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☆ 14 pro-democracy activists found guilty of subversion in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Thursday found 14 of 16 pro-democracy activists guilty of conspiring to subvert the state in the Chinese territory's single largest case under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. Of those, 31 pleaded guilty in the hopes of a reduced sentence, while the remaining 16 pleaded not guilty. Hong Kong had had a 100% conviction rate in national security cases, which are prosecuted under rules that diverge from the city's legal norms, including presumption against bail. Almost 300 people have been arrested under the national security law, which came into force in the summer of 2020. The charges stem from an informal primary election held in July 2020 in which more than 600,000 voters selected pro-democracy candidates for a legislative election that was scheduled for that September.

Persons: Lau, Lee Yue, Critics, Eric Yan, Lai, Benny Tai, Claudia Mo, Joshua Wong, Leung Kwok, Raymond Chan, Gwyneth Ho, Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Organizations: Hong, Georgetown Center, Asian Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Beijing, Hong

☆ China’s booming electric vehicle companies eye U.S. competitors they see as ‘not ready’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Janis Mackey Frayer | Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Despite lower price tags, Chinese EVs often have more powerful batteries and more advanced technology. The competition among hundreds of Chinese EV makers has spurred rapid innovation. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who made a surprise visit to Beijing last week, has said that without trade barriers Chinese EV makers would "demolish" their competitors. Chinese EVs tend to be smaller, cheaper and more accessible to the masses — BYD's Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at less than $10,000. It would take time to set up a sales and distribution network, Fields said, and Chinese EV makers could face a perception issue among American consumers.

Persons: They're, Stella Li, America's Tesla, Tesla, BYD, Mark Fields, Elon Musk, Musk, Fields, they've, Li, Biden, Musk's, That's Organizations: Alliance for American Manufacturing, U.S, BYD, NBC News, Western, Communist Party, Ford, International Energy Agency, Western automakers, United States, Lawmakers, World Trade Organization, European, Rhodium Group, EV, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers Locations: China, EVs, U.S, BYD Americas, BYD, Shenzhen, United States, Beijing, Europe, United, Union, Chinese, Mexico, South Korea, Japan

☆ China had almost 2 million excess deaths after the end of ‘zero-Covid,’ U.S. study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Jennifer Jett | Cheng Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There were almost 2 million excess deaths in the two months after China lifted its "zero-Covid" restrictions, a U.S. study found, contradicting official figures from Beijing that have been criticized as too low. Researchers estimate there were 1.87 million excess deaths from all causes among people 30 years and older from December 2022 to January, according to the study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle published Thursday. "Our study of excess deaths related to the lifting of the zero-Covid policy in China sets an empirically derived benchmark estimate," the researchers wrote. The way the study estimates data is not "scientifically rigorous," but it is nonetheless an "objective" and "beneficial" attempt, Jin added. Jin said the actual data could be a few percentage points lower or higher than the study estimates.

Persons: Fred, Jan, Zhanwei Du, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Jin Dong, Jin Organizations: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Hong, University of Texas, Baidu Locations: China, U.S, Beijing, Seattle, Tibet, University of Hong Kong, Austin

☆ Biden resists pressure from lawmakers and seeks short extension to key China science pact
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Jennifer Jett | Abigail Williams | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration is seeking a short-term extension to a landmark science and technology agreement with China despite pressure from some U.S. lawmakers who say Beijing could exploit it to gain a security and military advantage. A six-month extension to the Science and Technology Agreement, or STA, will keep the pact in force as the U.S. seeks "authority to undertake negotiations to amend and strengthen the terms," a State Department spokesperson told NBC News on Wednesday. "If it were to go away, not only would it impede government-to-government cooperation, but it would also put other science cooperation at risk," said Seligsohn, a former environment, science, technology and health counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. China also considers it the enabling document for all other science cooperation with the U.S., including with academic and research institutions. The State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the issues involved with working with China in the are of science and technology.

