Day: December 10, 2023

Gao Yaojie: Dissident doctor who exposed China’s Aids epidemic, dies at 95

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Selling blood was common in rural areas such as Henan, where Dr Gao lived, in the 1980s and 1990s. Limited economic opportunities among farming communities left them with few other options to make a living – and blood-selling was often backed by local governments. But with few cases of HIV being diagnosed in rural China at the time, and low awareness of the disease, blood was also collected from HIV+ patients, leading to the spread of the disease. BBC

In Vietnam, a ‘shared destiny’ and the US are likely to be high on Xi Jinping’s agenda

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“China and Vietnam have mixed attitudes towards each other,” said a researcher from the government-linked Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), who spoke on condition of anonymity. “While they need each other politically [to maintain stability at home], their widening differences on security-related issues, especially over the South China Sea disputes, remain the key obstacle.” Xi’s visit also has regional significance, coming soon after his summit with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco last month, when the two leaders agreed to stabilise ties. Despite that, the researcher said, “it…

Hong Kong’s ‘patriots only’ elections record lowest-ever turnout

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As many voters rejected what was perceived as an undemocratic poll, voter turnout in a “patriots only” district election in Hong Kong, which excluded democratic opposition from the ballot in the midst of a national security crackdown, reached an all-time low. Out of 4.33 million registered voters in Hong Kong (total population of 7.5 million,) 1.193 million people cast ballots, making a turnout of 27.54%, the Hong Kong Election Commission said on its website on Dec. 11 Since Hong Kong’s return to China from Britain in 1997, the lowest voter…

Hong Kong’s ‘patriots-only’ election draws record low turnout

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Hong Kong’s voters largely steered clear of a Beijing-imposed “patriots-only” election on Sunday, in a blow to official efforts to legitimise China’s vision for governance of the territory. A historic low turnout of 27.5 per cent of the territory’s 4.3mn-strong electorate cast their ballots in the polls, despite officials extending voting by 1.5 hours, citing electronic system failure. The final turnout in the last district election in 2019, when opposition candidates…

China-led team creates soft ‘octopus’ arm in reach for intuitive human-robot interaction

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The electronics-integrated soft robotic octopus arm (E-SOAM) combines the natural agility of an octopus with cutting-edge technology. The team behind the invention wrote about their work in a recently published article in the peer-reviewed journal Science Robotics. Chinese scientists create smart fingertip that can feel textures “A key innovation of this robotic design is its departure from traditional mechanical arms that rely on end-effectors for interaction. Instead, the octopus-inspired movements of the E-SOAM enable a broader range of capturing,” Wen said. The E-SOAM replicates the “bend propagation” motion observed in…

Record low turnout as Hong Kong votes in ‘patriots’-only election

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A “patriots only” district election in Hong Kong that barred opposition democrats from the ballot sheet amid a national security crackdown had a record low voter turnout of 27.5% as many voters spurned what was seen as an undemocratic poll. The sharp slide in turnout since the last such election in 2019 comes after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that has been used to clamp down on dissent, and overhauled the electoral system to shut out democrats and other liberals. “It can be seen that everyone has begun…

Global travel demand to and from mainland China recovering at strong pace, IATA chief says, but analysts cautious amid economic slowdown, geopolitical rifts

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The mainland accounted for 9 per cent of all international air passenger demand before the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, it said. Figures from consultant McKinsey showed mainland travellers made more than 150 million international trips in 2019, spending about US$1 trillion. International travel to and from the mainland ground to a halt for about three years under Beijing’s stringent coronavirus curbs, before authorities lifted restrictions in January and resumed issuing tourist visas from March. The revival of the mainland’s international flight capacity from unprecedented lows is is taking time.…

FirstFT: Low voter turnout for Hong Kong’s ‘patriots only’ election

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get it sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning Good morning. Hong Kong’s voters largely steered clear of a Beijing-imposed “patriots only” election yesterday, in a blow to official efforts to legitimise China’s vision for governance of the territory. Officials extended voting by 1.5 hours, citing electronic system failure,…

China debt: beyond the boondoggles, is China worth further investment, and why is water controversial?

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China’s top leaders are expected to assemble soon at the central economic work conference in Beijing to hammer out economic goals for 2024. This is the fourth part in a series looking at what to expect from China’s economy next year. When Shanghai announced it would modernise water systems for households in suburban areas, the initiative generated a stir among local residents keen on seeing quality-of-life improvements. Through the pilot scheme, about 10,000 households in suburban towns may finally be able to glug potable water right from the taps in…

Hong Kong voters steer clear of ‘patriots only’ election

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Hong Kong’s voters largely steered clear of a Beijing-imposed “patriots only” election on Sunday, in a blow to official efforts to legitimise China’s vision for governance of the territory. Officials extended voting by 1.5 hours, citing electronic system failure, after just 24.5 per cent of the territory’s 4.3mn-strong electorate had cast their ballots three hours before polls were scheduled to close. Final turnout figures have not yet been announced. The…