One Chinese student is dead and another one has been seriously injured in a stabbing incident at a Sydney shopping center in Australia on Saturday, the Chinese Embassy in Australia and the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney confirmed to China Media Group on Sunday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during the regular press conference on Monday that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the embassy and consulate in Australia to activate the emergency consular protection mechanism, and confirmed the casualties of Chinese nationals.
The embassy and consulates in Australia have urged the Australian side to make every effort to treat the injured, actively providing full assistance for follow-up matters. They will also continue to maintain close communication with the Australian side and do their utmost to provide necessary assistance to the families of the Chinese victims, according to the Chinese Embassy in Australia on Monday.
According to the Associated Press, a man used a knife to stab six people to death at Westfield Shopping Center at Bondi Junction, one of the busiest shopping centers in Sydney on Saturday, and injured at least a dozen others during the attack before a police officer shot him dead.
A Chinese national who was at the scene of the incident with her boyfriend told the Red Star News that they watched the crowd running around and felt confused at first, and then they hid in the nearest store as staff put a lock on the door after they received a warning from fleeing individuals.
They heard a series of consecutive gunshots when they were hiding, after which they realized that the sounds were of a police killing the attacker.
They later moved from the store to a warehouse at the back of the mall, unaware of what was going on outside, and were surrounded by people hiding in the warehouse, as the alarm blared throughout the mall.
After waiting for a period of time, a mall employee asked everyone to escape to the nearest exit as soon as possible. The whole mall was surrounded by police cars, ambulances and helicopters when they emerged.
Police from New South Wales (NSW) confirmed Sunday that the attacker, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, had a history of mental illness, and investigators were not treating it as a terrorism-related incident, according to reports.
The attacker also wounded a 9-month-old baby and other seven people, and a total of five women and one man were killed, NSW officials said during a press conference.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday via social media platform X that Australian flags are flying half-mast in honor of the victims of the Bondi Junction attack, saying that "we grieve together, as one." He also updated Cabinet on Monday morning on the situation following this devastating attack.
Albanese and the public also lay flowers outside the shopping center after the incident on Sunday. NSW Premier Chris Minns praised ordinary people who cornered and confronted the murderers at the scene for showing "bravery under terrible circumstances" on Sunday.
This photo taken on November 10, 2023 shows Philippine coast guard personnel and journalists sailing onboard a rigid inflatable boat (L) as they head back after filming the BRP Sierra Madre docked at Second Thomas Shoal in the disupted South China Sea. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)
If the Philippines truly wants to ease tensions at Ren’ai Jiao through dialogue and communication, it needs to honor the commitments and understandings and stop provocations, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry Mao Ning said at a press conference on Thursday.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday called on China to talk to prevent more incidents like ramming vessels and the use of water cannons in the South China Sea, Voice of America reported.
The Philippines continues to talk with China, and is exhausting all options to speak to Chinese leadership so as not to heat up tensions in the waterway, Marcos claimed, according to media report.
In response, Mao reiterated on Thursday China's indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, Ren’ai Jiao included, and their surrounding waters.
She stressed that China has always been committed to managing the on-site situation of Ren'ai Jiao through dialogue and consultation with the Philippines.
Mao reiterated that on how to deal with the current situation at Ren’ai Jiao, China’s position is clear-cut. First, by keeping its warship grounded at Ren’ai Jiao for decades running, the Philippines has been violating China’s sovereignty and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), especially Article 5 which says refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands and reefs. We demand that the Philippines tow away the warship at once and restore the Ren’ai Jiao’s state of hosting zero personnel and facilities.
Second, before the warship is towed away, if the Philippines needs to send living necessities, out of humanitarianism, China is willing to allow it if the Philippines informs China in advance and after on-site verification is conducted. China will monitor the whole process.
Third, if the Philippines sends large amount of construction materials to the warship and attempts to build fixed facilities and permanent outpost, China will not accept it and will resolutely stop it in accordance with law and regulations to uphold China’s sovereignty and the sanctity of the DOC.
The recent attempts by the Philippines to permanently occupy Ren'ai Jiao and Tiexian Jiao (Tiexian Reef) have seriously violated Article 5 of the DOC, said Lei Xiaolu, a professor of law with China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, Wuhan University.
In 1999, the Philippines illegally grounded the “BRP Sierra Madre” warship on Ren'ai Jiao under the pretext of “mechanical failure” and promised to tow it away. However, in recent years, the Philippines has acted in bad faith, claiming to build permanent facilities on Ren'ai Jiao.
The Philippines believes the South China Sea arbitration case gives it a legal basis for the illegal occupation of Ren'ai Jiao, but in fact, the arbitral tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration case has no jurisdiction to handle sovereignty disputes over Ren'ai Jiao as part of the Nansha Islands. Tiexian Jiao is an uninhabited high-tide feature within 12 nautical miles of Zhubi Jiao (Zhubi Reef) and is part of the Nansha Islands, according to Lei.
