Switzerland

• UN food systems pre-summit wraps up in Rome (China Daily)
• On takes off: sports shoe brand co-owned by Roger Federer wins over pro runners and the public with its unique tubular cushion sole (SCMP)

Foreign Policy

• China returns to top of medal tally (China Daily)
• Russia to join military drill in China, 'displays mutual trust, eyes Central Asian security' (Global Times)
• Afghan Taliban's China visit underscores importance of China's role: expert (Global Times)
• Chinese ambassador Qin Gang arrives in U.S. (Xinhua)
• British official's remarks on South China Sea disregard facts, undermine regional stability: embassy (People's Daily)
• Arctic is key region in countering China's aggression, US Air Force officials say (SCMP)
• India 'may not be cooperative' on China issue amid Blinken's visit (Global Times)
• Xi congratulates Vietnamese president on reelection (China Daily)

Domestic Policy

• Nanjing airport coronavirus cluster 'spreads to 15 other Chinese cities' (SCMP)
• What the Deadly Zhengzhou Floods Teach Us (Caixin)
• China's laws on military personnel, facilities to take effect on Aug. 1 (Xinhua)
• China's top political advisory body holds Chairperson's Council meeting (China Daily)
• President stresses 'toilet revolution' in rural areas (China Daily)
• Chinese premier urges easing burdens to facilitate third-child policy (People's Daily)
• Xi's speech at CPC centenary ceremony published in ethnic minority languages (Xinhua)
• China to boost safety precautions at urban metros (Xinhua)

Beijing

• Conference on High-Quality Development and International Cooperation of Chinese Cities held in Beijing (Global Times)

Shanghai

• New Shanghai Pudong cluster unveiled to draw international economic entities (People's Daily)

Tibet

• Xi visits Tibetan family, praises hard work (China Daily)

Xinjiang

• German Green party member refutes Western slander on China's Xinjiang (Xinhua)

Hongkong

• HK's first NSL verdict finds Leon Tong guilty for inciting secession and terrorism (Global Times)

Taiwan

• Separatist forces advocating "Taiwan independence" doomed to fail: spokesperson (People's Daily)

Economy

• Expo to fortify China-ASEAN trade ties (China Daily)
• The Fall of China's Last Bitcoin Mining Haven (Caixin)
• Hainan Promises to Put Foreign Service Providers on Equal Footing, Mostly (Caixin)

DPRK

• DPRK holds conference of Korean War veterans marking armistice anniversary (China Daily)
• S.Korea, DPRK restore communication hotline (Xinhua)

Mongolia

• Defense Minister meets Chair of Qatar-Mongolia Committee on Defense and Investment Cooperation (Montsame)
• Prime Minister of Mongolia meets President of Korea Eximbank (Montsame)

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UN food systems pre-summit wraps up in Rome (China Daily)
2021-07-29
The United Nations on Wednesday wrapped up a three-day pre-summit on the world's food systems, casting light on the world's greatest food-related challenges and setting the table for September's ambitious full summit at UN headquarters in New York. […] The pre-summit featured input, not only from governments and multi-lateral organizations but from farmers, environmental groups, and even youth representatives, who praised their inclusion in the event. "This is the first summit I have seen where youth leadership is at the heart of the summit itself, in decision-making positions, and I'm really hoping this can serve as a role model for future UN Summits," Marie-Claire Graf, a youth leader from Switzerland, said in a statement.  ^ top ^

On takes off: sports shoe brand co-owned by Roger Federer wins over pro runners and the public with its unique tubular cushion sole (SCMP)
2021-07-28
Peter Rea signed a sponsorship deal with Swiss sports brand On in 2018 after more than a decade coaching runners in Reebok sneakers. "People were like, 'Wait, who's On?'," recalled Rea, who trains the ZAP Endurance elite team in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in the United States. Since the switch, members of his band of Olympic hopefuls have come to embrace the unique look and feel of On's shoes. "Now, no one asks who they are," Rea said. That's because On has quickly won credibility in the world of running. It's increasingly capturing the hearts of the wider athleisure-loving public. The pandemic helped raise its profile, thanks to the lockdown-inspired boom in the running, outdoor and casual clothing sectors. A cult following for the shoe's distinctive tubular cushions on the sole – and backing from tennis champion Roger Federer – haven't hurt either. While On doesn't disclose earnings, industry watchers say it's most comparable to brands like Brooks Running – a Berkshire Hathaway unit with 2020 revenue of almost US$850 million – and Hoka One One, part of Deckers Brands, whose net sales last year ballooned 62 per cent to US$571 million. All three have steadily gained market share in the US speciality-running retail industry, according to data from market researcher NPD Group, with On closing in on Saucony for fourth place. These companies are still small players in the broader world of sports and athleisure wear, and they're going up against powerful competitors with huge marketing budgets and high brand recognition. The juggernaut in the field is Nike, which recently posted annual sales of US$44.5 billion and has a market value of about US$250 billion. On, meanwhile, has been preparing for an initial public offering in New York that could value the company as high as US$5 billion, Bloomberg reported in April, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Representatives for On declined to comment. The young Swiss company now has some 7,800 retail partners around the world, along with its own "global flagship" store that opened in New York in December. However, its roots are firmly in the Swiss Alps. […] Despite the move to expand globally, the company is still capitalising on its roots. Consider the move in 2019 to bring in Swiss tennis legend Federer as a part-owner. He's thought to have invested some 50 million francs (US$54 million), German-language Swiss weekly newspaper Handelszeitung reported in February. Last summer, On released the "Roger", an all-white pair that sells for about US$200. Federer wore a version at the French Open in June and at Wimbledon in July. The strategy seems to echo Adidas' iconic Stan Smith shoe, named after the US tennis player of the 1970s. "Federer gets them some star power and some fashion cred," said Matt Powell, an industry analyst at NPD Group. Another part-owner is New York-based private equity firm Stripes Group, whose founder and partner, Ken Fox, is a member of the On board. Among other things, Fox saw the potential for On "to leverage social media and online marketing", according to the Stripes website. While On may lack the advertising cash of Nike and Adidas, it's garnered plenty of buzz by producing documentary films about athletes. One followed a team of refugees from Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Morocco as they trained for the Tokyo Olympics. Another featured Ironman triathlete Tim Don, who collided with a truck just days before the 2017 world championship race in Hawaii and broke his neck. Instead of pulling out of the contract, On traced his journey back to health. And On travelled to the picturesque mountains of North Carolina to film Rea's team at the ZAP Endurance training centre. It captured the athletes training at the camp and ultimately competing in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 2020 at the Olympic trials marathon. None of Rea's athletes made the team for Tokyo, but he's hopeful that will be different next time around. After all, he joined On three years ago and knows what progress looks like. "Even in that time, they've advanced their technologies and I think, frankly, listened to the real runners of the world," Rea said, "which a lot of brands don't do." ^ top ^

China returns to top of medal tally (China Daily)
2021-07-30
The Chinese swim team helped put the nation back on top of the medal table at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, securing two golds in less than two hours on Thursday. After breaking an Olympic record to win gold in the 200-meter butterfly event, Zhang Yufei wrapped herself in a Chinese flag and beamed with joy as she finished with a dominant performance－almost two seconds ahead of Regan Smith from the United States, who took silver. Half an hour after being awarded the gold, the 23-year-old new "butterfly queen" clinched another gold medal as part of an eye-catching Chinese quartet who smashed the women's 4x200m freestyle relay world record with a time of 7 minutes 40.33 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. "I didn't know I was doing it (the relay) until I'd finished the 200m butterfly and our coach told me, 'You're in the relay'," Zhang said. "We didn't expect to win the gold; we just tried to finish third, because Australia and the United States are very strong." During the competition, Yang Junxuan set an early lead for China and Tang Muhan recovered the advantage, though Australian challenger Emma McKeon caught up in the middle. Zhang Yufei swam the third leg and maintained a 0.43-second advantage over second-place Australia before Li Bingjie jumped into the water. In the end, Li, 19, fended off the challenge from her idol Katie Ledecky of the US to win the gold for China, and Team USA collected silver ahead of Australia, who took bronze with 7 minutes 41.29 seconds. In table tennis, China secured a one-two finish in women's singles after Sun Yingsha swept Japan's Mima Ito 4-0 in Thursday's semifinal. Sun was later defeated 4-2 in the finals by teammate and world No 1 Chen Meng. The Chinese women's volleyball team lost to the Russian Olympic Committee team 3-2 in their preliminary round, falling to the bottom of group B with a record of 0-3, along with Argentina. "We didn't perform well from the first rally. The weak point was the blocking and spiking," coach Lang Ping said after the match. "It took a lot of endurance to fight (today), and we still have two matches to fight. (We will) just try our best. There are losses and wins. We are fighting for the athletes' spirit," she added. Ending the sixth day of the Games, China topped the medal tally with 15 golds, seven silvers and nine bronzes. Japan was in second place with 15 gold, four silver and six bronze medals, followed by the US with 14 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals. ^ top ^

