Manila, Philippines — The Philippines said Monday it had summoned a Chinese envoy over “aggressive actions” by the China Coast Guard and other vessels near a reef off the Southeast Asian country’s coast.

Beijing and Manila have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months.

The latest incident took place Saturday near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands during a regular Philippine mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded navy ship.

The Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, injuring three crewmembers.

The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as “lawful regulation, interception and expulsion” of a foreign vessel that “tried to forcefully intrude” into Chinese waters.

Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometers from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.

On Monday, Manila conveyed its “strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said, using the Filipino name for Second Thomas Shoal.

It said the Philippine embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry.

“In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal,” the foreign affairs department said.

“The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately.”

It is the same location where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannon and collided with Filipino vessels in similar stand-offs in recent months.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately comment on the summoning of its envoy.

Cooling diplomatic relations

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

The United States, which has a mutual defense pact with Manila, has denounced the attack.

It came days after visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its “ironclad” commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea.

Relations between Manila and Beijing have cooled under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos as he seeks to deepen cooperation with the United States and regional neighbors, while standing up to Chinese aggression towards Philippine vessels.

Chinese and Philippine officials agreed in January on the need for closer dialogue to deal with “maritime emergencies” in the South China Sea, including Second Thomas Shoal.

But Manila said Monday that China’s “aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

Despite the attack, Philippine officials said the damaged vessel and a coast guard escort ship that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hull inflatable boats to deliver its cargo and personnel to the Filipino outpost.

Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities as well as transport for personnel rotations.

Apart from supplies and equipment, the Philippine military said six navy personnel were delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre on Saturday, replacing one soldier who was recently evacuated on medical grounds.

The damaged supply boat and its escorts sailed back to port after completing their mission, the task force said.
…

sydney — New Zealand said on Monday it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month, where relations with China will be a key issue.

The deployment is part of a $6.48 million support program for the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission announced in January and that will help transport election officers and materials around Pacific Island nations.

New Zealand’s foreign ministry said the vessel HMNZS Canterbury will leave Auckland on Tuesday to transport two helicopters and crew, along with command and maintenance personnel to the Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara.

“New Zealand’s overall contribution will support the Commission to lead the delivery of a safe and successful election,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.

“It demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to a resilient democracy in Solomon Islands and the wider Pacific region.”

The Solomon Islands is a key ally of China, and closer ties with Beijing following the election of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in 2019 have alarmed the United States and Australia and set off a race for influence in the strategically located Pacific Islands.

At least one opposition politician, however, has called for a security pact with China to be reviewed and has said that he would seek to re-establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan, according to media reports. Another politician has said he would ask the people to decide on the Solomon Islands’ relations with China via a referendum.

The country said in September a contingent of Australian police first deployed in 2021 to quell anti-government riots would stay on in the country until after the election.

 
…

LONDON — British deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is set to address the country’s lawmakers about the cybersecurity threat posed by China on Monday as worries about possible interference grow before an election expected later this year. 

Dowden is expected to make a statement Monday, a government official said, declining to confirm whether the deputy PM will also announce reprisals including sanctions. 

There has been growing anxiety about China’s alleged espionage activity in Britain, particularly after it emerged last year that a parliamentary researcher was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. 

The government said last year that Chinese spies are targeting British officials in sensitive positions in politics, defense and business as part of an increasingly sophisticated spying operation to gain access to secrets. 

The Chinese Embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Last year, the embassy accused the British government of “making groundless accusations” when the head of MI5 accused China of carrying out an espionage campaign on an “epic scale.” 

Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5 has said it is now running seven times as many investigations into Chinese activity as it did in 2018 and plans more. 

In 2022, MI5 issued a rare security alert, warning members of parliament that a suspected Chinese spy was “involved in political interference activities” in Britain. 
…

beijing — The head of the International Monetary Fund called Sunday for China to implement “a comprehensive package of pro-market reforms” to boost a sluggish economy beset by a housing market crisis, low domestic demand and persistently high youth unemployment.   

Chinese policymakers have so far resisted calls to juice the economy through massive government stimulus, instead stressing the need to pivot toward “high-quality” growth.

Speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the “transition from high rates to high quality of growth is the right fork in the road to take and China is determined to do so.”

The Bulgarian economist warned that “this transformation would not be easy” but argued that “with a comprehensive package of pro-market reforms, China could grow considerably faster than a status quo scenario,” according to an official transcript of her speech.

Beijing should take “decisive steps” to reduce the amount of unfinished housing and give more space for “market-based corrections” in the crucial but heavily indebted real estate sector, Georgieva said.

Authorities should also boost “the spending power of individuals and families” by beefing up China’s pension system and taking other steps to hone its vast social security apparatus, she added.

Georgieva also pushed China to strengthen “the business environment and [ensure] a level playing field between private and state-owned enterprises,” a long-standing demand of overseas business groups operating in the Asian nation. 

Top Chinese politicians have been outwardly bullish on the economy, with Premier Li Qiang telling Sunday’s forum that Beijing would “take practical, effective actions to promote high-quality development and inject positive energy … into the global economic recovery.”

But GDP growth rates in China have been trending downward for years, and Beijing this month set an annual target of “around 5 percent” — significantly lower than the breakneck expansion rates that powered the country’s meteoric rise to prosperity.

Sunday’s forum was attended by some of the world’s highest-profile business figures, including Apple’s Tim Cook, who said he had enjoyed an “outstanding” meeting with Li.

“I think China’s really opening up, and I’m so happy to be here,” the CEO of the United States’ largest smartphone empire told a reporter from CGTN, according to a video posted on one of the state-run broadcaster’s social media accounts.

In separate comments published online by state broadcaster CCTV, Cook said Apple would keep increasing its investment in research and development in China.

He added that Apple’s flagship mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, would hit shelves in China by the end of this year, according to a social media post that carried his remarks in Chinese translation only.

Cook was in Shanghai to open a new Apple store this week, and Friday discussed the company’s expansion plans in China with the country’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao. 
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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean and Chinese officials have met in Beijing and committed to further develop bilateral ties, North Korean media said on Sunday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its diplomatic engagement after COVID-19 lockdowns.