If the Philippines' activities are tolerated, the dispute settlement mechanism established in Article 5 of the DOC will be weakened, potentially reopening the "Pandora's Box" of new round of island occupation by some countries, which will have a negative impact on regional peace and stability, Lei noted.
China and the Philippines established several channels of communication on the South China Sea issue, the most important one being the Bilateral Consultative Mechanism (BCM) established in 2016, noted Yan Yan, Direct of Research Center for Oceans Law and Policy, National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
The hotline between China and the Philippines coast guards was established after then Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China on cooperation between the two countries' coast guard in 2016 and is the most direct means of communication between the maritime law enforcement agencies of the two countries. In August 2023, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela announced the abandonment of this hotline mechanism, saying they will no longer be communicating directly with their Chinese counterpart.
In January of this year, the 8th meeting of the BCM was held in Shanghai. China and the Philippines agreed to "further improve the sea-related communication mechanism, continue to properly manage sea-related conflicts and differences through friendly consultations, and deal with maritime emergencies."
However, the Philippines' actions on Huangyan Dao and Ren’ai Jiao have not been curtailed despite the consultation. It seems that the Philippines’ strategy is to use action instead of words and dialogue, to show its presence and attempt to change the status quo in the South China Sea, Yan stressed.
China and ASEAN Foreign Ministers signed the DOC in November, 2002.
For the past 22 years, the DOC has served as a crucial political consensus and cornerstone for maintaining peace in the region. China and ASEAN countries have successfully engaged in various constructive maritime cooperation, including marine environmental protection, scientific research, safety of navigation and communication at sea, search and rescue operations, and combating transnational crime, in accordance with Article 6 which allows for cooperative activities pending a comprehensive settlement of disputes, said Yang Xiao, Deputy director of Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Article 6 regulates cooperative activities among the parties concerned. These may include the following: marine environmental protection; marine scientific research; safety of navigation and communication at sea; search and rescue operation; and combating transnational crime, including but not limited to trafficking of illicit drugs, piracy and armed robbery at sea, and illegal traffic in arms.
However, beyond the positive momentum of promoting cooperation between China and most ASEAN countries, there has been some sort of noise off and on for some time, especially the Philippines which has repeatedly violated its commitments and obligations, Yang pointed out.
There is no doubt that “cooperation” is the most approved axiom paved by DOC for peace and development in the South China Sea ... Any actions or intentions that undermine these commitments and cooperation should be firmly opposed by all parties to DOC and by nations dedicated to peace and prosperity, Yang noted.
On Monday night, Lanzhou University's School of Nuclear Science and Technology officially announced the 2024 list of candidates for master's degree transfer admissions on its official website. After checking the list, Xu, a candidate who had attracted significant social attention for allegedly abusing cats, found out that he had not been included in the list of candidates for admission.
According to media reports, after finishing his undergraduate studies, Xu applied for admission to the School of Physics at Nanjing University for a master's degree, but was not admitted. Despite his professional course results ranking first, he received a message that said: "failed to pass the second examination."
Subsequently, he applied for a transfer to Lanzhou University. During this period, some netizens reported that the candidate had allegedly abused and killed cats in the school dormitory and uploaded videos of the acts online.
According to online feedback, many netizens supported Nanjing University's decision to reject the candidate, while earnestly advising Lanzhou University to be cautious about him, given the suspected cat abuse acts by the candidate.
Previously, the Nanjing police responded by stating that they had interviewed the parties involved and their families, and instructed them to write a letter of repentance. Given the school's specific provisions and regulations for the admission of master's students in the reexamination, it is reasonable for the school to judge the candidate as morally unfit for admission based on his behavior, but some argue that the school's handling of the situation is too harsh.
In fact, this is not an isolated case. A university in Central China's Henan Province once reported that a student named Li was involved in cat abuse and was expelled; in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, a school punished two students for mistreating stray dogs and placed them under surveillance at school.
Leaving aside the deeply ingrained concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and animals, animal abuse itself is not trivial. It not only involves personal conduct issues but also reflects a lack of reverence and respect for life, and may have legal consequences.
Many netizens' relentless pursuit of this matter is likely to stem from an emotional response and moral disagreement and there is still room for further clarification of the events, their causes and other details.
In a survey involving tens of thousands of people, 90 percent of netizens agreed that "graduate admissions should strengthen moral assessment." This indirectly reminds us: conduct and knowledge should not be neglected, and the public expects universities to strengthen the cultivation and assessment of students' moral character.
In recent years, incidents of misconduct by university students have occurred from time to time. Good grades may be a sign of being a "good student," but they certainly do not equate to good character. A student with poor character but good academic performance may pose a significant threat to society in the future.
Since ancient China, "virtue" has always been an important criterion, represented by Confucianism. The importance of education lies not only in imparting knowledge and skills but also in shaping personalities and nurturing values. In other words, social development requires more well-rounded individuals. From this perspective, using the "measuring stick" of moral character is crucial for universities in talent cultivation and selection.