Russia to join military drill in China, 'displays mutual trust, eyes Central Asian security' (Global Times)
2021-07-30
Russia is set to join a military exercise in Northwest China with the theme of jointly safeguarding regional security and stability in August. It will be the first joint drill to be held in China since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, displaying a high level of mutual trust between the two militaries while also eyeing security and stability in Central Asia as the US irresponsibly withdraws troops from Afghanistan, experts said. The Zapad/Interaction-2021 exercise will be held in the Qingtongxia Joint Tactical Training Base in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from early to mid-August with the theme of jointly safeguarding regional security and stability, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, announced at a regular press conference on Thursday. It is the first time that China will host a joint drill with another country since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, and the first time the name Zapad/Interaction will be used for an exercise, observers said. The two sides will set up joint headquarters, as the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Command and Russia's Eastern Military District will dispatch more than 10,000 personnel, multiple types of aircraft, artillery pieces and armored equipment in exercises to test joint reconnaissance, early warning, electronic information attack and strike capabilities, Wu said. Judging from the participating troops, related equipment and exercise subjects, the Zapad/Interaction-2021 is a large-scale strategic drill featuring some of the world's most advanced weapons and equipment as well as tactics, a Chinese military expert who asked to remain anonymous told the Global Times on Thursday. It could become a frequent series of drills, the expert predicted. Since 2018, China has participated in the Vostok-2018, Tsentr-2019 and Kavkaz-2020 strategic drills in Russia. This will also be the first time that China will host a strategic drill that will see a foreign military invited, and the first time Russian forces will enter the Qingtongxia military base, observers said. The purpose of the exercise is to consolidate the comprehensive strategic partnership in a new era between China and Russia, deepen the pragmatic cooperation and traditional friendship between the two militaries, and further display the determination and ability of both sides to combat terrorist forces and maintain regional peace and security, Wu said. China and Russia are maintaining regular annual exercises despite the difficulties posed by COVID-19, and this has reflected the necessity to boost the two militaries' joint capabilities to deal with regional and global challenges amid special situations. War could happen despite a pandemic, or a pandemic could happen during a war, a Chinese expert on international affairs told the Global Times on Thursday, requesting anonymity. The drill indicates a new level of military-to-military cooperation as well as a high level of political mutual trust, the expert said. On Wednesday, Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, as they attended the Defense Ministers' Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States. Both Wei and Shoigu mentioned the changing situations in Afghanistan and Central Asia, as well as the importance of safeguarding regional security and stability. The exercise also takes the changing situation in Afghanistan into consideration, the Chinese international affairs expert said, noting that the US' irresponsible troop withdrawal from Afghanistan has left a burden for neighboring countries. As major powers, China and Russia need to play their roles, jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, and prevent the development of terrorist forces in the region. From a global point of view, both China and Russia are facing suppression by the US, which led to the two countries' enhancement in military cooperation through joint exercises, the expert said. Although the US is leaving Afghanistan, the presence of the US military will still be there, as well as in Central and South Asia, so China and Russia need to prepare to jointly defend their strategic corridors, the expert said. Shoigu is invited to participate in the joint exercise, according to Russian media reports. This will also be Shoigu's first time to visit China for a military exercise, observers noted. ^ top ^

Afghan Taliban's China visit underscores importance of China's role: expert (Global Times)
2021-07-29
China could play the role as a better mediator between the Afghan government and the Taliban for its smooth and high-level communication with both sides whose peace talks may be stuck in stalemate for a long time, analysts said in response to an Afghan Taliban delegation's trip in Tianjin on Wednesday and its reiteration of a previous promise of never allowing any force to use the Afghan territory to endanger China. China reiterated that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a UN-designated terrorist group and hopes that the Afghan Taliban will make a clear break with all terrorist organizations including ETIM, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said while meeting with a Taliban delegation from Afghanistan in Tianjin on Wednesday. The meeting came after a Taliban delegation visited Moscow at the beginning of July. Analysts said instead of visiting other regional countries, the Taliban chose to first visit Russia and China, which shows it has recognized the two countries' previous efforts in promoting the peace process in Afghanistan and eyed a bigger role for them in future reconstruction of the war-torn country. As an important military and political force in Afghanistan, the Afghan Taliban is expected to play an important role in the peaceful reconciliation process in Afghanistan. We hope that the Afghan Taliban will put national interests first, hold high the banner of peace talks, establish the goal of peace, build a positive image and pursue an inclusive policy, Wang said during the meeting. Wang noted that as Afghanistan's largest neighbor, China has always respected Afghanistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. The hasty withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan marked the failure of US policy in Afghanistan and it is an opportunity for the Afghan people to stabilize and develop their country. The situation in Afghanistan has entered a crucial period after the US pulled out most of its forces and peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are in stalemate, with both parties seeking a breakthrough. Against this backdrop, the Taliban delegation visited China to elaborate its stance and to win support from China, Wang Jiang, a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for Frontier Region of China, Zhejiang Normal University, told the Global Times. In a previous exclusive interview with the Global Times, Afghan Ambassador to China Javid Ahmad Qaem expressed deep distrust toward the Taliban. "The sincerity of the Taliban for peace talks leaves a very big question mark upon them," Qaem said, adding that the biggest challenge to the political settlement is the Taliban itself. Wang Jiang noted that the members of the Taliban delegation to China showed their sincerity and goodwill to help China further understand them, for example the representative from religious commission may explain the Taliban's changes on religious polices. The delegation was led by Taliban political commission representative Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar with representatives from the religious commission and publicity commission alongside, according to the release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Baradar said on Wednesday the Afghan Taliban has full sincerity in realizing peace in the country and is willing to work with every party to build a political system that is widely accepted by Afghanistan people and will protect human rights and the interests of women and children. Before the visit to China, a Taliban delegation visited Moscow on July 8, meeting Kremlin envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov who expressed concerns about the escalation and tensions in northern Afghanistan. Kabulov also urged the Taliban "to prevent them from spreading beyond the country's borders," AP reported. "After returning to the Afghan mainstream politics since US-led troops withdrawal, the Afghan Taliban chose to first visit Russia and China instead of other countries - two powers that have no sharp conflicts of interests with it. It shows the Taliban attaches great importance to developing ties with the two major countries, and it believes in their influence in helping to rebuild Afghanistan," Li Wei, an expert on national security and anti-terrorism at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times. Li said that Russia, which has learned lessons from history, hopes to keep good ties with parties in Afghanistan, and China, with its consistent stance on Afghanistan being governed by Afghans, has maintained good connections with different forces in Afghanistan. China has always been willing to promote the peace process in Afghanistan, for example, using multilateral mechanism to encourage peace talks and offering to host intra-Afghanistan talks for the Taliban and the government in China, Li said, noting that China could play as a better coordinator as it has smooth and high-level communication with leaders of the Afghan government and the Taliban. Sultan Baheen, former Afghan ambassador to China, told the Global Times that in the eyes of all Afghans, including the Taliban, China is the most trusted and confident friend and could play a bigger role as a mediator than any other country to promote peace in Afghanistan. When meeting with the Taliban delegation in Tianjin, Wang Yi stressed that ETIM is an international terrorist organization listed by the UN Security Council, which poses a direct threat to China's national security and territorial integrity. Cracking down on ETIM is the shared responsibility of the international community. This is not the first time Wang Yi has expressed this stance. During a joint press conference with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin following their talks in Dushanbe on July 13, Wang said the Taliban should realize the responsibilities it bears for the nation and make a clean break with all terrorist forces. Baradar of the Taliban delegation said the Afghan Taliban will never allow any force to use the Afghan territory to endanger China. Previously, in an interview with This Week in Asia, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said the organization sees China as a "friend" to Afghanistan. The Taliban would no longer allow Uygur separatists, some of whom had previously sought refuge in Afghanistan, to enter the country. The Taliban would also prevent al-Qaeda or any other terrorist groups from operating there. In 2002, the UN Security Council's 1267 Committee imposed sanctions against ETIM. In 2003, China recognized and declared it as a terrorist organization. The group has been responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks since it was founded. It was also found as the black hand behind many terror attacks in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. For example, the bomb and knife attack at Urumqi railway station on April 30 in 2014 and attacks in Kashi on July 30, 31 in 2011. However, former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced on October 20, 2020 the revocation of a previous decision that designated ETIM as a terrorist organization, a move that experts on anti-terrorism criticized as "whitewashing" terror groups related to China's Xinjiang which will backfire on the US. Analysts said that the Taliban is fragmented as many of its senior leaders are not in Afghanistan, thus some branches of the Taliban in Afghanistan have taken in members of ETIM. However, no matter who forms the Afghan government, they know clearly that continuing anti-terrorism is Afghanistan's international responsibility as well as the significant foundation of future China-Afghanistan relations. China and regional countries worry that changes to the situation in Afghanistan may squeeze the room of extremist terrorism groups including ETIM in Afghanistan, and force them to flee to other neighboring countries. With the Afghan Taliban's return to the mainstream, one key for it to win China's trust is to reach consensus on anti-terrorism with China and taking concrete actions, Wang Jiang said. ^ top ^