A North Korean delegation led by Kim Song Nam, head of the International Department of the ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, was the among groups visiting countries in the region since last week that Pyongyang has maintained closer ties with.

In a meeting Thursday, Wang Huning, China’s fourth-ranked leader, told Kim, “No matter how the international situation may change, the China-DPRK friendship, a strategic choice of both sides, will never waver,” KCNA said, using North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged messages early this year and vowed closer ties.

At Thursday’s meeting, Wang conveyed Xi’s “heartfelt, warm” message to Kim, KCNA said.

North Korea implemented tough border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, halting the flow of goods with China and Russia, suspending diplomatic exchanges with its main allies and cutting off routes plied by smugglers and defectors.

Some of the restrictions remain, and Pyongyang has only recently allowed more access to foreign diplomats, resumed some diplomatic engagement and increased trade with Russia and China.

Kim held talks with Cai Qi, who is the head of the powerful Secretariat of the Communist Party of China on Friday, KCNA reported Sunday.

Cai said the friendship between the two countries was “formed in blood” and has welcomed “a brighter future under the strategic guidance” of Xi and Kim, KCNA said.

Kim Song Nam, an alternate member of the Political Bureau, also met with Liu Jianchao, who leads the Chinese Communist Party’s body in charge of managing ties with foreign political parties. 
…

Taipei, Taiwan — Taiwan called Saturday for the swift return of one of its military officers who was rescued by Chinese authorities after losing contact during a fishing vacation.  

Two men from Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen island were found on March 18 by the coast guard of China’s Fujian province after the engine of their boat failed. 

Chinese authorities said one of the anglers, surnamed Hu, was an active member of Taiwan’s military, accusing him of intentionally concealing his identity. 

Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed Saturday that Hu was part of the Kinmen Garrison Brigade.  

“(He) went fishing during his vacation and lost contact due to heavy fog. He contacted his family and service unit that he was rescued by the Chinese coast guard and is safe,” said Kinmen’s Defense Command in a statement.  

It added that they were cooperating with other agencies and hoped “for the safe return of its personnel to Kinmen as soon as possible on humanitarian grounds.”  

Kinmen Defense Command also said it will tell soldiers “to refrain from participating in various risky activities during their vacation.”  

The other man in the fishing boat, surnamed Wu, was repatriated to Kinmen by Taiwan’s coast guard Saturday.  

According to video footage shared by Kinmen lawmaker Chen Yu-jen — who was at the dock — Wu was greeted by his tearful mother with a hug when he stepped off the boat.  

Hu’s mother told reporters that she hoped China would allow family members to go visit him.  

“Our hearts are filled with anxiety when we can’t see him in person, although my son has sent a message saying he is safe,” she said.  

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office — a mainland body tasked with handling cross-strait relations — had told Chinese state news agency Xinhua that Hu needed to be held “to further verify and understand the situation.”  

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out force to bring the island under Beijing’s control.

This incident comes after an ongoing row between Taipei and Beijing over a fatal boat incident last month.  

A Chinese speedboat carrying four people capsized on February 14 near Kinmen while Taiwan’s coast guard was pursuing it, leaving two dead.  

The coast guard had defended its actions, saying the boat was within “prohibited waters” and was zigzagging before it capsized, but Beijing has accused Taipei of “hiding the truth” about the incident. 

Since then, China said it would step up patrols around Kinmen — a territory administered by Taipei but located just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the mainland city of Xiamen. 
…

beijing — Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that his even after release from prison, he is not quite free. 

The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in his hometown of Changsha in southern Hunan province, he is without any legal documentation in his country, unable to access even the most basic services without Chinese identification. 

“I told them I’m a second-(class) Chinese citizen, I cannot do this, I cannot do that,” Cao in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m released, I’m a free citizen, why should there be so many restrictions upon me?” 

Cao, who was born and raised in Changsha, had dedicated his life to spreading Christianity in China, where the religion is strictly regulated. He had studied in the U.S., married an American woman and started a family, but said he felt a calling to go back to his home country and spread the faith. 

It’s a risky mission. Christianity in China is allowed only in state-sponsored churches, where the ruling Communist Party decides how Scripture should be interpreted. Anything else, including clandestine “house” churches and unofficial Bible schools, is considered illegal, though it was once tolerated by local officials. 

Cao was undeterred, citing the courage of Chinese Christians he had met who spent time in prison for their faith. During his years in China, he said he had set up some 50 Bible study schools across the country. 

In the years leading up to his arrest, he had started bringing Chinese missionaries to parts of northern Myanmar that had been impacted by the country’s civil war. They focused on relief work, campaigning against drug use, and setting up schools in areas bordering China. 

It was in coming back from one of these crossings that he was detained in 2017. He was sentenced to seven years on a charge of “organizing others to illegally cross the border,” which is usually reserved for human traffickers. 

His family and supporters advocated for Cao’s sentence to be reduced, but to no avail. Cao was a prisoner of conscience, according to the federal U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which also called for his freedom. 

After completing his sentence, Cao is no longer behind bars. But he is facing another major obstacle. 

He said that police who came to his mother’s house in 2006 took away her “hukou” registration book, which had also included Cao. 

Every child born in China is registered in the hukou, which is an identification system through which social benefits are allocated by geography. Later in life, the hukou is needed to apply for a national ID card, which is used in everything from getting a phone number to public health insurance. 

According to Cao, police said they would help his mother update the hukou. It was only later that he found out in updating her registration that they removed his name. 

Cao never took American citizenship because of his calling, spending his time between the two countries. He had kept his U.S. permanent residency throughout this time, though he says that’s not accepted as an ID in China. 

He was traveling on his Chinese passport. Though he noted that he no longer had the hukou registration, he did not realize how serious the problem was until much later. 

In prison, his Chinese passport had expired, he said, and he could not renew it. 

Cao said he has been to the police station many times since his release and had even hired a lawyer. So far, he said police had not given him a satisfactory answer as to why his records no longer exist. 