For schools, it may be helpful to refine their "admissions brochure," especially to clarify the rules and criteria for immediate disqualification, in order to better ensure fairness and reasonableness. For students, while it is important to perform well in exams, it is even more important to excel in the "invisible exam" of moral character outside the examination hall.
A glass door at Hangzhou Railway Station was forcibly opened by passengers during an attempt to escape congestion on Saturday, the last day of China's Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day. Railway authorities have apologized and no injuries were reported.
A video circulating online showed a man forcefully opening a locked glass door at Hangzhou South Railway Station as a large number of people flooded the station.
The video quickly went viral online. Hangzhou railway authorities revealed that two trains arrived at the same time on Saturday night, leading to a large number of passengers trying to leave the station
A passenger even accidentally fell down an escalator while leaving the station. Station staff promptly activated the brake button, organizing passengers to quickly leave the area with no injuries reported.
Rail authorities also apologized for the temporary chaos, and vowed to strengthen organization for future peaks.
Following the incident, media quoted staff from the station as saying that a music concert in the city led to the large number of passengers amassed at the station.
The incident occurred on the final day of China's Qingming Festival holidays, which lasted from Thursday to Saturday. According to Hangzhou authorities, the city recorded 3.94 million visits during the Qingming Festival holiday. The daily average number of tourists reached 1 million, representing a year-on-year growth of 39.8 percent.
In March, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced it would open 10 of its nuclear technology research facilities and testing platforms, including China's new-generation "artificial sun" Huanliu-3 (HL-3) tokamak, to the world for the first time.
The move is expected to not only further enhance China's influence in nuclear science and technology globally, but also boost international cooperation in dealing with the energy crisis as the issue seemingly grows more and more urgent along with the rapid development of artificial intelligent (AI) in consideration of the technology's staggering energy consumption. Current AI technology could be on track to annually consume as much electricity as the entire country of Ireland (29.3 terawatt-hours per year), according to a report published in October 2023 in Joule magazine.
"Magnetic confinement nuclear fusion is a cutting-edge disruptive technology with outstanding advantages such as abundant resources, environmental friendliness, and inherent safety. It is currently recognized as one of the most important ways to ultimately solve global energy and environmental problems and promote the sustainable development of human society," Liu Zhonghua, deputy director of the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP) under CNNC told the media during a group visit to the institute in late March.
The visit is part of CNNC's series of events to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the success of China's atomic bomb test in 1964 as well as the upcoming 70th anniversary of the establishment of the CNNC in January 2025.
China has set a "three-step" technological roadmap of "thermal neutron reactor, fast reactor, and controllable nuclear fusion reactor" for nuclear energy development. With the existing nuclear science and technology industrial system, it is believed that human beings can use controllable nuclear fusion energy in about 30 years, that is, by the middle of this century, the Global Times learned from CNNC.
The core temperature of the sun is approximately 15 million to 20 million degrees, while the metal materials on Earth will melt at around 1,000 degrees. The goal of China's construction of "artificial sun" is to build a device on Earth that can withstand temperatures of more than one million degrees.
Scientists at the SWIP are sparing no effort to realize the goal step by step. In the 1980s, the first-generation fusion platform HL-1 was built and it was the first national large-scale scientific engineering facility in the field of nuclear fusion in China; in the early 21st century, HL-2 was completed, laying a solid scientific and engineering foundation for the leap from principle exploration to large-scale device experiments in China's nuclear fusion research.
In 2020, the new-generation "artificial sun" HL-3 was successfully designed and built independently, becoming the largest and highest parameter advanced tokamak device in China with a total height of 8.39 meters and a diameter of 8 meters. The plasma ion temperature can reach 150 million C, which is 10 times the temperature of the core of the sun.
In August 2023, HL-3 realized high-confinement mode operation with a plasma current of one million amperes for the first time. The breakthrough puts the operational level of China's magnetic confinement nuclear fusion device at the forefront of the world. It also marks an important step forward in the research of high-performance nuclear fusion plasma operation.
In December 2023, CNNC announced the global opening of HL-3 to invite scientists worldwide to come to China and collaborate toward the shared goal of pursuing "artificial sun energy" after SWIP signed an agreement with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the development of future fusion reactors. HL-3 since then has become an important supporter to the construction and operation of ITER, the world's largest "artificial sun" project.
The next step of the "artificial sun" project is to gradually transit from the deuterium-tritium combustion experiment stage to the fusion reactor engineering and physical experiment stage, and finally realize the aim of building fusion power stations of demonstration and then the construction of commercial fusion power stations, according to CNNC.
According to Li Bo, a senior engineer at the SWIP, the energy released from the nuclear fusion reaction of one liter of deuterium extracted from seawater is equivalent to that released by 300 liters of gasoline. "To put it simply, if we were to burn coal to fuel a 1-million-kilowatt power plant for a year, it would require around 2 million tons, nearly 33,000 train cars of coal. However, if we use nuclear fusion, only 0.6 tons of materials, equivalent to a small pickup truck, would be sufficient," Li said.