Chinese ambassador Qin Gang arrives in U.S. (Xinhua)
2021-07-29
Qin Gang, the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the United States of America, arrived in the United States on Wednesday to assume office. Upon arrival, Qin was greeted by Deputy Chief of Mission of the Chinese Embassy Li Kexin, Consul General in New York Huang Ping and other Chinese diplomats in the United States, according to the official website of the Chinese embassy. Qin is the 11th Chinese ambassador to the United States. Prior to his ambassadorship, he was Chinese vice foreign minister. His predecessor, Ambassador Cui Tiankai, completed his tenure and returned to China on June 23. ^ top ^

British official's remarks on South China Sea disregard facts, undermine regional stability: embassy (People's Daily)
2021-07-28
The Chinese Embassy in Britain on Tuesday voiced deep concern about and firm opposition to the recent remarks by a senior British official on the South China Sea as they disregard facts and undermine regional peace and stability. Referring to British Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace's "extremely irresponsible" remarks made during a visit to Vietnam, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said the remarks "disregard the historical merits and objective facts of the South China Sea issue, deliberately sow discord among regional countries and thus, undermine regional peace and stability." China's sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea have been formed in the course of a long history and have abundant historical and legal basis, the spokesperson said, adding that they have been upheld by successive Chinese governments all along and brook no challenge by anyone. The so-called "arbitral tribunal ruling" on the South China Sea is illegal, null and void, the spokesperson stated, noting that the arbitration violated the "principle of state consent" and the arbitral tribunal exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of law. China always advocates friendly negotiations and consultations on issues in relation to the South China Sea, treats its littoral neighbors as equals and exercises maximum restraint when safeguarding its sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea, the spokesperson stressed. In contrast, Britain claims to uphold "rules-based international order" but its cherry-picking of rules of international law reveals a typical practice of hypocrisy and double standard, the spokesperson noted. With the joint efforts of countries in the region including China, passage through the South China Sea has been smooth and safe all along, the spokesperson said, calling the allegation that "freedom of navigation is under threat" in the South China Sea "untenable." "If indeed this allegation is true, the threat could only come from the one who deploys carrier strike group to the South China Sea half a world away and flexes its naval muscles to heighten the military tension in that region," the spokesperson said. According to Wallace, Britain, a former influential colonial power who used its military superiority to subdue Asian countries, is increasing maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific region to uphold the so-called "rules-based international order." "Gunboat diplomacy no longer works in the 21st century. As a country outside the region, Britain should refrain from stretching its arms too far," the spokesperson said. ^ top ^

Arctic is key region in countering China's aggression, US Air Force officials say (SCMP)
2021-07-28
US military leaders said on Tuesday that they see Arctic operations as a deterrent to China, which has staked a claim to the region as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, and increasingly as a base for operations in the Indo-Pacific. Panellists including US Air Force officials Kelli Seybolt and Lieutenant General Clinton Hinote discussed the strengthening of what Seybolt called defence relationships with "six of the seven other Arctic nations providing key strategic advantages", excluding Russia. Seybolt is the force's undersecretary for international affairs, and Hinote is the deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements. While Russia's military activities in the Arctic are understandable given that it has an interest in oil and gas from its deposits in the region, and the US would be open to including Moscow in discussions among Arctic nations, Seybolt said, China's claim in 2018 to be a near-Arctic nation was a "kind of mind-boggling statement". Chinese cargo ships sail along Arctic routes as Beijing plans 'Polar Silk Road' "If I look at the map from above, I don't see that, but they're certainly moving to legitimise a role in the region as they continue with their … Polar Silk Road initiative," she said. "This is the area where we probably need to be working with all of the Arctic nations to ensure that our common interests are protected." The Polar Silk Road is part of Beijing's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to expand Chinese global influence through construction of ports, railroads and other infrastructure, and is part of the government's development blueprint for the next five years. In addition to new freight routes opened by Chinese transport in the region, Beijing also announced plans to launch a satellite by 2022 to track shipping routes and monitor changes in sea ice. The discussion on Tuesday was hosted by the Wilson Centre in Washington. Also on the panel was William Liquori, a lieutenant general serving in the new United States Space Force. "China, which sometimes forgets that it's not actually an Arctic state, is doing everything it can to establish its own influence in Arctic governance and economic development in the present, to be sure, especially with an eye toward shaping Arctic development in coming decades," Wilson Centre director Mark Green said at the start of the event. While promoting integration with the Arctic forces of Canada, Finland, Norway and other US allies as a way to counter objectionable activities by China, the panellists said military installations in Alaska were becoming crucial as bases for operations in the Indo-Pacific, where Washington is working more closely with regional partners to check Beijing's expansive maritime claims. "You could also think of military power that is stationed in the high north, and especially in Alaska, as being forward positioned in two major theatres, the Indo-Pacific and in Europe, and in essence you could conceivably do power projection sorties out of Alaska to both of those areas," Hinote said. "What we have seen in our war gaming is that it's an incredibly effective place to base air operations out of," he added. "And so this gets into the reason why we are investing so much in places like [Anchorage and Fairbanks], and what we've got going on with the extended operations. "There are so many things that we believe are important about that area, and we are plussing up the military power that is there." Hinote said the US Air Force was spending "in the neighbourhood of US$6 billion" a year on Arctic operations, and suggested that the amount would increase as it modernises projects like the North Warning System, which is funded jointly with Canada. Turning to other examples of cooperation with Arctic allies, Liquori mentioned a plan to have Norway launch two polar satellite communications payloads "because they had two satellites that were going to go up on orbit along the time frame". ^ top ^

India 'may not be cooperative' on China issue amid Blinken's visit (Global Times)
2021-07-27
Closely following US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit to China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to India this week, with China reportedly among the topics. While the US intends to seek support from India on a number of issues, the South Asian country may not be as cooperative, given the rising internal conflicts between the two sides concerning Afghanistan, vaccine distribution and human rights issues, observers noted. Blinken is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday, which will be his first visit to "the world's largest democracy" as the secretary of state under the Biden administration, Reuters reported. Such an arrangement, which closely follows Sherman's visit to China on Sunday and Monday, is seen as a sign that the US will rope in India to contain China and play "India card," analysts said. Blinken's agenda will include Indo-Pacific engagement, addressing the climate crisis, and pandemic response, the US State Department said. China will also be a hot topic as Washington sees India as a helping hand to "stand up to China's increasingly assertive behavior in Asia and beyond," Reuters reported. "Seeing that India has common interests with the US on exerting influence in the Indo-Pacific region, Washington is trying to win over India to contain China," Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Monday. Blinken will also be looking to setting up an in-person meeting of the so-called Quad -Australia, India, Japan and the US - after holding a virtual summit in March, which is expected to focus on ways to develop regional infrastructure in the face of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Reuters reported. In sharp contrast to Washington's stance, however, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said in July that China hopes that Western countries led by the US earnestly implement the infrastructure plans, build more roads and bridges for developing countries, and bring them more jobs and benefits, while adding that the BRI is open and inclusive for foreign cooperation plans. Observers believe that India may not be as supportive as the US had expected on a variety of issues including China, in light of rising frictions between the two partners. One of the major quarrels New Delhi and Washington are having is the US decision to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, which has left India's investment in the region for the past 20 years hanging in the air, Long Xingchun, a senior research fellow with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Monday. "India has invested a lot in Afghanistan, including financial support and engineering projects to help Afghanistan train the army. With the US' sudden withdrawal, the deteriorating security situation in the country could mean a complete collapse of India's investment in the region, which could be a heavy blow to the Indian government," Long said. What's more, India is growing increasingly dissatisfied with the US on the COVID-19 vaccine, as the US has been hoarding doses while Indians suffer from vaccine shortages, Wu told the Global Times. Although the US might be showing kindness by offering more vaccines to the epidemic-battered country, it seems that the gesture would more often than not turn out to be an empty promise, Wu added. On top of the vaccine friction, the White House has been bugging India with "human rights concerns" after the Modi government introduced a Citizenship Amendment Bill in December 2019 that Western voices deemed "anti-Muslim discrimination." Dean Thompson, the State Department's acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs, confirmed that Blinken's trip to India will also raise human rights issues. ^ top ^