A police officer at the Dingwangtai police station in Changsha, where Cao’s hukou registration is supposed to be, said he did not know how to address Cao’s claims. “Even if he went to prison, he should still have a hukou,” he told the AP. The officer refused to give his name because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media. 

Cao’s two adult sons were able to visit him this month, spending two weeks with their father. Cao said he wants to join them and his wife in the U.S., though it’s unclear how he can do that. 

“I moved from a smaller prison … to come to a bigger prison,” he said. 
…

tel aviv, israel — China conducted joint military drills this week with Russia and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, a critical water conduit near the entry to the Persian Gulf.

The five-day exercise, “Maritime Security Belt 2024,” involved both naval and aviation forces, with the primary objective of enhancing the security of maritime economic activities, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

The drills may have been planned long in advance of the current Israel-Hamas war, but their implication and message to regional players and the West are highly significant, analysts say.

More than 20 ships, combat boats, support carriers and navy helicopters participated in the exercise.

Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) debuted new warships in the exercise, including the Shahid Soleimani corvette.

“That’s a game changer,” Wendell Minnick, an arms specialist and “China in Arms” podcaster,  told VOA.

“Pay close attention to anti-ship missiles on ships,” Minnick said. “The U.S. Navy has a real problem with these types of missiles.”

The IRGC-operated Shahid Soleimani corvette is equipped with long- and short-range anti-ship cruise missiles. It’s the first Iranian warship outfitted with advanced VLS, or Vertical Launching Systems, for firing surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

“This gives the U.S. Navy a nightmare scenario of being saturated by multidirectional vectors of attack that they cannot possibly defeat en masse,” Minnick said. “Like being attacked by bees or ants. Eventually they will get you.”

Rear Admiral Mohammad Nozari, the IRGC commander of Iran’s base at Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, told the Mehr News Agency the drill’s chief objectives were consolidating regional security, promoting China-Russia-Iran cooperation, and safeguarding global peace and maritime security.

Analysts say Chinese, Russian and Iranian objectives go far beyond the IRGC top naval commander’s stated claims.

“The Chinese and the Russians are using this exercise as a variety of tools disposable to them to show their presence and to pressure the West,” said Meir Javedanfar, who teaches Iranian security studies at Reichman University, in Herzliya, Israel.

“The Chinese are saying these exercises are normal and have nothing to do with what’s happening in the Middle East,” Javedanfar said in an interview with VOA.

“Nevertheless, the fact that these exercises are taking place against the background of an unprecedented U.S. and Western naval presence in the Middle East shows that the rivalry between the China-Russia-Iran front against the Western front is now heating up, and the Middle East waters are playing an important part in this rivalry.”

The rivalry takes on heightened significance when weighed against the recent uptick in Chinese participation in regional drills.

In November, China collaborated with Pakistan in “Sea Guardian 3” joint naval exercises in the Arabian Sea. It was the biggest joint People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Pakistani Navy drill to date and included land and sea phases.

China’s warships are stationed at a naval base in Djibouti near the Red Sea waters where Iranian-backed Houthis declaring solidarity with Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas conflict have since last year repeatedly fired drones and missiles at ships. China has not publicly condemned the attacks.

“If China really wanted the Houthis to stop these attacks against Western shipping, they could pressure the Iranians and the Iranians would listen, but they’re not doing this because they want to pressure Western economies and to show that they have influence in the region,” Javedanfar said.

“The drills play a part in the larger strategy led by China and Russia and Iran,” Javedanfar said.

Sophie Kobzantsev, a Russia analyst and research fellow at the Misgav Institute in Jerusalem, says the Gulf of Oman drill is part strategy, part message.

“From the beginning — the Russia-Ukraine war — Russia’s goal was to create a new world order in which it gets a role or a place as super world power,” Kobzantsev told VOA.

“Part of this concept of the new world order is to partially create a military balance vis-a-vis the West. The drill serves Russia — and Iran and China — in creating the image and the message to the West that there is a counterstrategic military coalition.”

Leading the Russian contingent was the missile cruiser Varyag from its Pacific Fleet, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Naval representatives from Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Oman, India and South Africa served as observers during the exercises.

The drills come just a week after NATO’s Nordic Response exercises, the most expansive NATO drills since the Cold War ended in 1991. Nordic Response incorporated military participation of NATO’s newest member states Sweden and Finland.

With an increased U.S. foothold in the Middle East due to its role in mediating the Israel-Gulf States Abraham Accords, pursuing the normalization of Israel-Saudi ties and now mediating between Israel and Hamas, the drill also takes on “countermessage” significance, said Kobzantsev.

The area where the joint drills are taking place is also significant.  An estimated 20% of globally traded oil moves through the narrow Strait of Hormuz passage linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Since 2019 the Gulf of Oman has seen a series of ship seizures and attacks that the U.S. has blamed on Iran, although Tehran has denied any involvement.

“We actually see a kind of formation of the world that is reminding us of the Cold War and that there is a new clash between superpowers in this world,” said Kobzantsev. “The West vs. Russia, China and Iran.”

Marine Security Belt 2024 is the fourth joint China-Russia-Iran military exercise since 2019. 

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
…

washington — A new, closer diplomatic relationship between Australia and Vietnam is drawing warnings from China against forming “exclusive circles” in the Indo-Pacific region.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Monday’s daily news briefing, “To advocate bloc confrontation and build exclusive circles goes against the trend of the times and the common aspiration of regional countries.”

Although Wang did not mention Vietnam or Australia by name, he was responding to a question posed by one of China’s official media outlets, Shenzen TV, about an agreement the two nations signed March 7.

Longtime observers of Vietnam’s diplomacy say Beijing’s response to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) reveals its unease with Hanoi’s push to upgrade ties throughout the region. 

In August, Vietnam signed a CSP with the United States, China’s rival.

A CSP is the highest level in Vietnam’s diplomatic hierarchy, a relationship Hanoi maintains with China, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea. A CSP commits partners to cooperation on a wide range of concerns and typically contains a military dimension. 