Nuclear fusion energy can also be converted into power through more various methods, Xiao Guoliang, a researcher at the SWIP, told the Global Times. "Besides the traditional steam turbine power generation, the energy carried by the charged particles in the nuclear fusion reactor may also be directly extracted and converted into electricity through specific techniques such as magnetic fluids and plasma waves. With the advancement of technology, the utilization of nuclear fusion energy in the future can be more diverse and efficient," Xiao said.
As a technician at the SWIP, Wang Jin has personally debugged and installed tens of thousands of components on different generations of confinement nuclear fusion devices since 1996.
One of the most memorable things for him was in 2022, when he and other dozens of people fought on site to achieve the first 1 megampere discharge in China as soon as possible against the heat and power limit in summer. After more than a month of arduous preparation, this discharge parameter was successfully achieved.
Wang recalled that, once, he followed an experienced master to conduct a safety inspection of the device. The master walked to a piece of equipment and asked him, "Do you see anything different here?" He looked at that area but did not find anything different.
The master said, "Do you notice the crack in the paint under that screw?" Wang suddenly saw it. Through this incident, he said he felt that doing nuclear fusion work requires great care and patience.
When entering the installation of HL-3, Wang also had his own team of apprentices to lead them to accomplish greater achievements. Wang said, "I need to pass on our spirit. Only in this way can we constantly strive for excellence and do our job well and strong."
China-US relations have been in a complex situation recently. On one hand, many top US companies have expressed their interest and confidence in China's market and in the recovery of people-to-people exchanges in some fields, but on the other, the US is mulling to increase military activities in South China Sea, and Washington is taking new actions to contain China's rightful development in the high-tech fields.
Experts from both sides said that the most important bilateral ties on this planet remain tense, even though some positive signs have emerged. This signals that while China-US relations have been somewhat stabilized, the relationship is far from recovered or improved.
China has done a lot to show its sincerity in managing differences with the US, and continued to build the bridge of friendship between the two peoples by issuing policies, but Washington has not done enough to fix the poisoned political atmosphere characterized by extreme hostility against China and Chinese in America. China hopes that groups and people from the US who support and benefit from China-US cooperation can act to balance anti-China forces in America, so the two sides can prevent the tension from escalating into an all-out confrontation, analysts said.
Complicated situation
US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns on Saturday posted a photo on his X account of his meeting with China's NBA legend Yao Ming, also president of the China Basketball Association, saying that they discussed "how to strengthen the bridge that basketball has become between the American and Chinese people."
As the US ambassador has also frequently made hawkish and hostile remarks on issues involving China's national interests and internal affairs, experts said that Burns is trying to balance his image among the Chinese people by using his social media to say some nice-sounding things, but the key is that the US government needs to at least tailor their actions to their words.
Although some US scholars call for the recovery of connectivity between the two countries, many obstacles set by the US for the recovery of people-to-people exchanges have not been removed. For instance, some US airports such as Washington Dulles International Airport are imposing discriminatory and rude measures against Chinese students and scholars who wish to enter US territory.
Compared to the US actions that are inconsistent with its words, China has done a lot more to fix the damaged ties. At the beginning of 2024, China simplified visa applications for tourists from many countries, including the US.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met representatives from the US business, strategic and academic communities in Beijing on Wednesday, as China hosted a series of high-level events this week, demonstrating the country's commitment to attracting more foreign investment and expanding its opening-up to the world.
China has made concrete efforts to show friendship and sincerity to the US, especially to ordinary people and companies, said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University. "This shows that China is taking on the responsibility to manage and fix the problematic ties, not only for China's own interests, but also for the global economic recovery, but the US' mindset of strategic competition remains unchanged."
Lü Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that China's recent efforts show that the Chinese leadership is trying to shape future bilateral ties based on the mindset of "making the pie bigger," while US policymakers are embracing protectionism and the mentality of strategic competition.
Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said at a forum held in Beijing on Thursday that he wants "the hardest-line members of the US Congress" and their counterparts in China with a similar attitude to the US to go to each other's countries.
"Those are the folks that are most pessimistic and most worried about the relationship. Those are the ones that actually need to travel more than anybody else, but those are also the ones who are traveling the least," he noted.
Dangers remain
Meanwhile, the US is still imposing strategic pressure on China. The situation in the Asia-Pacific region has further intensified due to recent provocative actions of the US and its allies, analysts said over reports that Japan is slated to send its Maritime Self-Defense Force to conduct its first joint naval patrols with the US and the Philippines in the South China Sea later this year.
The sci-tech warfare is also intense. Reuters reported that the Biden administration on Friday revised rules aimed at making it harder for China to access US artificial intelligence (AI) chips and chipmaking tools, part of an effort to hobble Beijing's chipmaking industry over "national security concerns." The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has said it plans to continue updating its restrictions on technology shipments to China as it seeks to bolster and fine-tune the measures.
