Month: March 2024

ByteDance raises annual bonus for high-performing employees amid restructuring and latest TikTok crisis in US

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While employees have started to receive their bonuses for the past year based on their performance review, those who were rated “M” or higher will be rewarded extra payment of between 5 per cent to 15 per cent of their original bonus, according to Hua Wei, head of human resources at ByteDance, in an internal email sent on Thursday that was seen by the South China Morning Post. The firm’s M rating, which stands for “meet expectations”, is the fifth highest of eight classifications that most company workers can achieve.…

Taiwan’s Navy Chief to Visit US Next Week, Sources Say

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Taiwan’s navy chief, Tang Hua, will visit the United States next week to attend a military ceremony and discuss how to boost bilateral naval cooperation as China raises threats toward the island, six people briefed on the trip said. While Taiwan and the United States have a close relationship, it is unofficial, as Washington formally recognizes China, not the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. Taiwan rejects China’s territorial claims. The six security sources said Tang would visit Hawaii, home of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, for…

Radio Free Asia Leaves Hong Kong, Citing Security Law

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The United States-funded news service Radio Free Asia said on Friday that it has closed its office in Hong Kong because of concerns about the city’s recently enacted national security law that targets so-called foreign interference. Hong Kong’s new national security law, which was passed with unusual speed earlier this month, raised “serious questions about our ability to operate in safety,” the broadcaster’s president and chief executive, Bay Fang, said in a statement. Radio Free Asia said that it had relocated some employees from Hong Kong to Taiwan, the United…

China’s excess clean energy production is ‘likely only temporary’, former central bank chief says

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Zhou said one of the factors contributing to excess capacity was slow progress in upgrading power grids and installing energy storage facilities. “Overcapacity is likely only temporary since the world will need to further boost the development of clean energy in the future,” he said. Zhou Xiaochuan, former People’s Bank of China governor, speaks on Tuesday at a panel discussion on clean energy during the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China’s Hainan province. Photo: Xinhua Zhou also rebutted Western claims that unfair trade practices and state-backed subsidies had been…

Chinese military’s security chief Wang Renhua elevated to top rank of general

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President Xi Jinping has promoted the PLA’s security chief to the rank of general, a departure from recent practice that comes amid a purge of military leaders. Wang Renhua, head of the Central Military Commission’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission, was elevated to the highest rank for officers in active service on Thursday. Wang, 62, is the third security chief of the People’s Liberation Army since a major overhaul of the military in 2015. He took up the job in late 2019 and was promoted to lieutenant general. Xi Jinping…

We must stop the smartphone social experiment on our kids

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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. Imagine that a James Bond villain decided to achieve world domination not with armies or drones but through our brains. They might manipulate our minds to get us addicted to fantasy worlds, turn us against one another and reduce our ability to concentrate.  Inventing the smartphone would do it. Then persuading us to give it to our children. Until now, parents who fear that these omnipresent devices have made children…

More Than MOFA: China’s Comprehensive Diplomacy

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China’s “comprehensive diplomacy” refers to the totality of collective foreign interactions orchestrated under the leadership of the top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership. This encompasses diplomatic activities conducted not only by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but also by other government agencies and government-organized non-governmental organizations (GONGOs). These efforts aim to foster overall and comprehensive interactions with other nations, thereby promoting international relations. The overarching goal of comprehensive diplomacy is to mobilize and coordinate various party-state agencies to advance China’s national strategic and diplomatic objectives. China’s Foreign Policy Bureaucracy The…

Israel accused of killing dozens in Syria air strikes

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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. Israeli air strikes on the northern Syrian province of Aleppo have killed and wounded numerous civilians and military personnel, Syria’s defence ministry has said. “The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of Athriya, south-east of Aleppo, targeting a number of points in the Aleppo countryside,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday, without specifying the number of dead. An opposition war monitor said the strikes killed…

China reports more trips by foreign travellers in first 2 months of 2024 as visa-free policies take effect

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In the first two months of 2024, foreign passport holders made 2.95 million trips to or from China, a notable increase due in part to the country’s new visa-free entry policies, according to an official from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Shi Zeyi, deputy director of the ministry’s bureau of international exchange and cooperation, said on Friday that the figure was 2.3 times more than in the November-December period and 41.5 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. “During the Spring Festival period, the effect of China’s visa-free entry policy showed…

Syngenta calls off $9bn Shanghai listing

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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. Swiss agricultural chemicals company Syngenta has called off a $9bn Shanghai listing that would have been one of China’s largest initial public offerings in years, as the country’s stock markets struggle in the wake of a major rout. Syngenta said on Friday that it was withdrawing its application to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s main board “after careful consideration of [the] industry environment and the company’s own development strategy”.…