Australian wine representatives said the industry lost A$2.1bn ($1.37bn, £1.08bn) in the year after China was shut off. Despite pivoting to other markets, winemakers struggled to sell the volume of bottles to other countries and have faced a significant glut in recent years. BBC
“The Chinese side has already made technical clarifications and response to the APT 31-related Information submitted by the UK side, which made clear that the evidence provided by the UK was inadequate,” he said, adding: “Unfortunately, we haven’t heard from the UK side.” BBC
“To our belief in democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of worship. These are the things that we hold dear, but we seem reluctant to want to defend those against the others who hold none of those virtues and values and want to take ours from us.” BBC
The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis. He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages – a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it’s the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls. The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. BBC
Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 under the principle of “one country, two systems”, which guaranteed the city a certain degree of autonomy. While Beijing and Hong Kong both insist this is still the case, critics and international rights groups say China’s grip on the city has only tightened with time. BBC
Scores of people have been arrested under the NSL since it was passed in 2020, which critics say has created a climate of fear. Amnesty International’s China director Sarah Brooks said the new law “delivered another crushing blow to human rights in the city”, while Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch, said it would “usher Hong Kong into a new era of authoritarianism”. BBC
With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, Pinduoduo expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success. According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. BBC
The issue that critics have with TikTok is that it is owned by Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, making it unique as a non-American mainstream app. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, for example, all collect similar amounts of data but are all US-founded companies. BBC
South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world and its population is expected to halve by 2100, Japan recorded a record-low 800,000 births in 2022, and last year the Hong Kong government announced they would hand out HK$20,000 (£2,010) for each newborn in a bid to tackle the city’s low birth rate. BBC
However, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal in January found the system was still “porous”, with data being unofficially shared between TikTok in the US and ByteDance in China. High-profile cases, including one incident where ByteDance employees in China accessed a journalist’s data to track down their sources, have stoked concerns. BBC