Xi congratulates Vietnamese president on reelection (China Daily)
2021-07-27
President Xi Jinping pledged on Monday to work with Vietnam's leaders to build the two countries into a community with a shared future after Nguyen Xuan Phuc was reelected as the Southeast Asian country's president and Pham Minh Chinh as its prime minister. In his message congratulating Phuc on his reelection, Xi said that as socialist neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, China and Vietnam enjoy a profound traditional friendship and broad common interests. Faced with unprecedented changes and a pandemic unseen in a century, the two countries have held fast to their shared ideals and convictions and have stayed true to their original aspiration for unity and friendship, Xi said. China and Vietnam have attached new meaning to their comprehensive strategic cooperation in the new era with practical actions, he added. This year, the Communist Party of Vietnam concluded its 13th National Congress in February while the Communist Party of China celebrated the centenary of its founding in July, Xi said, noting that the two parties and the development of the countries have entered a crucial period. He said he highly values developing China's relations with Vietnam and is willing to make joint efforts with the Vietnamese leaders to strengthen strategic guidance on the relations between the two parties and countries in the new era. Also on Monday, Premier Li Keqiang congratulated Chinh on his reelection as Vietnam's prime minister. Li said in a message that he stands ready to work with Chinh to deepen political mutual trust, consolidate the foundation of friendly cooperation, accelerate the alignment of development strategies and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, in order to continuously push forward bilateral relations. On Monday, the 15th National Assembly of Vietnam reelected Phuc as Vietnam's president and Chinh as the nation's prime minister for the 2021-26 term. ^ top ^

Nanjing airport coronavirus cluster 'spreads to 15 other Chinese cities' (SCMP)
2021-07-30
China's Covid-19 control measures are under intense pressure after an airport cluster in Jiangsu province's Nanjing is believed to have led to infections in 15 cities across the country in just over a week. The spread is being fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant that has now swept across 132 countries, according to the World Health Organization this week. China's zero-tolerance approach to the virus has put tremendous political pressure on the city and governing Jiangsu province, with senior officials admitting to the need to "deeply reflect" on lessons learned and improve their political judgment and understanding of epidemic control. The Nanjing outbreak has already infected more than 200 people including at least 30 people in 15 other cities, with Beijing and Sichuan province's Chengdu among them, according to various city statements. The Nanjing cluster broke out last week with several cleaners at the city's Lukou International Airport initially affected. Public health experts believe the latest outbreak is still in the early stages. It is already larger than a May outbreak that mostly affected Guangdong and was the first community spread of the Delta variant in China, with 167 cases reported. The health experts said more surveillance was needed to find out if there were more cases linked to the airport and if tougher control measures were needed. Ineffective management has been blamed for the outbreak, thought to be connected to an international cargo flight more than two weeks ago. Nine airport cleaners tested positive on July 20 during routine testing but by then had already infected colleagues and other service staff. At least 173 people in Nanjing have been infected including more than 60 cleaners, according to the city's health authorities. "The airport faced problems such as poor supervision and unprofessional management, and prevention and control measures were not implemented effectively," said the Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-corruption body, in a website statement on Wednesday. The airport did not separate cleaning staff responsible for international flights from domestic ones, exposing a serious lack of day-to-day supervision, the statement said. International and domestic flight operations were mixed together, meaning the virus was imported and has spread in China, it added. China's Civil Aviation Administration has issued guidelines on Covid-19 for flights and airports, which ban service staff for international flights from using public facilities accessible to passengers. They are also required to not have contact with service staff for domestic flights. Feng Jun, chairman of Eastern Airport Group which administers the airport in Nanjing, was suspended on July 23 in relation to the outbreak. On Wednesday a meeting took place with officials including Jiangsu Communist Party boss Lou Qinjian and Wang Hesheng and Lei Haichao, both deputy directors of China's National Health Commission. Wang and Lei arrived in Nanjing on Wednesday to advise on epidemic control, according to official media reports. The meeting called on all departments to "look at the problem from a political perspective" and take political responsibility in preventing the spread of Covid-19 from Nanjing to other cities. In a meeting on Thursday morning Jiangsu governor Wu Zhenglong told officials that the lesson in Nanjing was "profound" and they must reflect and remain vigilant at all times. Zhang Wenhong, director of Shanghai's Huashan Hospital's department of infectious disease, has called for calm and urged people to take care, as it will take about two weeks to monitor the extent of the Nanjing outbreak. "All the cases in various cities and provinces have been detected through transmission chains relating to Nanjing airport. There has been no major community spread of cases outside Nanjing, which suggests the outbreak is still controllable," he wrote on social media on Thursday morning. "Nanjing has taken stringent preventive and control measures and we should be confident that the outbreak will be contained within weeks if the control measures are effective." He said it would take up to two weeks of surveillance to see any cases not directly linked to the airport and that might mean "more decisive measures". Long adopting a zero-tolerance prevention and control strategy, Chinese cities have responded to the pandemic with large-scale Covid-19 screening and strict control measures such as contact tracing and lockdowns. The cities of Zhuhai and Zhongshan in southern Guangdong province quickly launched diagnostic nucleic tests soon after they identified cases of infection linked to the Nanjing outbreak, but have not yet found more new cases. Ningxiang city in Hunan has also taken similar measures after a 12-year-old boy was identified as a close contact of an infected carrier from Sichuan province. In Beijing, where a couple were confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19 after a recent visit to Hunan, nine residential areas near their home were closed down. Residents said they had been told they would remain under observation for at least two weeks and be tested every three days. Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, called on residents not to leave the capital city. "Summer is the peak season for tourism, travel and gatherings. People travel frequently and are highly mobile but residents must not relax from preventing and controlling the epidemic," he said. "We advise people to reduce travel outside the capital in the near future, focusing instead on the suburbs and short and medium trips to the outdoors, in less crowded open areas, country parks and only with families," Pang added. ^ top ^