A joint statement issued March 7 by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized that the nations share a common vision of a peaceful, stable, independent and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

It also mentioned a joint commitment to the “settlement of disputes, including those in the South China Sea, by peaceful means without resorting to the threat or use of force, in accordance with international law.” China’s increasingly aggressive claim of sovereignty over those waters has met challenges from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday at a news conference, “The upgrade of Vietnam-Australia relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is a natural development step and in line with the level of relationship between the two countries after more than 50 years of establishment and development, for the common interests and aspirations of the people of the two nations and for peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity in the region and the world.”

The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not respond to VOA’s request for a comment on Wang’s remarks. Instead, the ministry referred to Albanese’s statement from the day the CSP was signed.

“Australia and Vietnam share an ambitious agenda across climate change and sustainability, digital transformation and innovation, defense and security, economics and trade, and education,” he said, adding that the CSP reflects “our cooperation, our strategic trust and shared ambition for our region.”

“China is of course concerned,” said Ha Hoang Hop, an associate senior fellow with Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Research Institute. Speaking on the telephone with VOA Vietnamese from Hanoi on Monday, he said, “China may, in fact, be concerned that Vietnam may move closer to the United States and its allies. But China cannot be offended because Vietnam first aims to create a security balance.”

The CSP “is both beneficial for Vietnam and beneficial for our comprehensive strategic partners, including China. … The establishment of partnerships is not intended to create factions or cause trouble for countries in the region,” said Ha. “Everyone is aware that it only creates a better environment for development cooperation, and more broadly, ensuring peace and prosperity for the Asia-Pacific region.”

The agreement with Australia reflects Vietnam’s “bamboo diplomacy” as its ruling Communist Party tries to navigate rising regional and global tensions. The reference is to the bamboo plant’s qualities of adaptability and resilience. 

Vu Duc Khanh, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who follows Vietnamese politics, told VOA Vietnamese via email on Monday that although he can understand China’s reactions, he believes it is too early for Beijing to be overly concerned by Vietnam’s latest CSP. He pointed to Hanoi’s endorsement in December of China’s “community of common destiny” with objectives of “common development” and “common security.” 

“China’s comments [are] largely in line with its strategy of keeping Vietnam neutral,” said Vu Xuan Khang, a doctoral candidate at Boston College who specializes in international security.

“China does not want Vietnam to join any blocs made up of countries that China sees to be anti-China because Vietnam could then become a springboard for those countries to hurt Chinese interests,” Vu Xuan wrote to VOA via email on Monday.

“Vietnam thus needs to be careful and should not stoke too much Chinese suspicion to avoid unnecessary Chinese retaliations,” he added.

On March 9, the Vietnam News Agency quoted emeritus professor Carl Thayer of the Australian Defense Force Academy, University of New South Wales, as saying that upgrading bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will create opportunities for more in-depth discussions on various issues between Vietnam and Australia, noting that most Australians support strengthening this relationship, especially in the field of education.

Thayer believes that Australia will prioritize cooperation with Vietnam and promote dialogue, helping both countries to deal with future challenges such as climate change, economic instability, and competition between world and regional superpowers.
…

…

beijing — Over the last few weeks, China has gone to great lengths to give the impression that it is opening up to the world – whether for foreign businesses, tourists or journalists.

I can’t speak with certainty on these claims. I’m not a China specialist, but a regional reporter who covers what often feels like an impossibly large part of the world, including China.

But my recent experience on a short reporting trip to Beijing reveals the difficulties faced by foreign journalists working in the country. It’s an experience that goes against the official narrative of an “opening up” in China.

Recently, the Chinese government invited me to cover the country’s biggest annual political event, including a meeting of its National People’s Congress, which wrapped up this week in Beijing.

I hadn’t expected to get a visa. Journalists working for U.S. and many other Western news outlets have been mostly shut out of China since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when U.S.-China tensions spiked, and the country entered a severe three-year period of lockdowns and strict COVID controls.

No VOA journalist had been given a visa for China since 2020, other than a State Department correspondent who was part of a traveling press pool during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

By my count, China handed out at least seven short-term journalist visas for U.S. and European media to cover the week-long political gathering, known as the “Two Sessions,” during which China’s political elite delivered a consistently upbeat message about China’s struggling economy.

Mixed messages

It doesn’t take an expert to see that China faces a long list of problems. Even after lifting its COVID-19 lockdown at the beginning of last year, China’s economy has seen some of its slowest growth in decades. Foreign investment has plunged, amid geopolitical tensions and a series of high-profile detentions of Chinese and foreign businesspeople. And fewer tourists are coming to China compared to before the pandemic.

At the Two Sessions, China downplayed those challenges, setting an ambitious economic growth target of about 5% for the year. But while authorities promised to reduce barriers to tourism and foreign trade, they also tightened the Communist Party’s grip over the government and expanded national security laws that many foreign critics already saw as vague.

As a journalist, I also sensed inconsistent messaging. While China restored pre-COVID levels of media access at the Two Sessions, it canceled the usual press conference given by the premier at the end of the gathering. Many reporters felt conflicted about the cancellation; while it was clear the questions at this press conference were usually pre-selected, it was still a rare chance for journalists to engage with a senior Chinese leader.

Journalistic restrictions

Most of my challenges as a reporter began when I left Tiananmen Square, where the political meetings were held, and visited other parts of Beijing. For much of this month, the entire capital area has seen an increased security presence, as is typical during sensitive political moments.

But I figured the omnipresent police patrols would not prevent me from conducting basic journalistic tasks, such as getting video footage of major tourist areas and conducting brief, impromptu interviews with local residents.

My interview questions were innocuous. What do Chinese people think about the upcoming U.S. presidential election? Do they prefer Donald Trump or Joe Biden? Do they have any hope that U.S.-China ties will improve?

The questions generated a range of thoughtful responses, which you can see in the video below.

I didn’t experience any trouble until I returned to my hotel that evening, when I received a phone call saying I should appear immediately at a local office of the Ministry of Public Security, China’s main state policing agency that also monitors domestic political threats.

Upon arrival, I was escorted down a nondescript hall to a small conference room, where I was met by several officers, who proceeded to conduct an interrogation.

