Institute scholarship.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese ambassador Wang Yingwu said the number of Chinese scholarships awarded to Cameroon students in 2019 hit a record high since 2006. “China is ready to work with Cameroon to enhance cooperation in education to a higher level,” he said.

“China is advanced in technological sectors, and there is a transfer of know-how in its cooperation with Cameroon. The scholarship is an opportunity for me to study in China, and apply what I have learned back home,” a scholarship winner Francis Yonkeu Nya told Xinhua.

More than 3,000 Cameroonian students are now studying in China, among them about 300 are beneficiaries of Chinese government scholarship, according to the Chinese embassy to Cameroon.

Source: Xinhua

15/08/2019

Pakistan observes ‘Black Day’ for Kashmir as India celebrates independence

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan observed a ‘Black Day’ on Thursday to coincide with India’s Independence Day celebrations, in protest at New Delhi’s decision to revoke special status for its portion of the contested Kashmir region.

India’s decision this month, along with a communications blackout and curbs on the movement of those in Indian-administered Kashmir, caused fury in Pakistan, which cut trade and transport links and expelled India’s envoy in retaliation.

Newspapers in Pakistan printed editions with black borders on Thursday and politicians, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, replaced their social media pictures with black squares.

Protests are due to be held across the country, including Azad Kashmir, the wedge of territory in the west of the region that Pakistan controls.

The largely symbolic move comes amid growing frustration in Islamabad at the lack of international response over the Kashmir dispute.

Pakistan was isolated diplomatically and faced “a world in denial” over the situation in Kashmir, Dawn, the country’s most influential English language newspaper, said in an editorial.

The 15-member United Nations Security Council could discuss the dispute as soon as Thursday, but Pakistan says it only has guaranteed support from China, which also claims part of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state.

Permanent security council member Russia said on Wednesday it supported India’s stance that the dispute should be resolved through bilateral means, while the United States has called India’s decision an internal matter for New Delhi.

In his Independence Day speech in the Indian capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the decision to remove the special rights of the Muslim-majority region among the bold moves of his second term, following an election victory in May.

“Today every Indian can proudly say ‘One Nation, One Constitution’,” Modi, speaking from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort, said of the decision.

Source: Reuters

14/08/2019

Hong Kong airport resumes operation after protest-forced halt

HONG KONG, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — The Hong Kong International Airport started to resume operation on Wednesday after chaos and flight cancellations caused by protesters.

Passengers are now able to conduct check-in procedures after tickets or purchase vouchers are checked by airport staff. A demonstration area has been marked out at the arrival hall.

Airport Authority Hong Kong said earlier Wednesday that it has obtained an interim injunction to restrain persons from unlawfully and willfully obstructing or interfering with the proper use of the airport.

The authority emphasized that persons are also restrained from attending or participating in any demonstration or protest or public order event in the airport other than in the area designated by the airport authority.

The interim injunction expressly provides that nothing in the interim injunction shall be construed as authorizing any demonstration, protest or public order event contrary to the Public Order Ordinance.

Many of the passengers, who have their flights delayed or changed, are still waiting at the airport for confirmation of their departure time.

“It was totally chaos last night and those people in black were everywhere. We were very scared,” said Maria, a passenger from the Philippines. “I just hope we can fly on time today.”

“I’m very angry. Some of the protesters said they were sorry but I think they were just having fun here, obstructing us,” said Pia from Germany. “I can’t believe this could be happening in the 21st century.”

“I only wish I can leave Hong Kong safely and go back home,” she said.

As one of the busiest in the world, the Hong Kong International Airport handled an average of 200,000 travelers each day in 2018.

Frank Chan, secretary for transport and housing of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said paralyzing the airport will make Hong Kong “pay a heavy price.”

“Amid fierce regional competition, it is very easy to destroy years of achievements the airport has accomplished, but rebuilding them will be very hard,” Chan said.

Source: Xinhua

14/08/2019

China-proposed BRI designed with economic development, capacity building in mind, benefiting others, say experts

MALAYSIA-KUALA LUMPUR-BRI-NEW INCLUSIVE ASIA DIALOGUE

Participants pose for photos at the New Inclusive Asia Dialogue in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug. 14, 2019. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was formulated with economic development agenda through increased connectivity, infrastructure and capacity building, according to academics and experts at the New Inclusive Asia Dialogue here on Wednesday. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was formulated with economic development agenda through increased connectivity, infrastructure and capacity building, according to academics and experts at a conference here on Wednesday.

Speaking at the New Inclusive Asia Dialogue, multiple experts said BRI, as a flexible economic oriented initiative, stood in contrast with attempts by certain country to piece together its own trade network, which was described as being focused on political agendas.

