Month: September 2023

Short changed: Can China pay the bills?

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Amid reports and rumors of starving zoo animals and retirees not being paid their pensions, the chair of financially distressed China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted property developer, is now under “residential surveillance.” Call it house arrest – and as the Chinese property sector loses its mojo some 42,000 local governments are looking for money to pay off creditors. Evergrande chairman Hui Ka Yan, or Xu Jiayin, is under 24-hour police supervision and can neither leave his home nor receive guests without permission. He was once the richest man…

South China Sea: US-China confrontation looms large

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The dust is still settling after a whirlwind of high-level meetings featuring China, the US and Asean that discussed South China Sea issues. Do those discussions and related developments portend a leaking status quo or a backslide into confrontation? While members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations may still have some agency if they can find a clear common voice, the South China Sea issues are mainly driven by the race between China and the United States for hegemony in the region. And how bad is the situation? In…

Millions Travel in China in 1st Big Autumn Holiday Since End of Zero-COVID

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HONG KONG —  Many millions of Chinese tourists are expected to travel within their country, splurging on hotels, tours, attractions and meals in a boost to the economy during the 8-day autumn holiday period that began Friday. This year’s holiday began with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday and also includes the Oct. 1 National Day. The public holidays end Oct. 6. Typically hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and overseas during such holidays. The eight-day-long holiday is the longest week of public holidays since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were…

Court in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region sentences 3 to death

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A court in Myanmar’s southwestern Ayeyarwady region sentenced three men to death, sources close to their families told Radio Free Asia on Friday. Two from Bogale township were named as Kyaw Moe Lwin and Win Htay, a third, from Maubin township was named as Wai Yan Kyaw. Two were accused of being members of a People’s Defense Force, who planned and carried out a murder, according to a family friend who declined to be named for fear of reprisal. “Kyaw Moe Lwin and Wai Yan Kyaw were sentenced to death…

Tech war: FCC says reinstating ‘net neutrality’ rules could boost agency’s authority to remove Huawei, ZTE equipment from US networks

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The 129-page proposal asks for public input if new rules designed to bar internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes, would give the FCC “more robust authority to require more entities to remove and replace covered Huawei and ZTE communications equipment and services”. It also asks if the authority would allow it to prohibit Chinese equipment in any network infrastructure used to route or transmit communications, including data centres and internet exchange facilities. Huawei and ZTE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.…

Chinese AI-developed drug offers hope to sufferers of obesity and diabetes

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In June, MDR-001 successfully completed phase 1 clinical trials, affirming its superior efficacy and safety. In early September, it began its phase 2 clinical trials, with participants receiving the drug in multiple doses. With more than 537 million adults worldwide living with diabetes and around 650 million people globally living with obesity, the development of this drug could see Chinese companies join international giants in competing for a multibillion-dollar market. Typically, drug development commences with the identification of proteins on cell surfaces that possess specific functions. Researchers then search for…

China-US ties: Beijing and Washington diplomats overseeing Asian affairs meet in sign of more open communication

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Kritenbrink “reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the statement said, adding that the two sides also discussed regional issues such as Myanmar, North Korea and maritime matters. China’s foreign ministry said the talk on Wednesday was based on bilateral consensus and was at the invitation of the US side. Sun elaborated on China’s position on the Taiwan issue, stressing that the one-China principle was the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the foreign ministry said in a statement. He also stated…

Maldives election run-off pitched as fork in the road between India and China

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As the archipelago of the Maldives goes to an election run-off on Saturday, it will not just be two presidential candidates on the ballot. This election is being pitched as a larger geopolitical battle between India and China, which over the past decade have been engaged in a tug-of-war to gain influence over the Maldives. While the tussle is not new, the narrative of India versus China has reached a fever pitch in this election, where opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu is trying to unseat the government of Mohamed Solih and…

‘Crimes’ probe into Evergrande founder adds to pressure over $300bn debt woes

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Thursday’s announcement by Evergrande was as ominous as it was curt. Hui Ka Yan, the billionaire chair behind the indebted Chinese property group, was under unspecified “mandatory measures” for suspicion of “illegal crimes”. The one-page release was typically short on details from a company that has been locked in an opaque restructuring process since it defaulted on its international debts two years ago. But between the lines, it captured a wider shift in mood. This was intended to be the moment when, after fractious negotiations, investors were getting closer to…