Why, the officers demanded to know, was I asking people about Trump and Biden, and not writing about the Two Sessions for which I had media credentials? The focus of my reporting trip, I responded, was on China’s policies, including its foreign relations.

Why, they wanted to know, had I not gotten permission before filming? I told them that not only was I in a public area, but I did also not shoot any interviews without first getting permission from the interviewees.

Their last question took the form of a rebuke: Why was VOA not more fair in telling China’s side of the story? Apparently, the officers had not appreciated the irony that I had been interviewing residents for a piece with the main goal of providing Chinese perspectives.

Pattern of abuse

In the end, I received only a mild scolding before I was allowed to leave. Other China-based reporters often experience far worse abuse, even if only counting very recent incidents.

The week before I arrived in China, a Dutch journalist covering a bank protest in the central city of Chengdu was shoved to the ground and had his equipment confiscated by police, who detained him and his cameraman for several hours while preventing them from making phone calls.

This week, a reporter for The Associated Press said he and a colleague were followed by plainclothes police, who at one point even trailed him into a bathroom. The AP reporters were in Chengdu speaking with elderly retirees who had invested in a trust fund that had gone bankrupt.

“Over a dozen plainclothes followed us, using tactics I’ve only seen in Xinjiang. They followed me into the bathroom and to the airport. They took photos of us,” the reporter, Dake Kang, said on social media website X. “This is Chengdu, one of the most liberal cities in China. Startling to see such tactics deployed here.”

Foreign journalists have often experienced harassment when visiting far-flung areas, such as Tibet or Xinjiang, where China is accused of severe human rights abuses, or while reporting on other politically sensitive topics, such as protests or natural disasters.

But if my experience, and that of many others, is any indication, it is becoming much more difficult for foreign journalists to do even the most non-controversial stories in the biggest of China’s cities.

Even China’s state-controlled journalists have faced increasing restrictions. Just this week, authorities in the city of Sanhe, 50 kilometers outside Beijing, harassed reporters from state outlet CCTV during a live broadcast near the scene of a deadly gas explosion.

The incident prompted a public backlash, even drawing a statement of concern from a Communist Party-affiliated association of journalists.

“The incident was a wake-up call to a problem suffered for decades by more professional news outlets in China that have attempted to do real reporting in the face of formal press restrictions from the Chinese Communist Party leadership above, and frequent intimidation down below,” wrote David Bandurski, in a commentary published in the China Media Project.

“Such acts of obstruction are not an exception but the very nature of media policy in China,” he added.

Open to the world?

So, how does all this relate to China’s official narrative that it is open to the world?

I obviously can’t say how all foreign investors feel about returning to China. But I’ve spoken with colleagues in business and academia who no longer feel comfortable traveling to the country, citing fears of arbitrary detention.

I can’t speak for foreign tourists, either. But I can tell you how difficult it was as a newcomer to accomplish even the simplest tasks – such as booking a taxi, paying for a meal with a foreign bank account and checking Facebook, Instagram or virtually any other Western social media app – given China’s insistence on placing a digital firewall between its people and the rest of the world.

What I can say with certainty is that I felt welcomed by Beijing residents, who seemed eager to interact with VOA, despite a state-backed campaign portraying foreign journalists as potential spies and dangerous troublemakers.

But at one point during last week’s meetings, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told gathered media that his government is “opening its door wider” to the world. At another point he insisted “more foreign friends are welcome to join us” in telling China’s story.

From my point of view, it sure didn’t feel that way.
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washington — China’s state-owned plane manufacturer is facing industry skepticism over its claims that its newest passenger aircraft, the C919, can break the passenger-jet duopoly of Boeing and Airbus.

COMAC’s promotional tour through the fast-growing aviation markets of Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia ended in Malaysia on Wednesday, according to China’s official Xinghua news agency. At each stop, the Shanghai-headquartered enterprise presented its C919 to potential buyers as a viable alternative to the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737.

International and regional tourism is expected to reach, then surpass pre-pandemic levels in many Southeast Asian countries this year, according to analysts who cautioned that subsequent growth may hinge on China’s economy making a full recovery.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) expects the demand for passenger aircraft in the Asia-Pacific market to increase over the next two decades from 3,314 to 9,701 planes, according to Chinese state media.

But Skift, a travel industry research site, quoted the executive chairman of Air Lease, one of the largest aircraft lessors in the world, saying the company isn’t planning to buy any C919 jets.

“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and COMAC are very interested in selling the C919,” said Steven Udvar-Hazy at the aviation industry’s Wings Club in New York on February 29. “But it’s a one-way dating relationship.”

Brendan Sobie of Sobie Aviation, an aviation industry consultancy in Singapore, told CNBC, “It’s still early days to know if COMAC can shake up the duopoly. … We are not likely to see a C919 overseas order of significance in the near term.”

As the C919 tour progressed, COMAC said its goal was to showcase the aircraft and lay “the groundwork for future market expansion in Southeast Asia.”

The C919 is certified only by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which approved it in September 2022. The narrow-body jet entered commercial service with China Eastern Airlines last year in May.

COMAC says it has more than 1,000 orders for the C919, but most of those are from Chinese airlines and aircraft lessors. At the Singapore Airshow, COMAC took orders from Tibet Airlines, a Chinese entity, for 40 C919 single-aisle planes. Boeing and Airbus planes are sold out through the end of the decade, according to Bloomberg.

China has said it wants to secure broader international recognition for the C919 and plans on pursuing European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification.

Boeing and Airbus executives say they’re not worried about the aircraft that was shown for the first time outside China at the Singapore Airshow February 20-25.

The C919 is “not going to rock the boat in particular,” Christian Scherer, chief executive officer of Airbus’s aircraft commercial business, said at a media roundtable on the sidelines of the industry event.

Scherer added the C919 was a “legitimate effort” by China but is “not very different” from the Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

Dave Schulte, Boeing’s commercial marketing managing director for Asia-Pacific, said airlines in Southeast Asia may consider ordering C919s, according to Barron’s.