However, the latest act to target China's sci-tech development does not overly concern Chinese analysts. The tightening of US restrictions on technology exports to China is not surprising, yet its impact on Chinese industry is shrinking given China's industrial upgrading in recent years, Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in Beijing told the Global Times on Sunday.
Aside from high-tech sectors, other areas indicate a warming trend in the economic and trade sector. In the first two months of 2024, China's exports to the US increased by 8.1 percent from a year ago, according to data from the Chinese Customs.
The China Development Forum held in Beijing last week also saw a significant increase in the number of US multinational CEOs attending, creating a more positive atmosphere for economic cooperation. The increasing economic and trade cooperation between China and the US is a positive trend that is likely to continue, Tian said.
Lü said China provides a huge and irreplaceable market for many US top companies in many fields, although they will face more challenges and more intense competition from Chinese companies. "They will be a constructive force to balance the unwise anti-China politicians and forces in the US and will reduce the risk of an escalation in the current tension."
Da Wei, director of Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said at a forum in Beijing on Thursday that China-US relations are not improving, but they have stabilized to some extent, compared to the past.
Da told the Global Times that the US public opinion environment has been poisoned by some US politicians and media outlets, which will lead to wrong decision-making in Washington on China. China should avoid following this path to make the same mistake of protectionism and abusing the concept of "national security" to harm trade ties, but it should at the same time continue opening-up and embrace healthy competition with companies that possess advanced technology from the US and other countries.
Russian investigators announced on Thursday that they had evidence linking the gunmen responsible for the concert massacre to "Ukrainian nationalists." Experts believe that Russia is seeking to capitalize on the solidarity that has strengthened in the wake of the terrorist attack to accelerate progress on the battlefield, and increase leverage for future negotiations.
"After working with detained terrorists, studying the technical devices seized from them, and analyzing information about financial transactions, evidence was obtained of their connection with Ukrainian nationalists," according to the Russian Investigative Committee, TASS reported.
The committee said it had confirmed data showing that the terrorists received "significant amounts of money and cryptocurrency from Ukraine," which were used in the preparation of the crime.
Prior to the new findings, Kiev has denied any connection with the attack, and the militant group Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
Experts said Moscow is focusing on how to respond to the tragedy in order to capitalize on this fleeting opportunity to serve its agenda. And for them, solving the conflict with Ukraine is priority.
"Presenting convincing evidence or not is unimportant for Russia, as it aims to make the most of people's unity and cohesion to intensify pressure on Ukraine, and hasten the pace on the battleground," Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.
This comes against a backdrop of Ukraine currently being in a weakened state, with military aid from Europe and the US not fully in place, and combat capabilities severely depleted, Cui said.
"This timing presents an opportunity to expand gains for Moscow. Moreover, with the upcoming US elections, acquiring more leverage is crucial for negotiations if Trump takes office and mediates the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as having more bargaining chips will increase negotiating space," the expert noted.
Moscow's claim, however, was immediately denied by the US, with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby calling the Russian allegations "nonsense and propaganda."
Kirby said the US had previously warned Moscow, through public channels, about "extremists" planning an imminent attack, and that it had also issued a written warning to Russian security services on March 7 at 11:15 am, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The report said Russia dismissed a warning from the West, three days ahead of the terror attack, as "blackmail."
The US and the West are trying to distance Ukraine and themselves from the incident, but such defense is meaningless due to their tarnished credibility, Cui said.
One thing worth noting is that intelligence gathering comes with costs. The US could have negotiated with Russia using an exchange of intelligence, rather than resorting to public announcements. "This could indicate that a timely intelligence exchange mechanism between the US and Russia is no longer in place," the expert noted.
The Moscow terror investigation uncovered on Friday that the four gunmen responsible for the deaths of 143 individuals at the Crocus City Hall were under the influence of drugs, media reports said.
It was revealed that the attackers dosed themselves up on Captagon - which ISIS calls "chemical courage" - a form of amphetamine that lowers inhibitions and disables fear, allowing them to kill indiscriminately. This kind of drug was a "favorite" among ISIS fighters, the reports said.
After its recent repeated attempts to resupply its military vessel near China's Ren'ai Jiao (Reef), the Philippine Defense Minister further provoked China on Monday by daring China to go through another so-called international arbitration.
During the past few months, the Philippines has escalated tensions in the South China Sea, repeatedly ignoring China's objections.
Experts said that the Philippines' "revival" of the illegal arbitration is aimed at bringing in external forces and expanding and internationalizing the South China Sea issue. The Philippines' repeated provocations are not conducive to the resolution of the issue and regional security, but may instead escalate the issue into larger disputes or even conflicts.
On Monday, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro claimed that "China should prove the strength of its maritime claims through arbitration," Reuters reported.
Teodoro's open provocation came right after Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Monday lodged representations with the Philippines side over the recent illegal trespasses by Philippine resupply vessels into waters adjacent to Ren'ai Jiao.
The Philippines' disappointing response once again reflects its intention to continue causing trouble and provoking China in the South China Sea region in the near future, experts told the Global Times.