What the Deadly Zhengzhou Floods Teach Us (Caixin)
2021-07-29
It has been a week since flooding and related disasters triggered by torrential rain ravaged central China's Zhengzhou July 20, claiming at least 51 lives, based on official data as of July 23. While mourning the loss of life, it is also important to review the factors leading to the tragedy and reflect how such heavy casualties can be avoided in the face of natural disasters. It is clear that Zhengzhou was hit by an unexpected and extreme weather event. According to official data, in three days from July 17 to 20, Zhengzhou experienced rainfall equivalent to its annual average of more than 600 millimeters. In about one hour on the afternoon of July 20, the city received a record 201.9 millimeters of rainfall. Such a once-in-a- millennium rainstorm would be disastrous in many of the world's big cities. Such extreme weather is rare, especially for inland cities like Zhengzhou. Accurately forecasting strong rainstorms has long been a challenging task. But it doesn't mean that humanity is completely powerless in face of natural disasters. With development of scientific and technological methods, such as weather satellites and big data analysis, people are increasingly capable of predicting heavy rainfall. In fact, the Zhengzhou Meteorological Bureau issued a top-level red alert for the rainstorm July 19, the day before the deadly downpour. Four more alerts were issued July 20 before 4 p.m. when the rain intensified. The meteorological department suggested temporary suspension of public gatherings, schools and businesses — the so-called Three Suspensions. But a Meteorological Bureau warning doesn't have any enforcement teeth, serving instead as a reference for the public and for government agencies. Under Chinese rules, a formal Three Suspensions order must be issued by government departments — in most cases the local government's emergency task force for flood control. That means it takes an administrative procedure for the Meteorological Bureau's red alert to be turned into a formal suspension order. For instance, according to a 2018 Beijing municipal government regulation, the city government can enact the highest Level I emergency response when a red alert is issued by the meteorological department. Following an emergency response order, government departments and organizations can mobilize resources for disaster control while schools and businesses can adopt flexible working hours. Regulations in Guangdong and Zhejiang, where typhoons and torrential rains occur frequently, are similar. Caixin was unable to find related rules in Zhengzhou's existing regulatory documents for flood response. But according to other localities' practices, the government should have enacted the Level I emergency response following five red alerts from the meteorological department and should have ordered a formal suspension of social activities. It wasn't until 5 p.m. July 20 that the social media account of the Zhengzhou government recorded a Level I emergency response, up from the previous Level II. By then the worst period of the rainstorm had already passed. No public information could be found on any official Three Suspensions order on or before July 20. It is still unknown to the public why Zhengzhou responded so slowly to the torrential rain. It is probably due to a lack of experience for city authorities in dealing with such heavy rainfall as they have rarely seen, or it could reflect the government's concerns over striking a balance between safety and costs, experts said. In a city with millions of people, the subway is often the only option for urban commuters when heavy rainfall paralyzes road transport. But in Zhengzhou, the subway system turned out to be a fatal choice. According to official data, 14 people were confirmed dead as of July 26 on the subway Line 5, as floodwater filled underground tunnels and trapped hundreds of passengers on carriages. The official investigation of the incident is still underway, but many have questioned why the subway system didn't halt operations when the flood hit. City authorities said heavy rainfall swamped a subway carriage parking area near the Shakoulu station on Line 5, where the trains were trapped July 20. Floodwaters breached defensive barriers around 6 p.m. and rushed underground through the entrance for trains. The whole subway system was suspended 10 minutes later. Ten minutes could be crucial for the floodwater to reach the Shakoulu station and trap the train. According to surviving passengers interviewed by Caixin, the train had three emergency stops as it rolled toward the Shakoulu station before 6 p.m. It was eventually stranded without reaching the station. Experts said that under such extreme weather conditions, the subway operator should have the authority to halt operations to ensure safety. The newspaper Southern Weekly cited a safety official with the Zhengzhou Metro as saying they maintained operations in hopes of giving commuters a travel option. Although the subway company can halt the system when floods enter the tunnel or affect power supply, an official suspension order still requires approval from city authorities, the official said. Although Zhengzhou's railway regulation allows operators to decide on suspending operations in extreme weather, such a decision still requires strict administrative procedure and government approval in practice, several metro system sources said. Official investigation of the incident has not yet been completed, but the catastrophe in Zhengzhou sounded alarms for city officials on managing modern cities amid increasingly extreme weather incidents. When such events occur, they can be a total disaster for victims and their families. What's needed is an institutional arrangement that builds a smooth chain from disaster forecast to warning and emergency response to effectively dealing with incidents to control losses. Changes are in the making. On July 21, the Ministry of Transport issued a notice ordering transport operators to inspect their capability for managing severe floods and improve emergency response plans. On July 26, the National Development and Reform Commission published an emergency notice on strengthening safety protections for important urban infrastructure. In case of extreme weather and other abnormal conditions, cities must immediately enact the highest-level response. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is revising the Emergency Response Law and making the revision one of the top lawmaking priorities following the Covid-19 pandemic. It is expected that the latest revision will further empower the law and enhance China's capacity to manage disasters. ^ top ^

China's laws on military personnel, facilities to take effect on Aug. 1 (Xinhua)
2021-07-29
China's brand new law on the protection of the status, rights and interests of military personnel and the revised Law on Military Facilities Protection will take effect on Aug. 1, according to a press conference Wednesday. As a ground-breaking legal document, the law on the protection of the status, rights and interests of military personnel prescribes the status of military personnel through legislation for the first time, and ramps up targeted measures to protect military personnel's wellbeing, said Guo Linmao, an official with the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC). The newly-revised Law on Military Facilities Protection sets forth the principle of coordinating socio-economic development and military facilities protection, and defines the responsibility of local governments and relevant State Council bodies in protecting military facilities during socio-economic and land-use planning, said Tong Weidong, an official with the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee. Both laws were adopted on June 10 during the 29th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee. Aug. 1 marks China's Army Day. ^ top ^

China's top political advisory body holds Chairperson's Council meeting (China Daily)
2021-07-28
The 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, held a Chairperson's Council meeting on Wednesday. Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over and addressed the meeting. Participants reviewed and approved revised work guidelines of the special committees of the CPPCC National Committee, and listened to a report on stepping up institution building. Wang stressed the need for deepening institutional innovation and strengthening the enforcement of institutions so as to provide a strong guarantee for giving full play to the CPPCC's role as a special consultative body. The meeting reviewed and passed a draft report on the work of the Chairperson's Council meeting since the fourth session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, and made work plans for the next step. The meeting also adopted the draft agenda and schedule of the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, and decided that the session will be held from Aug 30 to Sept 1 in Beijing, focusing on advancing the Peaceful China initiative at a higher level. ^ top ^

President stresses 'toilet revolution' in rural areas (China Daily)
2021-07-28
President Xi Jinping has highlighted the importance of advancing the "toilet revolution" in rural areas, saying that quality and practical results must be the priority. The nation must continue to see the "toilet revolution" as an important aspect of the rural vitalization process, and give emphasis to adjusting measures to local circumstances, Xi said in an instruction published on Friday. China launched the "toilet revolution" to increase the number and improve the sanitation of toilets at tourist sites, and to improve public toilets in cities and build better toilets in rural areas. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that the "toilet revolution" has been advanced and sanitary toilets have been promoted, which significantly improved the living environment in rural areas. It is important to give priority to quality and pragmatic results, rather than blindly seeking numbers and progress, and oppose vanity projects that waste money and human resources, he said. Party committees and governments at various levels must assume their due responsibilities and make coordinated efforts to ensure that the program is conducted properly, he added. Xi's instruction came as a national conference on the "toilet revolution" was held on Friday in Hengyang, Hunan province. Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua said at the conference that it is important to put quality first and ensure that each renovated toilet can be put to proper use. Hu said that the renovation of toilets must be conducted in parallel with wastewater treatment to ensure that sanitary standards can be met. He also urged steps to explore suitable ways and methods in line with local circumstances and ensure that projects are piloted successfully before being applied in a larger area. It is important to give play to the principal role of farmers and ensure that they can truly benefit from the campaign, he added. ^ top ^

Chinese premier urges easing burdens to facilitate third-child policy (People's Daily)
2021-07-28
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday called for easing the burdens of maternity, parenting and education to facilitate the implementation of the third-child policy. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction to a video conference on improving birth policies in Beijing. The population issues are of fundamental, holistic, and strategic importance that concern the development of the Chinese nation, Li said. Implementing the third-child policy and its supporting measures is a significant decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to promote long-term and balanced population development, Li said. The relevant economic and social policies and supporting measures should be coordinated to ease the burdens that giving birth, raising children, and providing education place on parents, Li stressed. Li urged governments and authorities at all levels to formulate detailed plans and supporting measures to ensure the implementation of the policy. When addressing the conference, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged joint efforts on medical, educational, housing, and fiscal areas to achieve the strategic goal of population development, including speeding up revision of relevant laws and regulations. ^ top ^

Xi's speech at CPC centenary ceremony published in ethnic minority languages (Xinhua)
2021-07-28
A speech given by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at a grand ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC has been published in ethnic minority languages. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, gave the speech in Beijing on July 1. The document was translated by the China Ethnic Languages Translation Bureau and published by the Ethnic Publishing House. The translated versions are now available nationwide. ^ top ^

China to boost safety precautions at urban metros (Xinhua)
2021-07-26
Chinese authorities on Monday stressed efforts to properly implement safety precautions at urban metro systems nationwide. The issue was addressed at a video conference held jointly by the Office of the Work Safety Commission under the State Council, the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) and the Ministry of Transport (MOT). Local departments and metro-operation units in particular should be fully aware of the extreme importance of metro safety, implement flood-control measures, and respond quickly to early warnings, according to the conference. In case of emergencies, natural disasters and other safety threats, metro-operation units should swiftly suspend the operation of some sections or the entire network in accordance with the regulations, and activate contingency plans in time, it said. Metro-operating units should enhance their first-response capabilities by establishing and improving professional emergency-rescue teams, and providing sufficient emergency facilities, equipment and materials. Cities with metro networks are required to carry out self-check and overhaul, and the MOT and MEM will send experts to key cities for supervision, the conference noted. For the current flood season, the conference stressed efforts to strengthen urban traffic-safety work and real-time monitoring of key road sections, bridges, culverts and overpasses that are prone to waterlogging. More work should be done to continue flood control and disaster relief in downpour-hit Henan Province and brace for Typhoon In-Fa in the coastal regions, according to the conference. ^ top ^