However, he warned that COMAC will face the same supply-chain disruptions as Boeing and Airbus as post-pandemic demand for air travel increases. Assembled in China, the C919 relies heavily on components, including engines, from companies outside China such as GE and Honeywell International.

After Singapore, COMAC took the C919 to Vietnam from February 26-29 for its own airshow followed by a two-week progression of shows in Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Tan Wan Geng, COMAC’s board chair, described Vietnam as an important international aviation center in Southeast Asia and predicted increased exchanges and cooperation between his operation and Vietnam’s aviation industry.

In Singapore, Tibet Airlines ordered 10 ARJ21 jets, the C919’s smaller predecessor, and China’s Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Group ordered six ARJ21s.

Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation Undersecretary of State and spokesman Sinn Chanserey Vutha said last week that Cambodia supported the entry of C919 and ARJ21 jets into the aircraft market.

“This is a good sign for the aircraft market,” he told China’s official Xinhua while attending the demonstration flight event.

Nguyen Thien Thong, a leading expert in aviation engineering in Vietnam, told VOA Vietnamese in a February 28 telephone interview that it is unlikely that airlines in Vietnam will purchase or lease the COMAC aircraft in the near future.

The founder of the Aviation Engineering program at Van Lang University said that adding one more airline supplier to their current fleets of Airbus and Boeing would complicate maintenance, management and operations while increasing costs.

“I don’t think it is effective,” added the former head of the Aviation Engineering Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

Udvar-Hazy, the Air Lease executive chairman, pointed to a lack of support infrastructure needed to make the C919 commercially viable in international markets, according to Skift. He added the Chinese jet also lacks technical support training. 

“Without that,” he said, “there’s no export market.”
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SYDNEY — China’s high tariffs on Australian wine could be lifted within weeks, according to an interim statement from Chinese authorities saying the duties are no longer necessary.

When diplomatic friction between Australia and its biggest trading partner was at its most intense, Beijing imposed 220% taxes on bottled wine from Australia.

Chinese authorities said Australia was guilty of anti-competitive behavior, but analysts believe China’s economic measures were meant as a punishment.

The value of Australian wine exports to China fell from more than $662 million at their peak to just $6.6 million last year.

Last October, Beijing agreed to a review of the tariffs.  That decision came after the previous conservative government in Canberra referred the tax issue to the World Trade Organization in late 2021.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has now recommended in an “interim draft determination” that the tariffs be removed.

China said Thursday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi, will visit Australia for the first time in seven years.  He is scheduled to hold talks with the Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, in Canberra next Wednesday.

Wang’s visit was welcomed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.  He told reporters Thursday there had been “significant progress” in removing trade impediments.

Australia’s Labor government – elected in May 2022 – has sought to defuse tensions with China over human rights, democracy in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the origins of COVID-19.

One by one, Chinese restrictions on Australian barley, beef, coal and cotton have been lifted.

Mitchell Taylor, managing director of Taylors Wines in South Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Thursday that he hopes the wine tariffs will soon end.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” he said. “This is terrific news and I must say our trade minister Don Farrell has done a great job in rebuilding trade relations with our largest trading partner.  But at the same time, we have lost our market share to the French and the Chilean winemakers.”

China is, by far, Australia’s largest trading partner, accounting for almost one-third of Australia’s total global trade.

Earlier this month, a Canberra government-backed task force was announced to help Australia’s wine industry, which has suffered under Chinese tariffs and an international oversupply of red wine.
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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would force short-video app TikTok, used by about 170 million Americans, to separate from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or face a ban. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson says the Senate may not approve the bill.
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As the U.S. election campaign heats up, both President Joe Biden and his likely challenger, Donald Trump, are vowing to take a tough stance on China. So how does China feel about the race? VOA’s Bill Gallo asked Beijing residents to weigh in on the two candidates. Mingmin Xuan contributed.
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Sanhe, China — A suspected gas leak caused a blast at a restaurant in China’s northern province of Hebei that ripped facades from buildings, damaged cars and scattered debris to kill two people and injure 26, state media and authorities said on Wednesday.

The blast happened at about 8 a.m. in the county of Sanhe, state broadcaster CCTV News said, roughly 30 kilometers from the center of Beijing.

Videos on social media platform Weibo showed a large orange fireball over the site, followed by billows of grey smoke, and scenes of the destroyed frontage of buildings, mangled cars, with glass shards in the streets, and some objects still ablaze.

A suspected gas leak triggered the accident in a shop selling fried chicken in the town of Yanjiao, city emergency officials said in a statement, drawing rescuers, firefighters,

health and other officials to the scene.

“I was at home when I heard a loud blast, I initially thought it might be a gunshot,” said Zhao Li, a woman who lives about a kilometer from the blast site.

“The loud explosion was accompanied by a crash of glass and clouds of smoke,” said Zhao, adding that police sealed off the street to the site.

The fire had been brought under control, fire officials said in an earlier statement, adding that 36 vehicles and 154 people had been dispatched to the site and were carrying out rescue work.

China’s latest deadly gas explosion at an eatery comes after the government issued detailed guidelines last year on the use of gas appliances and cookers to avert safety risks.

Social media posters on Weibo said the explosion occurred near a cultural center in the town. Construction of a metro line was taking place nearby, Chinese weekly the Economic Observer posted on its social media account.

City emergency authorities sent an investigation team, according to social media posts. Regional supplier Taida Gas suspended service in several surrounding areas, as a precaution to prevent secondary injuries, it said in a statement.

“Our company … will resume supply after ensuring safety,” it added in the statement, although it said it did not service the area where the shop is located.
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve legislation Wednesday that would force the popular TikTok video app to either separate from its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance or sell the U.S. version of the software.

The bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act “gives TikTok six months to eliminate foreign adversary control — which would include ByteDance divesting its current ownership — to remain available in the United States,” said Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the committee.

“All TikTok would have to do is separate from CCP-controlled ByteDance. However, if TikTok chose not to rid itself of this CCP control, the application would no longer be offered in U.S. app stores. But TikTok would have no one but itself to blame,” the lawmakers said in a prepared statement.

Here’s what we know about the legislation and what happens next in the U.S. Senate.