Dr S Mahmud Ali, an associate fellow with the University of Malaya’s Institute of China Studies, said countries like Malaysia, which aspired to reach developed nation status, had recognized the real gains to be had from participation in BRI.

Mahmud said once several on-going BRI related projects were completed in the country, the country’s economic capacity would be greatly boosted.

Malaysia does play a significant role and substantial amounts of Chinese investments funding projects will boost Malaysia’s productivity, total production capacity, its ability to export and produce good that will rise quite dramatically once these projects are completed, he said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, which aims at building trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Chairman of the Committee of International Information of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Kazakhstan Timur Shaimergenov said that the flexible, economically focused BRI had gained strong support due to the inclusive approach taken by China.

“The Belt and Road Initiative is a flexible economic oriented project. It does not come with political pressure but instead it is about giving participating countries the opportunity to take advantage of economic opportunities.”

Criticism against BRI has taken on a political dimension and they are completely ignoring that while BRI started as a Chinese initiative, it has really become a Eurasian initiative,” he said.

Olga Kuznetsova, a professor with the Moscow Lomonosov State University said infrastructure development had the potential to benefit countries along BRI route, calling on countries to formulate clear plans to take advantage of the economic spillover.

“Russia is interested in the development of Eurasian transport corridors and invests in the implementation of projects to create them,” she said.

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian said China had made it clear that it would continue to be a supporter of fair and equitable international trade and globalization, especially in the backdrop of unilateral protectionism.

“We look forward to joining hands with Asian countries to promote trade and investment facilitation, to accelerate the process of regional free trade zone, and to deepen regional and sub-regional cooperation,” he said.

Hosted by the Center for New Inclusive Asia, a Malaysian based think tank, the two-day dialogue aims to foster better understanding of connectivity as a means to promote inclusive growth in Asia, bringing together prominent scholars, senior government officials and corporate leaders from some 10 countries and regions.

Source: Xinhua

14/08/2019

How China could use bio-waste to mass-produce cheap super-fuel for missiles

  • Scientists’ large-scale conversion of agricultural waste into fuel offers savings up to 60 per cent, they say
  • Discovery could slash military costs and bring civilian applications of hypersonic flight technology closer
Super-fuel for military aircraft costs nearly 10 times as much as ordinary jet fuel for commercial planes. Photo: Shutterstock
Super-fuel for military aircraft costs nearly 10 times as much as ordinary jet fuel for commercial planes. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese scientists say they have developed a technology to convert bio-waste into fuel for missiles and hypersonic planes, reducing fuel costs by as much as 60 per cent.
The existing JP-10 super-fuel for military aircraft has numerous advantages including high energy density, good thermal stability and low freezing point, but it costs more than US$7,000 per tonne – nearly 10 times as much as ordinary jet fuel for commercial aircraft.
It is used mainly in cruise missiles and ramjet or scramjet engines on new-generation aircraft travelling at hypersonic speed, or five times faster than sound.
Scientists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the northeastern province of Liaoning, predicted using the new technology in the near future could reduce the cost to as low as US$2,547 per tonne.
The secret, according to their paper, published in the latest issue of German chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, lies in cheap bio-waste.
Using agricultural and forestry residues including bran, chaff and mill dust, Professor Zhang Tao, Li Ning and colleagues discovered new chemical processes that can turn the waste to JP-10 fuel on a large scale with unprecedented efficiency.

At present, the super-fuel comes from coal tar or naphtha, and the synthesis is extremely costly and unfriendly to the environment.

The bio-JP-10 fuel can be produced by two different methods, one involving six steps of chemical reactions and the other only four, according to the paper.

China’s plan to make jet fuel from restaurant leftovers

Combining these methods with the latest technology in biomass conversion, the researchers said, the super-fuel can be mass-produced at a price equivalent to that of some of the bio-jet fuels already in commercial use, thanks to government subsidies provided for their environmental benefits.

“We believe that the future commercialisation of bio-JP-10 fuel is very promising, especially taking policy support and exemption from CO2 emission tax into consideration,” the authors wrote in the paper.

Liu Huoxing, professor at the school of energy and power engineering at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said civilian applications of hypersonic flight technology faced many challenges that remained to be solved, with the problem of high fuel prices being one of the headaches.

“No airline will buy a plane if the fuel costs too much, however fast it can fly,” he said.

Liu, who conducts research on engine technology for hypersonic vehicles but was not involved in the Dalian study, said the reduction of production costs for jet fuel was usually incremental and it was quite rare to see a significant drop.
“This can be an important development,” he said of the Dalian findings.
China is developing various models of hypersonic speed aircraft for military and civilian use. Some are aimed at flying distances such as Shanghai to Los Angeles in a couple of hours.

Source: SCMP

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