Conference on High-Quality Development and International Cooperation of Chinese Cities held in Beijing (Global Times)
2021-07-28
On July 24, the Conference on High-Quality Development and International Cooperation of Chinese Cities was held in Beijing. Guided by the 14th Five-Year (2021-25) Plan, the conference discussed the promotion of high-quality development in areas of industrial restructuring, green industry, scientific and technological innovation, reform of state-owned enterprises, and opening up of cities. The conference was held by Global Times. Representatives from many cities that have made remarkable achievements on high-quality development, hundreds of well-known entrepreneurs, economists and experts attended the conference. Xie Rongbin, Deputy Editor-in-chief of the Global Times and Chair of People.cn, in his keynote speech claimed that high-quality development is an important theme of China's social economic development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and beyond. He also believed that improving the industrial chain, central to China's socialist modernization, and economic quality, efficiency and competitiveness is crucial to cities' high-quality development. Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchange (CCIEE) and former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the driving force for high-quality development of cities will come from the integration of new policies and the "dual circulation" strategy. All cities, including development zones and free trade zones, must have distinct and forward-looking strategies. Wei also stressed that the competition among the future cities is no longer the competition among individual cities, but among urban agglomerations. Therefore, cities must complement each other. According to the 14th Five-Year Plan and the outline of the long-term goals of 2035, China will create new opportunities for the digital economy, promote deep integration of digital technology and the real economy, enable the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries, and strengthen economic development. In this regard, Zhang Wei, chief expert of the China Association for Trade in Services and former vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the digital economy is the largest area of urban high-quality development. Digital development and "carbon neutralization" will be crucial, and we should take the opportunity to solve urban environmental problems and build smart cities, he added. Huang Hanquan, director of the Price and Cost Investigation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out in his speech: "the modern industrial system is a basis for the high-quality development of cities. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee last year made it clear that the focus of economic development should be on the real economy, and we are required to modernize the industrial and supply chain, develop strategic emerging industries, and speed up the development of the service industry, infrastructure, transportation digitization and so on." […] ^ top ^

New Shanghai Pudong cluster unveiled to draw international economic entities (People's Daily)
2021-07-29
The New Bund Global Economic Organization Cluster was unveiled in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Wednesday, as part of its efforts to attract more international economic entities to drive high-quality growth. China issued a guideline on July 15 to support high-level reform and opening-up of Pudong. The guideline listed measures to build Pudong into a pioneer area for socialist modernization. The guideline also pointed out that Pudong should play a role in drawing more international economic organizations and multinational companies' regional headquarters to the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Currently, a total of 10 international economic organizations have set up offices in the New Bund of Pudong (Qiantan Area). Yang Chao, deputy head of the Pudong New Area, said that the New Bund Global Economic Organization Cluster will gather more corporate headquarters, international organizations and institutions with global influence, helping Pudong become the prime option for many international organizations and improving Shanghai's global competitiveness. ^ top ^

Xi visits Tibetan family, praises hard work (China Daily)
2021-07-28
Wearing their newest and best traditional Tibetan attire, members of Dawa Gyaltsan's family in Galai village of Nyingchi, Tibet autonomous region, warmly welcomed President Xi Jinping to their home on Wednesday, Tibet Daily reported. With offerings of barley wine in exquisite silver bowls, along with other traditional presentations, the welcoming ceremony was infused with traditional Tibetan customs, including white silk hada, used by Tibetans as a greeting gift, and wooden boxes known as chemar, filled with a mixture of roasted barley flour and butter. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the Tibet autonomous region from Wednesday to Friday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation. "When we saw President Xi Jinping heading to our home in the village, we were moved to tears," said Dawa Gyaltsan, adding that Xi also took a close look at the plums and peaches on the trees in the yard. After entering the home, Xi visited the family's storage room and touched the sacks of grain stacked there. He asked how much land the family owned and was told 1.93 hectares, on which they planted wheat, corn and buckwheat. Dawa Gyaltsan received an income of 37,000 yuan ($5,700) last year from land rent. His mother, Drolma, 60, said she had once lived in a small stone dwelling. At that time, the family kept livestock in their yard, and sanitation was poor. "It was beyond my imagination that we could live in such a bright house and that we could plant different things in the yard," she said, adding that she felt very happy to have such a wonderful life. Dawa Gyaltsan's son, Phurbu Tsering, 12, said Xi came to his bedroom and noticed a soccer ball and a basketball under the desk. The boy was glad to hear that Xi liked playing soccer, too. "President Xi also asked me what my future dream was," he said, adding that he wants to be a sprinter. Dawa Gyaltsan told Xi that his family income exceeded more than 300,000 yuan last year, and that his businesses now included transportation, tourism, land rent, planting and livestock breeding. Hearing this, Xi noted that the wonderful life in the village reflects Tibet's overall development over the past seven decades since the region's peaceful liberation, thanks to the Communist Party of China and the country's good policies. "This happy life was also earned by your own hard work, which is necessary to fully implement the Tibet aid policies introduced by the central government and fully realize the development and revitalization of rural areas," Xi said. ^ top ^

German Green party member refutes Western slander on China's Xinjiang (Xinhua)
2021-07-28
Allegations against China's Xinjiang like "genocide" and "concentration camps" are baseless, said Juergen Kurz, a German Green party member, in a recent interview with Xinhua. Kurz, who's married to a woman from Xinjiang and now living in Shanghai, said he knows Xinjiang quite well, and he has traveled to the far western Chinese region for multiple times. "I was really surprised at how much Xinjiang changed," Kurz said of his most recent trip to the region. He said that the development in Xinjiang was more than visible since his last visit there several years ago. "I think that most guys in the Western media really have no clue about how China is working," he said. Kurz said that allegations like "genocide" and "concentration camps" about Xinjiang are "generated" from Western countries and part of a strategy by Western politicians to "stop the rise of China." Kurz, who made a most recent trip to Xinjiang in May this year, said he got some insights of the alleged "concentration camps" which are actually vocational education centers. He said these education centers are part of a poverty reduction policy. In China, such programs run extremely heavily through the government, provincial governments, cities and municipalities, said Kurz. He added that such education centers were also used to de-radicalize the extremists, as the most approachable people for extremism are young men who have no professional prospects and do not know what to do. Talking about the "genocide" allegation, Kurz said it was also a "framing" by Western countries, as the Uygur population has been increasing and has a higher birthrate than the ethnic Han people. ^ top ^