Why is TikTok under scrutiny?

“The concern is that TikTok could transfer personal information to its parent company ByteDance, who in turn could transfer it to the Chinese government,” Caitlin Chin-Rothmann, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA.

Chin-Rothmann said concerns by some members of Congress about the Chinese Communist Party potentially controlling TikTok’s algorithm for propaganda purposes have not yet been proven.

“That’s not to say that, in the future, there’s not a risk that the Chinese government could exert pressure,” she said.

What does TikTok say about the legislation?

TikTok on Monday called the legislation a “ban” and has repeatedly denied the allegations against it. In a statement last week on X, formerly Twitter, the company said the “legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States.”

How do lawmakers view the legislation?

The bill has strong support from House Democrats and Republicans, despite congressional offices receiving floods of phone calls from Americans concerned about losing access to the social media app.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last week, “It’s an important bipartisan measure to take on China, our largest geopolitical foe, which is actively undermining our economy and security.”

What about the Senate?

The bill could face a much harder road to passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said it will face consideration in the appropriate committees.

“I will listen to their views on the bill and determine the best path,” Schumer said in a statement.

Some Senate Democrats, including Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, have expressed doubts about the legality of singling out a social media app in legislation. He has introduced alternative legislation more broadly targeting apps that collect personal data.

But Warner told CBS News on Sunday that the TikTok app is a serious national security concern.

“If you don’t think the Chinese Communist Party can twist that algorithm to make it the news that they see reflective of their views, then I don’t think you appreciate the nature of the threat,” Warner said.

How do the leading 2024 presidential candidates feel about the bill?

The White House said it welcomes the legislation, even though the Biden campaign joined TikTok recently as an effort to reach out to younger voters.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the bill ensures “ownership isn’t in the hands of those who may do us harm.”

Former President Donald Trump — who initially called for a ban of the app in 2020 — has now changed course, arguing that Facebook will be empowered if TikTok is no longer available.

“There’s a lot of good, and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok. But the thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you’re going to make Facebook bigger,” the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee told U.S. cable network CNBC in a phone interview this week.

What happens once the bill passes the House?

Apart from constitutional concerns over preventing U.S. citizens from exercising their right to free speech, the bill could also be difficult to legally enforce and face challenges in U.S. courts.

“Chinese export control laws could potentially prevent the sale of TikTok’s algorithm,” Chin-Rothmann said. “A divestiture would be very logistically difficult, in general. TikTok is one of the largest companies in the world. So, any buyer would have to be very large, as well. They would have to have a strategic interest in purchasing TikTok, and then the merger would have to not raise antitrust concerns in the United States.”
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Tensions between Taipei and Beijing have been heating up in the waters around Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, which sit a few kilometers from the Chinese mainland. Residents have endured artillery barrages in the past and persistent military threats. Even so, many say they doubt conflict will reach their shore. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains.
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Taipei, Taiwan  — China concluded its week-long annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing Monday, passing amendments that will further consolidate Chinese President Xi Jinping’s power and vowing to adopt several new pieces of legislation that aim to safeguard China’s sovereignty and security interests. 

China’s rubber-stamp parliament passed revisions to the Organic Law of the State Council on Monday, which include clauses stipulating that the council shall uphold the leadership of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and safeguard the centralized leadership of the Communist Party’s Central Committee led by Xi. 

“Under the strong leadership of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we must adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide and unswervingly push forward the Chinese-style modernization,” Zhao Leji, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said at the closing ceremony of the week-long meeting.  

The amendments come after the Chinese Communist Party announced an abrupt cancellation of Premier Li Qiang’s annual press conference at the end of the week-long parliamentary meetings.

Some analysts told VOA that the latest amendments and Beijing’s decision to cancel the premier’s press conference, which had been part of the annual parliamentary meeting “Two Sessions” for more than three decades, are part of the Chinese leadership’s effort to redefine the state council’s role. 

“As Xi tries to strengthen his power, the state council has been downgraded to an organization focusing on implementing policies,” Liu Dongshu, an expert on Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong, told VOA by phone. 

He said the development would make the state council less influential in the Communist Party’s decision-making process and serve as a “big step for Xi” to consolidate his power. “In the past, the premier, who is the head of the state council, was seen as another big political figure in China, but now, it will no longer be the case,” Liu said. 

Since most decision-making power is now concentrated in Xi under the newly adjusted political structure, some experts say this could affect the Chinese leadership’s decision-making efficiency. 

[The Communist Party’s] “decision-making could become slower because everything needs to pass through Xi, but I suppose policy implementation might become faster since once an order gets into the hands of someone at the state council, they don’t have to think about it other than how to implement the order,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone. 

As China faces persistent economic headwinds, Liu in Hong Kong said Beijing’s attempt to consolidate Xi’s power may hurt the quality of its policies and be counterproductive to its efforts to boost foreign investors’ confidence in the Chinese economy. 

“I can’t imagine a very robust discussion about policymaking [taking place within the Communist Party since] Xi has such a dominant power,” he told VOA, adding that this development may reduce foreign investors’ confidence in China. “People will feel like China becomes more untransparent,” Liu said. 

Doubling down on national security 

In addition to consolidating Xi’s power by adjusting the role of the state council, China’s rubber-stamp parliament also vowed to adopt several security-related laws in 2024, which follows the trend in recent years. 

China’s top lawmaker Zhao Leji said last Friday that Beijing would enact “an emergency management law and an energy law” while revising “the National Defense Education Law and Cybersecurity Law.”

The announcement comes after Beijing adopted revisions to the Law on Guarding State Secrets last month, which broadened the scope of information deemed as “work secrets.” Last year, China also revised the anti-espionage law, which gives Chinese authorities more power to punish what it views as threats to national security.  

Some academics say the plan to adopt more security-related legislation follows Beijing’s efforts to expand the scope of national security since Xi Jinping came to power more than a decade ago, and it reflects lawmakers attempts to cope with the rising economic and social challenges. 

“Very soon after Xi became general secretary, he pushed the idea of “overall national security,” [which means that] national security would encompass a full gamut of issues, from politics to social and economic affairs,” Dali Yang, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Chicago, told VOA in a video interview. 