Persons: Biden, Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping, Deborah Seligsohn, Antony Blinken, Elise Stefanik, Mike Gallagher of, Blinken, Sen, Rick Scott, Donald Trump Organizations: Central South University, Science, Technology, State Department, NBC News, U.S, Villanova University, Embassy, House Republican Conference Locations: China, Central, Changsha city, Hunan province, Beijing, U.S, New York, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, United States

☆ North Korea fails to launch spy satellite for a second time
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

North Korea tried and failed for a second time to launch a spy satellite, state media said, vowing to make a third attempt in October. It said the launch failed "due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight." The North Korean space agency said there would be a third launch attempt in October after it assessed why the Thursday launch failed. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had vowed a second launch attempt after the first one on May 31 ended with the rocket carrying the spy satellite crashing into the sea shortly after liftoff. Top North Korean officials later called the failed launch this year's "most serious" shortcoming in the country's efforts to advance its weapons programs, according to KCNA.

Persons: Pyongyang's, Biden, Adrienne Watson, Kim Jong Un Organizations: Korean Central News Agency, United, National Security, Japanese Coast Guard, North, South Korean Locations: North Korea, Korean, South Korea, Japan, United States, Korea

☆ Spy balloon 'chapter should be closed’ after China talks, Blinken tells NBC News
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Janis Mackey Frayer | Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

China's President Xi Jinping (R) receives US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 19, 2023. President Xi Jinping hosted Antony Blinken for talks in Beijing on June 19, capping two days of high-level talks by the US secretary of state with Chinese officials. BEIJING — Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News on Monday that his trip to Beijing marked an "important start" in stabilizing U.S. ties with China and that the countries should move on from the spy balloon incident that postponed his earlier visit. "That chapter should be closed," Blinken said in an interview before leaving Beijing, where he spent two days meeting with senior Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping. Blinken's trip to China, the first by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018, was postponed in February after the discovery of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. territory.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Nancy Pelosi's, Joe Biden, Xi, Biden, that's, we've, there's, Jinping, Janis Mackey Frayer, Jennifer Jett Organizations: of, People, BEIJING —, NBC, South China, Cuban, U.S ., Congressional, House Locations: Beijing, BEIJING, China, Taiwan, Taiwan Strait, South, U.S, South Carolina, Cuba, doesn't, Indonesia, Hong Kong

The recent leak of classified Defense Department documents, which show that the United States has been gathering intelligence on its ally South Korea, will not affect the relationship between the two countries, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told NBC News in an exclusive interview. The interview came as he and President Joe Biden meet this week to discuss North Korea, China and other pressing challenges. U.S. and South Korean officials have said that much of the information in the documents is inaccurate and may have been altered, without providing further specifics. The South Korean officials also saw the need for the government to formulate a clear position on the matter in case the White House pressed the issue. "President Yoon in particular, unlike previous [South Korean] presidents, really has emphasized freedom and democracy as a core theme of his foreign policy," Cha told a news briefing last week.

☆ Xi promotes China as peacemaker on first trip to Russia since Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In this grab taken from video, China's President Xi Jinping, left, speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. Russia, China and the U.S. are not members of the court. "I am pleased to once again set foot on the soil of our friendly neighbor Russia," Xi said in a statement after arriving in Moscow on Monday for the three-day state visit. Xi said his Russia trip was intended to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries in a world faced with "damaging acts of hegemony, domination and bullying." The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not confirmed reports that Xi may hold a virtual meeting with Zelenskyy after his trip to Moscow.

HONG KONG — Marvel films are set to be released on screens in mainland China for the first time in more than three years, the endgame for an apparent ban in the world’s second-largest movie market. The China Film Administration, a division of the ruling Communist Party’s propaganda department that approves all foreign film releases, gave no official explanation for the blocking of those films. Marvel’s brief announcement did not mention the earlier films or say why “Black Panther” and “Ant-Man” were being released. Marvel fans in China welcomed news of the two new releases. Others lamented the films that had not made it to Chinese theaters.

According to official statistics, there were about five medical personnel and fewer than five hospital beds per 1,000 people in China’s rural areas in 2020, compared with more than 11 medical personnel and almost nine hospital beds in urban areas. Jiao Yahui, an official at the National Health Commission, said the government’s Covid strategy for rural areas had two main focuses. The lack of facilities means those with Covid are more likely to travel elsewhere for treatment or simply recover at home to avoid further exposure in hospitals. A local resident with the last name Li said he had attended five funerals since last December, all for people who died after contracting Covid. He said he had heard that at least 300 older people died this winter in the county, not including its administered villages or towns.