HK's first NSL verdict finds Leon Tong guilty for inciting secession and terrorism (Global Times)
2021-07-28
Three judges have reached a decision on the first trial under the national security law for Hong Kong - Leon Tong Ying-kit was found guilty of inciting secession and terrorism. Observers noted the landmark verdict will set a precedent for upcoming national security cases including the trial of pro-secessionist media tycoon Jimmy Lai. On Tuesday afternoon, the judges announced the verdict following a 15-day trial. The former restaurant worker became the first person to be convicted under the national security law for Hong Kong. His mitigation plea is scheduled to be heard on Thursday. This is the first case in Hong Kong's legal history for someone to be convicted of incitement of secession and carrying out terrorist activities under the National Security Law. These offences are new and need to be dealt with to fix Hong Kong's on-going social and political dilemmas, experts told the Global Times. In the verdict, the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times" was deemed illegal, and observers believe the verdict will serve as a reference for future similar cases to speed up the trials, which grants Tuesday's verdict a milestone status in Hong Kong's judicial system. Banning open instigation by displaying this slogan is also considered as a turning point that will become a warning to local secessionists who try to play word games to challenge the rule of law. Illegal slogan The defendant, Leon Tong Ying-kit, faced three charges, including two related to national security. Tong was arrested during a protest on July 1, 2020, a day after the national security law for Hong Kong took effect. Before the arrest, he allegedly rammed a motorcycle into three police officers, carrying a protest banner with the slogan, "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times" (the "Liberate" slogan). During the trial, whether the "Liberate" slogan incited secessionism has become the focus of a heated debate. Although the defense experts argued that the slogan could mean different things to different people, judges later ruled that the slogan is illegal. "Having regard to the natural and reasonable effect of displaying the flag with the words 'Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times' on it and in the particular circumstances of this case, such display of the words was capable of inciting others to commit secession," the judges said in their ruling. "When the defendant displayed the slogan in the manner he did, he intended to communicate the secessionist meaning of the slogan to others and he intended to incite others to commit secession by separating the HKSAR from China," says the verdict. From this decision onwards, it is highly likely that the slogan which carries separatism message cannot be used (during protection) anymore, Lawrence Ma, barrister and chairman at Hong Kong Legal Exchange at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday. If a slogan is defined in the ruling and all appeal procedures are completed and the ruling is not overturned, the relevant ruling may become "facts known to the court." Thus, future cases do not need to provide evidence in order to define the slogan, Willy Fu, law professor and Vice-Chairman of Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, told the Global Times. Fu also emphasized that in every case in the future, the defendant can still seek to overturn the relevant definition. Tong has not yet been sentenced and his mitigation plea will be heard on Thursday. According to the national security law for Hong Kong, a person can be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for inciting, assisting in or abetting secession. A person who organizes, plans, commits, participates in or threatens to commit terrorist activities in a grave nature can face life imprisonment. Precedent for upcoming cases This is the first verdict of the Hong Kong court after the national security law for the region came into effect more than a year ago. The case means a lot to future similar cases, Lau Siu-kai, the vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday. The ruling clarifies some important legal principles, and shows that national security laws are not only a "law on paper" but also a "law in action," noted Wu Yingpeng, a lawyer and barrister-at-law in Hong Kong. Legal experts also pointed out that because trial of this case was held in the Court of First Instance, the judgment is binding on the lower courts and can be used as a guideline for the District Court and Magistrates Court in the future to speed up the efficiency of the trial. "This case not only fills in the legal loopholes in Hong Kong's common law when it comes to trial of activities that endanger national security that no case can be cited, but also forms a certain degree of deterrent effect against similar incidents in the future," Louis Chen, general secretary of Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, told the Global Times. "Also, from this judgment, the public will now know that a terrorist act does not only involve death or explosion, as long as it is a violent act done with a political agenda in mind," noted Ma. It is also worth noting that no jury was present at the trial, as Hong Kong's justice secretary argued that a jury trial in this case would "put jurors' safety at risk." The case is instead being heard by a panel of three judges assigned by the HKSAR's Chief Executive Carrie Lam, which has started a new criminal trial mode," Chen noted. "The jury trial is just a routine," Chen explained, "and the Department of Justice has the power to instruct the court not to set up a jury in a trial as a prosecution decision, which is guaranteed by the Basic Law." Fu also said that since the implementation of the national security law, the cases that need to be prosecuted are "piling up" which need to be handled as soon as possible. Since the enactment of the national security law for Hong Kong, the department of national security of the Hong Kong Police Force arrested 117 suspects who allegedly violated the national security law, from the age of 15 to 79, and among whom 64 have been prosecuted, in addition to three companies on suspicion of intruding the national security law, which have also been prosecuted, according to open data. The trial of Jimmy Lai, who also faces national security charges, has also been extended to October 12 to the High Court on Tuesday. Lai, in addition to the charge of colluding with foreign forces, was suspected of assisting 12 Hong Kong people who were detained last August as they intended to flee to the island of Taiwan to avoid being charged for their acts during the 2019 turmoil in Hong Kong. Experts suggested that special court could be established to handle criminal cases, like in the UK's law system. ^ top ^

Separatist forces advocating "Taiwan independence" doomed to fail: spokesperson (People's Daily)
2021-07-28
A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority and separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence" are doomed to fail if they dare to provoke. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to a question on DPP's comment on U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit to China. Zhu urged the United States to uphold the one-China principle with concrete actions. There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, which is an undeniable fact that can never be changed by any force or individual, said Zhu. No one should underestimate the resolve, the will, and the ability of the Chinese people to defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhu said. ^ top ^

Expo to fortify China-ASEAN trade ties (China Daily)
2021-07-30
The upcoming 18th China-ASEAN Expo will facilitate China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to further diversify trade ties under regional free trade agreements, and support the recovery of the global economy, said senior government officials on Thursday. The event will be held in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, from Sept 10 to 13. The exhibition will hold 27 high-level forums, covering sectors from green development to digital economy. This should help deepen the cooperation between the two sides, said Liu Hongwu, Guangxi's vice-chairman. Liu also said the expo's organizers have invited exhibitors and purchasing agents from Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and other signatory states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, to participate in the expo this year. With a total floor area of 124,000 square meters, the expo will have a dedicated RCEP display zone and organize training workshops themed on the agreement details, to facilitate early implementation of the RCEP. To deepen economic cooperation between China and the ASEAN,China will promote regional economic integration and the implementation of the RCEP agreement, as well as further regional interconnection of RCEP members in the next stage, said Ren Hongbin, assistant commerce minister. "In addition, China will expand trade and investment cooperation with the ASEAN, by expanding the import of high-quality agricultural products from the region, enhancing cooperation in emerging industries and new business forms, supporting Chinese companies to invest in ASEAN economies, and building a closer industry chain with the bloc," he said. Benefiting from the complementary goods trade structure, easing of the pandemic and vaccinations in the ASEAN region, China's trade with it soared 38.2 percent year-on-year to $410.76 billion in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. China mainly ships medical products, construction machinery and materials, manufacturing equipment, steel, electronics and household appliances to ASEAN markets. In addition to minerals, precious and base metals, and agricultural products, the bloc's exports to China include natural rubber, timber and materials of textile and garment goods. "The close business ties and FTAs, including ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, will facilitate the two sides to better integrate resources in the coming years, and build a high-quality service platform to restore both regional and global economic growth," said Zhang Shaogang, vice-chairman of the Beijing-based China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Owing to epidemic prevention and control requirements, which are similar to those seen last year, the expo this year will combine a physical trade show with an online version. Its online platform will be running all year round, providing companies with business promotion services on a regular basis. ^ top ^

