In this file photo taken on December 1, 2020 SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk poses as he arrives for an awards ceremony in Berlin. Musk, a strong clean energy supporter, said in a post on Weibo two months earlier that “sustainable energy generation from sun and wind is making great progress”. Photo: AFP South China Morning Post
Month: May 2022
Shanghai lockdown: China’s financial hub set to lift Covid curbs
Manufacturers in Shanghai, including western car makers Volkswagen and Tesla, have been particularly impacted by the restrictions as staff were kept away from factories or had to work in so-called “closed loop” conditions, where they lived at the plants. BBC
Global Brands Seek Clarity on Xinjiang
Ms. Apter said that while no Eileen Fisher garments were being made in Xinjiang and that it wasn’t getting fabric or yarn from the region, the company didn’t know whether any of the cotton fiber it was using could be traced to Xinjiang. “Two years of pandemic and a deteriorating political situation made it impossible to fully vet what is happening on the ground,” Ms. Apter said. The Latest on China: Key Things to Know Card 1 of 4 Discontent among the population. The Chinese government’s censorship and surveillance, which…
‘China in mind’: Japan mulls beefing up military as Ukraine war rings alarm
Weeks after he became Japan’s prime minister last year, Fumio Kishida pulled on a dark green bomber jacket, the hinomaru flag emblazoned on his sleeve, and climbed into a tank. Official photos show him displaying an awkward smile for his audience at Camp Asaka – the men and women of the the country’s Self-Defence Forces – an indication, perhaps, that postwar Japanese leaders and military hardware have not always been easy bedfellows. The image belied Kishida’s political grounding in a dovish wing of his Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and his…
Your Monday Briefing: A ‘Toothless’ Trip to Xinjiang
Good morning. We’re covering the U.N. human rights chief’s trip to China, India’s expanded protections for sex workers and Ukraine’s offensive in Kherson. U.N.’s tempered criticism of China The United Nations’ top human rights official spent six days in China, offering only limited criticism of China’s crackdown on predominantly Muslim minorities. Michelle Bachelet said that her visit “was not an investigation,” and that she had raised questions about China’s application of “counterterrorism and de-radicalization measures” when she spoke by video with Xi Jinping, China’s leader. In so doing, Bachelet couched…
China funnels its overseas aid money into political leaders’ home provinces
China’s financing of overseas projects has disproportionately benefited the core political supporters of incumbent presidents or prime ministers of those countries that receive the funds, according to a new book. During the 20th century, China was mostly known as a recipient of international development finance. Its overseas development programme was modest – roughly on a par with that of Denmark. But over the course of one generation, as Beijing emerged as the world’s second-largest economy, its footprint began to extend far beyond its borders – often in the form of…
Hong Kong’s Omicron crisis: ‘It took just 10 days for everyone to be infected’
More than 9,000 people have died of Covid-19 in Hong Kong since the start of the year, giving it one of the highest fatality rates in the world. Over half of those to die in the latest wave were care home residents. BBC Chinese was given rare access to one such home. Producer: Meiqing Guan BBC
UN urges China to review counter-terrorism policies after official visit
The UN’s top human rights official says she has urged the Chinese government to review its counter-terrorism policies in Xinjiang and appealed for information about missing Uyghurs at the end of a six-day visit to China. Michelle Bachelet, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, addressed more than 120 reporters on Zoom from Guangzhou, but was criticised by rights groups for giving few details or condemnation of China while readily giving long unrelated statements about US issues. Within hours of the press conference, China’s vice foreign minister, Ma Zhaoxu, told…
China’s BRI Is Aggravating Ethnic Tensions in the Global South
Advertisement While Western analysts see the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as the centerpiece of China’s political and economic power projection abroad, China promotes it as a gamechanger for the economic development of the Global South. Departing from both perspectives, we illustrate that China’s institutional approach to largely work with regimes in power, which often comprise the majority ethnic group, unintentionally aggravates ethnic tensions in the host country. This can be seen in the case of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI connecting China to…
Samoa signs China bilateral agreement during Pacific push by Beijing
Samoa signed a bilateral agreement with China on Saturday, promising “greater collaboration”, as Beijing’s foreign minister continues a tour of the Pacific that has sparked concern among western allies. The deal’s details are unclear, and come midway through a Chinese delegation’s eight-nation trip – but an earlier leaked draft agreement sent to several Pacific countries outlined plans to expand security and economic engagement. The mission has prompted western leaders to urge regional counterparts to spurn any Chinese attempt to extend its security reach across the region. The Samoan government confirmed…