While the Philippines intends to illegally occupy China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea, China has continuously sought to maintain its territorial sovereignty lawfully, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
"The issue of the Philippines' illegal occupation of China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea is completely outside the scope of international arbitration," Gu said. "The sole purpose of the Philippines' repeated calls for 'arbitration' is to internationalize the South China Sea issue and introduce external forces to interfere in the resolution of the issue."
The so-called award on the South China Sea arbitration in 2016 seriously violates international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is illegal, null and void. China neither accepts nor recognizes it, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
If the Philippines continues to ignore China's restraint and continues to solicit external forces to infringe on China's legitimate sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea, it will inevitably further escalate the situation in the South China Sea, which is not conducive to regional stability and may even lead to conflict. This is entirely the responsibility of the Philippines, Gu warned.
At the same time, observers said that the recent provocations by the Philippines against China in the South China Sea have been supported by many forces, including the US, Japan and India. Officials from the US and India have recently spoken out in support of the Philippines and expressed a desire to strengthen defense cooperation with the Philippines. Additionally, the US, Japan and the Philippines are planning their first trilateral summit, with experts predicting that the theme will be to enhance their defense cooperation to counter China.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a routine press conference on Tuesday that maritime disputes are issues between the countries concerned. Third parties have no right to interfere whatsoever.
"We urge relevant parties to face squarely the facts and truth on the South China Sea issue, and respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests and the efforts of regional countries to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable," he noted.
The recent turmoil and instability in the South China Sea are mainly caused by interference from external forces, with the main purpose being to woo the Philippines and promote the US strategy of containing China in the Indo-Pacific region. However, this is not something that most countries in the region, including Southeast Asian countries, would agree with, said Gu.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday offered a powerful reassurance for global business leaders about China's economy and its steadfast opening-up, saying at a major forum in Beijing that China's economy has strong resilience, vast potential and sufficient vitality and an increasingly open China will bring more opportunities for the world.
More than 110 global business leaders and scholars, including a remarkable number of US executives, have descended on Beijing for the China Development Forum (CDF), putting on a vivid display of global businesses' confidence and commitment to the Chinese market, as China's economy continues to recover and the country continues to open up its market to the world.
Beyond their strong presence at the forum, many multinational executives explicitly stated plans to expand investment in the Chinese market, with some declaring "investing in China is investing in the future." Such a vote of confidence in China's economy by global businesses with "their feet" also underscores the limitations of some Western politicians' attempt to drive multinationals away from China by pushing for an economic decoupling and smearing China.
In a keynote speech at the opening of the CDF on Sunday, Li said China's economic recovery continues to consolidate and strengthen and new industries, new business models and new growth drivers continue to grow. "China's economy has strong resilience, great potential, and sufficient vitality, and its long-term positive fundamentals have not changed."
The Chinese premier also talked about China's steadfast pursuit of high-quality development and high-level opening-up. "An increasingly open China will definitely bring more opportunities for win-win cooperation to the world," Li said, noting that China stands ready to share great opportunities from its continuous development.
Hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council since 2000, the CDF has become an important platform for exchanges between Chinese and global business leaders. The opening ceremony was attended by about 400 people, including the heads of the World Bank and the IMF and executives of multinational corporations.
Specifically, more than 110 international guests, including business leaders and scholars, signed up for the two-day event. The heads of many Fortune Global 500 companies were also in attendance, including the executives of Apple, Mercedes-Benz, and HSBC. Crucially, the number of US business leaders at the CDF this year saw a significant increase. Also notable is the presence of major US chip firms such as Qualcomm, Micron and AMD. Of the more than 80 executives listed, over 30 were from US, or around 40 percent, according to a Global Times count of the list.
"If I compare the US participation to last year's, it's probably increased two to two-and-a-half times," Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the CDF on Sunday, noting that the increase is due to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that many businesses want to understand where China's economic policies are going.
Also, Orlins said that since April 2023, there have been a series of high-level engagement between China and the US, and the bilateral relationship "has gotten off from the rock bottom and has improved somewhat," though there is still a huge space for further improvement.
"Most of the attendees are from the US. It's quite obvious," Wang Yiwei, a professor at the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China who attended the CDF, told the Global Times on Sunday. "It's a signal for both improving China-US ties as well as US businesses' commitment to the Chinese market. They are basically voting with their feet."
US businesses have been under increasing pressure, as Washington continues to push for sweeping restrictions on China-US trade, particularly in the high-tech industries, as part of its attempt to "outcompete" China and contain China's rise. Among a growing number of crackdown measures against China, the US is seeking to further tighten restrictions on US and other Western firms' sales of chips and chipmaking tools to China. Still, that has not deterred US businesses away from China, as evidenced by the vast of number of US firms at the CDF. Firm commitment
"For American businesses, the commitment to China and the deep engagement with the Chinese market have, in my opinion, remained unchanged over the past two or three years," Joseph Luc Ngai, chairman of Greater China at global consulting firm McKinsey & company, told the Global Times on Sunday.