China’s 9.56 million births are a decrease of almost 10% from 2021, when about 10.6 million babies were born. The figures announced Tuesday are the start of what is expected to be a long decline in China’s population, which the U.N. says could reach 800 million by the end of the century. Although many countries around the world are experiencing population decline, this is the first time China’s population has contracted since 1961, after a three-year famine spurred by then-leader Mao Zedong’s industrialization drive, which is estimated to have killed tens of millions of people. While the one-child policy was effective in curbing population growth, critics say it resulted in rights abuses and a disproportionate number of men compared with women, especially in the countryside. If Chinese officials really want to encourage children, they should “give money to those who have more babies,” she said.

HONG KONG — Satellite images taken over multiple cities in China show heightened activity outside crematoriums and funeral homes, appearing to contradict the country’s low official Covid-19 death figures and illustrating the severity of the outbreak in the world’s most populous nation. Other images from cities around the country show a greater number of cars parked outside funeral homes compared with similar periods in past years. The satellite images are consistent with firsthand NBC News reporting in Beijing, where officials say the outbreak has already peaked. Construction equipment was visible at the Tongzhou funeral home during a visit on Dec. 22, while workers in white hazmat suits could be seen unloading caskets from a steady stream of vans at the Dongjiao funeral home during multiple visits that week. With some funeral homes no longer allowing memorial services, reporters have witnessed families instead holding them at hospitals, where empty caskets are being stored outside in alleys.

HONG KONG — On the first day of unimpeded travel between mainland China and Hong Kong, Olivia Gai was one of the first in line. On Tuesday, the Chinese embassies in South Korea and Japan said they would stop issuing short-term visas for travelers to China. The South Korean Foreign Ministry says its restrictions on travelers from China are based on science. According to some estimates, China’s Covid death toll could reach 1 million or more in the coming months. Nonetheless, more countries have begun requiring negative Covid tests for travelers from China, and at least one country, Morocco, has banned arrivals entirely.

The incident reflects what the U.S. calls a concerning trend of unsafe intercept practices by the Chinese military. The U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft was in international airspace on Dec. 21 when it was intercepted by a J-11 fighter jet from the Chinese navy, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. The Chinese jet positioned itself about 10 feet from the RC-135’s wing and then drifted within 20 feet of its nose as the American plane maintained its course and speed, leading it to take evasive maneuvers. China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, where it has territorial disputes with Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and others. Austin also raised the issue at a meeting in November with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.

Wuhan resident Xie Zhicong said he and everyone in his family, aside from his grandmother, had been infected. Xie, a 25-year-old salesman, said it was difficult to see a doctor when he went to a hospital for an examination last week. The hospital that Xie visited did not respond to requests for comment on his claims. People who have recovered, Xie said, are looking ahead to life after three years of “zero-Covid” restrictions. Though China is experiencing a massive outbreak much as it did at the start of the pandemic, once it’s over the virus won’t have many places left to go, Sridhar said.

The officials said the Biden administration was considering steps similar to those already taken by Japan, which said Tuesday that all travelers from mainland China would be tested on arrival, and Malaysia, which has stepped up tracking and surveillance of travelers from China. Taiwan also said Wednesday that travelers from mainland China would have to take a PCR test on arrival, with those who test positive allowed to isolate at home. Last week, India said it would make virus testing mandatory for travelers arriving from China as well as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. Any restrictions would be applied to all travelers coming from China, regardless of nationality, the U.S. officials said. Earlier this month, China abruptly eased its “zero-Covid” approach following mass protests, scrapping domestic rules and lifting quarantine requirements for those traveling to China.

The National Health Commission said those isolating at home would be subject to health monitoring and would be released after testing negative on the sixth and seventh days. Previously, people who tested positive for the virus were sent to centralized quarantine facilities regardless of the severity of their symptoms. But they had already begun easing restrictions before the protests began late last month, announcing 20 “optimized” measures on Nov. 11. The protests were the biggest show of public unrest China had seen in decades, and were quickly put down by the ruling Communist Party. China reported 25,115 new infections nationwide on Wednesday, more than 80 percent of them asymptomatic.