The Fall of China's Last Bitcoin Mining Haven (Caixin)
2021-07-28
For the past year and a half, the loud whirring of tens of thousands of high-power computers filled a cavernous warehouse round-the-clock, making a stark contrast with the hushed forests of the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province. This computational arsenal belonged to a crypto mining farm, a facility crammed wall-to-wall with specialized computers dedicated to solving the complex math problems that keep the network running, and earning new Bitcoin along the way. "That's the sound of cash coming in," said Ye Lang (pseudonym), the 40-year-old manager of the two-floor facility in the prefecture's Heishui county. At the peak of the facility's Bitcoin mining operations, Ye was in charge of 80 employees and a total of 80,000 mining machines, with the entire project estimated to be earning more than 90 million yuan ($14 million) during the peak six months when Sichuan's rivers are glutted and electricity is especially cheap. But this all came to an end at 9 p.m. on June 19, as a clean-up notice jointly issued a day before by the Sichuan government demanded the closure of Ye's facility, along with 25 other cryptocurrency mining projects in the province. The shutdown notice followed a May 21 meeting of the State Council's Financial Stability and Development Committee, a top-level economic and financial policymaking body chaired by Vice Premier Liu He, which specifically stated that the country will "crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading," citing the financial risks involved. Ye had to terminate all operations: One by one, the facility's 2,000 giant fans stopped rumbling, and the computers stopped whirring. "It's over, it's all over," he mumbled. Ye decided to jump on the Bitcoin mining bandwagon in 2018 when he closed down the majority of his internet café business, mortgaged his apartment in Anqing, Anhui province, borrowed money from relatives and left his wife and daughters to move to Sichuan. The province was until recently China's second-largest Bitcoin mining region after Xinjiang, thanks to its rich, cheap hydropower. He got a lucky break in November 2019 when he was introduced to Liu Weimin (pseudonym), a well-connected Sichuan businessman, who had just negotiated a deal with a state-owned hydropower plant to build a crypto farm in Heishui county, around 300 kilometers from provincial capital Chengdu. Ye was appointed manager of the facility. "I watched this center being built brick by brick," Ye said. The fact that the electricity for crypto mining in Sichuan came from hydropower meant that many thought the province would be a safe haven for Bitcoin miners. As pressure on local governments to cut carbon emissions mounts, projects were successfully shuttered in some other provincial-level regions — such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia — where the mining was chiefly fueled by coal. Also, the Sichuan government appeared to be positive toward the business. In July 2019 it decided to set up demonstration zones that welcomed energy-intensive industries to help consume hydropower during the summer and autumn months that would otherwise be wasted. As of April, China was still home to 46% of the world's Bitcoin mining activity, with the U.S. coming in second place with 16.8%, according to data gathered by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. But everything has changed since the May government meeting, which came after global speculation boosted the Bitcoin price to an all-time high of nearly $65,000 per token in mid-April. According to blockchain information website QKL123, the global average hash rate of Bitcoin, which is the total combined power being used to mine the cryptocurrency and process transactions, dropped 48% from its historic peak on May 13 by June 21, the day after the Sichuan government-mandated closures. Despite the government's hardline approach, Ye is determined to carry on: "This industry is extremely volatile. High emotions and stress are involved, but that's also its appeal." "Companies are banned from mining Bitcoin, but individuals aren't," Ye said, adding that he plans to turn around his operation by purchasing old equipment and downsizing. Liu, the owner of the shuttered farm that Ye managed, is also devising a Plan B, unfazed by the dent the government's put in his wallet. The 40-year-old became a yuan billionaire due to his early investments in Bitcoin. In Sichuan alone, Liu owned more than 10 Bitcoin mining farms, which industry insiders estimated accounted for one-eighth of the total electricity consumed by all Bitcoin mines in the province. During peak seasons, Liu said his farms could mine 70 to 80 Bitcoins every day. About 900 Bitcoins are issued each day globally, according to an industry information platform. The price of Bitcoin is highly volatile, and was sitting at just over $38,500 per token on July 26, up more than 250% from a year earlier but down over 40% from its April peak. Liu got a first taste of the potential of crypto mining in 2016, when his friend from college showed him a Bitcoin mining machine. Already more than 2 million yuan in debt from a failed farming business, he bought 10 mining machines with 10,000 yuan and installed them at a facility run by a startup incubator in Mianyang, Sichuan. With the electricity fee fully subsidized by the incubator, Liu was able to earn nearly 200 yuan in profit every day running the computers. He added another 50 computers shortly, only to get kicked out by the incubator on New Year's Day in 2017 because it could no longer stand the bills the operation had racked up. Liu then decided he'd go big or go home. In early 2017, he started with just over 200 mining machines before accumulating around 10,000 machines in September that year. Shortly after repaying all his debts, Liu decided to adjust his business model and not mine his own Bitcoin — instead, he set up large-scale mining farms for others and helped them manage their machines. "Mining farms are somewhat like conventional crop farms. No matter how the Bitcoin market changes, the mining process remains. Opening such facilities is a relatively stable investment, and I can generally break even in a year," Liu told Caixin. Thanks to the Sichuan government's mining-friendly policies back then, Liu's business continued to flourish for the past three years. He quickly made a name for himself, and was a frequent guest at government events and meetings, where he was recognized as one of many model energy consumers who had helped lift locals out of poverty. But everything went just as fast as it came. The first explicit warning came in late February (link in Chinese), when authorities in Inner Mongolia proposed banning new crypto mining projects and shut down the entire industry by the end of April as part of a plan to meet the central government's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Soon enough, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Yunnan followed suit. ^ top ^

Hainan Promises to Put Foreign Service Providers on Equal Footing, Mostly (Caixin)
2021-07-26
China's Ministry of Commerce published a negative list Monday for the cross-border services trade in the island province of Hainan that promises to put foreign firms and individuals on equal footing with domestic peers, provided their businesses don't violate 70 restrictions in 11 industries. The negative list for the Hainan Free Trade Port includes industries such as transportation, information technology, and finance. In areas outside the scope of the list, however, all service providers, be they Chinese or foreign, will be entitled to "equal treatment and market access," Wang Shouwen, a vice commerce minister, said at a Monday briefing. Once the list takes effect on Aug. 26, overseas businesses and individuals will be allowed to provide a range of services or work in capacities previously restricted by the government. For non-Chinese mainland residents living or working in Hainan, these include opening securities and futures accounts to trade in China's onshore markets, and obtaining the license to work as futures investment consultants. At the same time, lawyers across the world can now join law firms registered in Hainan as legal counsel and can work in commercial nonlitigation legal matters at the Hainan offices of overseas law firms. In addition, foreign teachers with a bachelor's degree will be exempt from the two-year experience requirement needed to teach in the province. Also, overseas businesses will now be able to provide services such as market research, customs clearance and ship inspection more freely, Wang said. The new policy came in as Hainan seeks to make itself more attractive to foreign talent, especially investors and executives, who have become increasingly interested in setting up offices on the island, with its warm weather and relaxed lifestyle. The negative list is the first such list specifically designed for cross-border services trade made by China's central government. It is expected to boost Hainan's services industries. In the first half of the year, the services sector accounted for more than 61% of Hainan's GDP and contributed nearly 80% of the province's economic growth, according to data released Tuesday by the Hainan Provincial Bureau of Statistics. ^ top ^

DPRK holds conference of Korean War veterans marking armistice anniversary (China Daily)
2021-07-28
Veterans of the Korean War gathered here Tuesday night for the Seventh National Conference of War Veterans on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the end of the war, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. In his speech at the conference, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un praised the defenders and builders of the country in the 1950s "who created the heroic fighting spirit and traits as benefactors and genuine teachers we should admire and learn after with feelings of gratitude forever," the report said. He said it was the honorable mission of the descendants of the war veterans to further consolidate and bring prosperity to the country, the report added. He also expressed his conviction that "the great spirit and will instilled by the V-Day would be an eternal impetus promoting the advance and development of socialist construction." The conference was held in front of the Monument to the Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang. The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950 and ended with an armistice on July 27, 1953. ^ top ^

S.Korea, DPRK restore communication hotline (Xinhua)
2021-07-27
South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) restored their cross-border communication line that had been severed for over a year, the South Korean presidential Blue House said Tuesday. The Blue House said in a statement that the two Koreas decided to resume their direct communication hotline from 10:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT). All of the inter-Korean communication lines had been severed since June last year when the DPRK cut off them in protest against Seoul's failure to stop civic activists from sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the DPRK. ^ top ^

Defense Minister meets Chair of Qatar-Mongolia Committee on Defense and Investment Cooperation (Montsame)
2021-07-29
Minister of Defense G.Saikhanbayar had a meeting with the Chair of Qatar-Mongolia Committee on Defense and Investment Cooperation and a former chair of the committee. The sides expressed their pleasure that cooperation between the two countries in defense that began with the establishment of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Armed Forces of Mongolia and the Armed Forces of Qatar in 2007 have been successfully expanding through visits, training of military personnel, peace operations, and joint drills against terrorism. Minister G.Saikhanbayar undertook to support further expansion of cooperation. ^ top ^

Prime Minister of Mongolia meets President of Korea Eximbank (Montsame)
2021-07-28
Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene has met with Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Kim Boo-kyum to exchange views on bringing the Mongolia-Republic of Korea comprehensive partnership up to a strategic partnership and bilateral economic development projects. During his stay in the Republic of Korea, the Mongolian Prime Minister also held a meeting with officials from the Export-Import Bank of Korea. At the meeting, Chairman and President of the Korea Eximbank Bang Moon-kyu congratulated the government of Mongolia for fully vaccinating 60 percent of its population against coronavirus and noted the world economies are likely to pick up speed by the end of this year and the first quarter of next year. For his part, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene emphasized that Mongolia holds official development assistances by the government of the Republic of Korea in high regard and thanked for their significant impact to Mongolia's social and economic growth. Mentioning that bilateral ties and cooperation are expanded and development loans and assistances have been advancing despite the challenging circumstances of the pandemic, the PM noted the necessity of accelerating development projects - Solongo 1 and 2 apartment complexes, rent apartments by the Bayangol Mountain and central heating station for 10 rural aimags - in cooperation with the ROK government. Both sides agreed to focus their attention on implementing projects on transportation logistics, mining (cathode copper plant), iron ore processing plant, development of roads, bridges and infrastructures, development of economic free zone at the Khushig Valley and other mutually beneficial, large scale development projects within the framework of the soft loans and grants provided by South Korea. It was also agreed at the meeting to establish a working group to support cooperation between the Korea Eximbank and the Development Bank of Mongolia. Underlining that South Korea holds great experience in tourism and creative cultural production, the Mongolia's Prime Minister shared his views on further cooperation with the Korean side in these areas. ^ top ^

Embassy of Switzerland