The strong show of US businesses at the CDF also underscored a major gap between the US business community and politicians in Washington.
"The business community just wants normal, good relations, so do the American people. Our politicians have a twisted mentality. They want confrontation," Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of center for sustainable development and professor of Columbia University, who attended the opening ceremony of the forum, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Sachs also noted that Premier Li's speech was very business-like, very clear and very straightforward that China is doing well. It's going to continue to do well, and it is open for business for the world. "I thought the message was correct and very clear," Sachs said.
Many global business executives were also encouraged by the clear message of China's continuous development and opening-up.
"I thought the speech was very helpful in understanding China's priorities for how the economy is going to continuously develop," Timothy Creber, general manager of China Operation of American Express, told the Global Times on Sunday. "So the opportunities are huge and the opportunity to continue to partner with different institutions in this market is very good. We're very confident about the Chinese economy over the coming years."
Some global businesses also stated their commitment to expand investment in the Chinese market.
Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal, who also attended the CDF on Sunday, told the Global Times that the company will continue to invest in China, noting the company believes that investing in China is investing in the future. "We believe that the next China is China - and we will continue to develop in China, for China and with China."
China has made attracting foreign investment a top priority this year, and has taken a slew of measures to further expand market access for global businesses and improve the business environment. On Tuesday, China's State Council issued a 24-point action plan to attract foreign investment. On Friday, China released its first nationwide negative list for cross-border services trade, which opens up more areas for global investors.
At the CDF on Sunday, Chinese officials also vowed to further open up more areas and improve the business environment to support foreign businesses.
Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said at the CDF that China will steadily expand institutional opening-up, make greater efforts to attract foreign investment, continue to support a batch of major foreign-funded projects and expand market access in areas such as digital products. "China's determination to open up will not change, and its pace of development will not stop," Zheng said.
When Lucas Fan received his friend Jim in Beijing in June 2023, Lucas had to order a taxi for Jim every time he needed one as Jim, from Ireland, could not link his international bank card with WeChat or Alipay payment functions. As the two main social networking apps in China, WeChat and Alipay are virtually indispensable in nearly every aspect of daily life, from chatting, working to shopping, and from taxi-hailing to making electronic payments.
But had Jim pushed his visit back by a month, he would have found it more convenient to travel as a foreigner in China. Alipay and WeChat Pay started to comprehensively upgrade their systems in July 2023 to optimize support for international bank cards to better serve a growing number of international travelers along with bolstering international exchanges.
According to official data, in 2023, the national border inspection authorities checked in a total of 210 million inbound travelers, recovering to 62.9 percent of 2019 levels and the number is expected to continue to grow in 2024.
"This [payment difficulty of foreigners] is indeed an unexpected new problem as mobile payment has developed very rapidly in China," Sun Yeli, Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism, told domestic and foreign journalists after the closing of China's annual national legislative session in Beijing.
Sun noted that the Chinese central authorities have paid great attention to this issue and have established a coordination mechanism to solve it.
"We are optimizing each step of the inbound tourism process, streamlining procedures ranging from visa applications to flight arrangements, hotel check-ins, shopping, and sightseeing. With the implementation of these measures, foreign tourists visiting China will enjoy the same level of convenience in accommodation, transportation, and shopping as domestic tourists," Sun said.
"We sincerely welcome tourists from all over the world to visit China, enjoy the charm of Chinese culture, discover rapid changes in the country, and experience the hospitality of the Chinese people," Sun noted. Get through 'reverse digital divide'
The new mobile payment represented by barcode payment has become the mainstream payment tool in China. However, in most countries around the world, especially in some developed economies, bank cards are still the mainstream payment tool.
In recent years, with the rapid development of informatization and digitization in China, the popularity of mobile payment has increased rapidly. Now, the popularity of digital payment in China may be twice as high as in other countries. And everyone in the country is very accustomed to using a mobile phone for all aspects of life. However, this has made China too "digitized" to be "out of touch" internationally. Some people say that this has created a "reverse digital divide" between China and foreign countries.
One main difficulty for foreigners in making mobile payments lies in the low success rate of overseas individuals using Alipay and WeChat to link overseas bank cards, as well as payment limits.
When overseas users enter China and want to link a third-party payment app, they need to provide real-name information. Some overseas users may be unwilling to provide their personal information for personal privacy concerns. In addition, the transmission of cross-border information is a long-standing difficult issue even in the traditional financial area due to different principles and rules in various countries in the issue.
Aside from mobile payment, foreigners were also reported to encounter obstacles in using cash and international cards in China. A typical example of this is foreigners like Jim who had difficulties in hailing and making payments in taxis in China, as due to the popularization of online payment, most Chinese taxi drivers receive orders on car-hailing apps and present a QR code to passengers to effect payment. Fewer and fewer of them handle cash, not to mention POS devices.