HONG KONG — Chinese authorities are moving to ease strict “zero-Covid” controls, in an apparent response to a nationwide wave of protests that have otherwise been suppressed. Police form a cordon in Beijing on Monday during a protest against China’s strict “zero-Covid” measures. Kevin Frayer / Getty ImagesChinese authorities have mostly stamped out the protests, with heavy police presence at protesters’ former gathering sites. Like other Chinese leaders, Jiang showed little tolerance for dissent, jailing activists and banning the Falun Gong religious movement. But the political environment has greatly tightened under Xi, leading some people in China to reassess Jiang’s legacy.

While the protests were largely tamped down, there continued to be scattered incidents of unrest. Experts say China will have a tough time navigating its way out of the pandemic without getting more people inoculated. The National Health Commission said Tuesday that it was especially focused on increasing vaccinations among people older than 80, though it did not announce a mandate. With new, mostly asymptomatic infections still being reported across China — 38,421 on Tuesday, down from a record 40,052 the day before — some Covid restrictions are still tightening. An opinion article Tuesday in People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, said officials at all levels must “unswervingly implement” the government’s Covid policies.

Asked about the protests on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the Chinese government was adjusting its Covid measures based on the realities on the ground. “We believe that with the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the support of the Chinese people, our fight against Covid-19 will be successful,” he said at a regular news briefing. Zhao also addressed the detention of BBC journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested Sunday while covering the protests in Shanghai. The Communist Party “has a lot of experience accumulated over the years in dissipating social unrest,” she said. Most of the people who protested appeared to be from the Han ethnic group that dominates China.

The factory’s iPhone 14 production has been slowed by a labor shortage that began last month, when a Covid outbreak and an accompanying lockdown sent workers fleeing back to their hometowns. China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” measures make it an outlier among the world’s major economies, causing growing public frustration and economic pain. Though officials announced new “optimized” measures this month, they are struggling to ease the burden without setting off a major exit wave. Despite the purported easing of measures in China, a single case can still bring targeted lockdowns and sudden quarantines. Covid measures were further tightened on Thursday in the capital, Beijing, which is already in near-lockdown with schools, parks and shopping malls closed and a negative Covid test required every 48 hours to enter public places anywhere in the city.

Easing Covid measures means accepting a rise in cases that is likely to get worse as winter approaches. Residents buy medications at a pharmacy in Shijiazhuang, China, last week. “There will always be complaints.”Though many people in China still support “zero-Covid,” the strict measures have also stoked growing resentment. China is thus now facing a dual challenge, said Donald Low, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “You’re going to see the Hong Kong story played out on a much larger scale” in mainland China, Low said.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, the South Korean and Japanese governments said, a day after it resumed weapons tests as it vowed “fiercer” military responses to the U.S.’s strengthening its alliances with South Korea and Japan. It would be the second ICBM North Korea has fired this month and the third this year, after it refrained from conducting such tests since 2017. Japan’s Defense Ministry also said it appeared to be an ICBM-class ballistic missile. In a statement Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the summit would lead to a “more unpredictable phase” in the situation on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea is also preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017.

It shows Xi rebuking Trudeau over alleged leaks from a 10-minute conversation the two leaders had on Tuesday, their first meeting in more than three years. “Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper; that’s not appropriate,” a smiling Xi told Trudeau through a translator. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the video showed a “normal” conversation between the two leaders. Asked about the video at a news conference in Bali on Wednesday, Trudeau confirmed that he had raised the question of foreign interference with Xi. “This is something we always do, and we will continue to.”Trudeau sidestepped a question about whether the confrontation was a “power play” by Xi.

HONG KONG — After mass unrest in 2019, a pandemic that left it isolated from the world and the imposition of a national security law that has crushed dissent, Hong Kong is ready to turn the page. According to government statistics, about 319,000 people arrived in Hong Kong last month, down 97% from 10.8 million in October 2019. According to one report last month, Hong Kong has lost its status as Asia’s top financial center to Singapore. While it may not be realistic to expect businesses to turn away from China’s huge market, global business leaders “need to recognize that there’s a new situation in Hong Kong, there’s a new reality,” said Brian Kern, the lead researcher for a report on doing business in Hong Kong that was published last month by the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a nonprofit group based in Washington. Lee also pointed to a report in September in which Hong Kong topped Singapore as the world’s freest economy.

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