He said the Chinese government has become very “security conscious” due to the economic headwinds and social challenges. “This past year, the Communist Party leadership decided to introduce a society work department into the Party’s Central Committee, [which reflects the government’s] increasing effort to be conscious of the challenges facing China’s society and economy,” Yang added. 

Chong in Singapore said the Chinese government’s plan to double down on national security may have negative consequences for China’s sluggish economy and the looming demographic crisis. “The thing to remember is that securitization is not cost-free,” he told VOA. 

“Someone must pay for it, and right now, it seems that the heavy securitization is putting a drain on the Chinese economy and innovation while discouraging investors,” Chong said, adding that the government’s growing emphasis on national security may also deter Chinese citizens from getting married or having children. 

Since the wide range of challenges facing China will likely persist, Chong said it’s important to observe how the tension between the economy and Beijing’s emphasis on security plays out. 

“Adjustment has to come from one direction or another if he [Xi] wants to achieve some of his plans because there is a risk that he could be stuck in a situation where he doesn’t fully realize either plan,” he told VOA.
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Beijing, China — Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, or ZPMC, said on Sunday its cranes do not pose a cybersecurity threat, after U.S. congressional committees questioned the Chinese state-owned company’s work on cranes bound for the United States.

The House of Representatives’ security panels, scrutinizing ZPMC’s installation of Swiss engineering group ABB’s equipment onto U.S.-bound ship-to-shore cranes, in January invited ABB executives to public hearings to clarify its relationship with ZPMC, which they said raised “significant concerns.”

“ZPMC takes the U.S. concerns seriously and believes that these reports can easily mislead the public without sufficient factual review,” it said in a filing, referring to the probe by the Homeland Security and Strategic Competition committees.

“The cranes provided by ZPMC do not pose a cybersecurity risk to any ports,” it said.

ABB has said it sold its control and electrification equipment to many crane manufacturers, including Chinese companies, which in turn sold cranes directly to U.S. ports.

The U.S. and China, the world’s biggest economies, frequently accuse each other of cyberattacks and industrial espionage. Washington this year said it had disrupted a Chinese cyber-spying operation targeting U.S. infrastructure and was investigating Chinese vehicle imports for national security risks. It previously barred Chinese telecom companies.

ZPMC said the cranes it supplies are used in ports around the world, including the United States, and comply with international standards and applicable laws and regulations.

Listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, ZPMC is one of the largest port machinery manufacturers in the world, owning a fleet of more than 20 transportation vessels, according to its website.

ABB generates 16% of its sales from China, second only to the U.S. market at 24%.
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Paris — The makers of “Game of Thrones” return with “3 Body Problem,” the adaptation of an iconic Chinese sci-fi trilogy.  

It premieres this weekend at the South by Southwest Festival in Texas before launching on Netflix on March 21. 

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, coming off their huge hit with “Game of Thrones,” have liberally translated from the books by Liu Cixin, which has already been adapted for Chinese TV.  

The trilogy of books, which began with “The Three-Body Problem” in 2008, jumps between countries, eras and protagonists as Earth confronts an existential threat. It is considered a sci-fi landmark.  

“Making ‘Game of Thrones’ was the greatest experience of our lives, but we spent 10 solid years living in that fictional world, so we wanted something that presented a new set of challenges on every level,” Weiss said. 

“It’s the story of an impending threat, but it’s tethered by and centered around this core group of characters,” said Benioff. 

The cast includes three of the main actors from “Game of Thrones”: John Bradley as an Oxford scientist, Liam Cunningham as the head of an intelligence agency and Jonathan Pryce as an oil tycoon.  

The showrunners also brought back key members of the effects and production crew — as well as composer Ramin Djawadi — to try to achieve the same grandiose and polished style.   

It was shot to a speedy nine-month schedule across England, Spain, the United Nations headquarters in New York and Cape Canaveral in Florida.  

“Between climate change and the pandemic, we’ve gotten a glimpse into how people in the world react differently to a global threat,” said Weiss. “We see a similar spectrum of reactions in ‘3 Body Problem,’ which resonates with so many of us now.” 
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BEIJING — China needs to do more to boost employment and stabilize its property market, top officials acknowledged Saturday, as policymakers struggle to revive the country’s battered economy. 

Beijing is grappling with a prolonged property sector crisis, record youth unemployment and a global slowdown hammering demand for Chinese goods. 

Youth unemployment hit an unprecedented 21.3% in mid-2023 before officials paused publishing monthly figures. 

Home prices have in turn fallen for months, with several major property developers struggling to stay afloat. 

And on the sidelines of a weeklong annual meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament Saturday, officials acknowledged the difficulties in reversing both trends. 

“Overall employment pressure has not lessened, and there are still structural contradictions to be solved,” said Wang Xiaoping, minister of human resources and social security. 

“A portion of workers face some challenges and problems in employment, and more effort needs to be made to stabilize employment,” Wang said. 

But Beijing is “confident about maintaining the continued stability of the employment situation,” she said. 

Housing Minister Ni Hong, in turn, told reporters that fixing the property market — which long accounted for around a quarter of China’s economy — remained a challenge. 

“The task of stabilizing the market is still very difficult,” he said, pointing to state efforts to reduce interest rates and lower down payments. 

Real estate companies that “need to go bankrupt should go bankrupt, and those that need restructuring should be restructured,” Ni said, adding that market players who “harm the interests of the masses should be resolutely investigated and dealt with according to the law.” 

But despite the deep trouble with the housing market, he insisted that Beijing’s “bottom line” of avoiding “systemic risks” in the property sector had been maintained. 

Meetings in Beijing this week have been dominated by the economy and security. 

On Tuesday, top leaders set an ambitious growth target of around 5% for 2024 — a goal analysts said was ambitious given the headwinds facing the Chinese economy. 

Premier Li Qiang acknowledged the objective would “not be easy” given the “lingering risks and hidden dangers” still present in the economy. 

Investors have called for much greater action from the state to shore up the flagging economy. 
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