"Taxis are often the first local service that overseas business people and tourists come into contact with after arriving, and it is also one of their main ways of getting around the city. However, payment difficulties are particularly prominent in taxis," Yang Guoping, chairman of the Shanghai Dazhong Transportation Group and a representative to the 14th National People's Congress, told China Business Journal.
High transaction fees are also another obstacle. The single transaction fee for foreign card payments is basically between 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent, with VISA and MasterCard having a single transaction fee of around 3 percent, while the single transaction fee for domestic cards is around 0.6 percent, and mobile payment fees are even lower, with Alipay at 0.38 percent, according to a report published by yicai.com.
Many domestic merchants are not willing to pay high cross-border credit card transaction fees, but rather encourage foreign tourists to use cash, Alipay, or WeChat Pay, according to the report. Step up efforts to address problems
Facing these problems, Chinese authorities and platforms are moving fast to address the obstacles to help facilitate foreigners' stay in the country.
On February 23, the State Council executive meeting reviewed and approved the "Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services to Facilitate Payments," (referred to as the "Opinions"), emphasizing the need to focus on the payment inconvenience of groups such as the elderly and foreigners coming to China.
On February 29, the People's Bank of China held a meeting to promote the optimization of payment services. On March 1, the State Council Information Office held a regular policy briefing on further optimizing payment services and enhancing payment convenience.
Zhang Qingsong, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, introduced the specific content of the above mentioned "Opinions," including promoting the improvement of the bank card acceptance environment and adhering to the positioning of cash as the bottom line, among others.
On the evening of March 7, the "Opinions" were officially released, closely followed by implementations by various platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay.
If Jim came to Beijing now, whether arriving at the Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) or the Daxing International Airport, he could go directly to a service center outside the international arrival gate and seek help from staff to install Alipay or WeChat.
He could also directly withdraw RMB from the ATMs beside the service desk if he did not wish to bother with buying a Chinese phone card or had worries about personal information security. The service center could also provide him with smaller bank notes if necessary.
If he uses Alipay with real-name registration, he would be able to make a single transaction with a maximum limit of $5,000 and a maximum annual transaction limit of $50,000.
If Jim was a first-time user of WeChat Pay from abroad, he could also directly add his international bank cards to quickly activate the WeChat payment function without needing to buy a Chinese phone card. By linking an international card, he could use WeChat Pay in China within a certain amount of spending without verification.
As one of China's most international metropolises, Shanghai led the charge in providing international visitors with convenient payment services.
Since late 2023, Shanghai has taken the lead in installing over 36,000 points of sale (POS) machines that can accept foreign bank cards in commerce, cultural, and tourism sites, airports, and railway stations throughout the city, according to the Shanghai government website.
Near Yuyuan Garden, one of the most popular tourist sites in downtown Shanghai, small boards that read "Visa, Master, JCB… now available" are seen on the cashier counters of most shops and restaurants there. According to a cashier at a three-story shop selling souvenirs, clothes, and skincare products, the shop started offering foreign bank card payment services in November 2023, when Shanghai hosted the 6th China International Import Expo.
This improvement has particularly excited many foreign excursionists, who have little time to withdraw cash or get used to China's digital payment systems.
"I can't wait to directly pay with my bank card; that's much better and convenient for us international visitors," a Japanese college student told the Global Times ahead of the Chinese New Year in February. She planned to have a week-long stay in this city.
According to yicai.com, the coverage rate of key merchants accepting foreign cards in Shanghai and neighboring Zhejiang Province in East China has exceeded 90 percent. Determined to further open up
According to media reports, by 2023, millions of foreigners in China had used mobile payments and truly enjoyed the convenience. In the fourth quarter of 2023 particularly, the scale of mobile payment transactions by inbound travelers significantly increased, with a total of 35 million transactions amounting to 5 billion yuan ($695.6 million).
By taking multiple measures to improve the convenience of mobile payment, it is not only an important starting point for Chinese mobile payment to go global, but also a vital part of China's recent efforts to expand international exchanges, including tourism and trade, experts pointed out.
Improving the convenience for foreign nationals to work and study in, and travel to China has been included in the Report on the Work of the Government (2024) announced during the just concluded two sessions.
On March 7, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced a visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg on a trial basis at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC).
In January, China had already announced five measures, including shortening visa application forms, lowering visa fees for the entire year, exempting some applicants from fingerprinting, providing walk-in without appointment visa application services, and extending a unilateral visa-free policy to a select number of countries including France and Germany on a trial basis.
At a press conference on February 7, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin revealed that, as of the time of the conference, China had signed mutual visa exemption agreements with 157 countries that cover different types of passports, and had reached agreements or arrangements to simplify visa procedures with 44 countries. China has a complete mutual visa exemption with 23 countries.
These measures show China's determination and concrete efforts to keep opening up, experts noted.
They proposed to continue to expand the scope of visa exemptions so that more foreign travelers can get a chance to enjoy China's large and diverse landscapes, the convenience brought by the 5G network and high-speed bullet trains, and understand China through first-hand experience rather than some second-hand biased reporting.
