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☆ Tesla lawyers are suggesting that Elon Musk's statements about self-driving safety can't be trusted because they could be deepfakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The lawsuit cites statements from Elon Musk promoting the safety of Tesla's self-driving software. But Tesla's lawyers say they can't confirm if he ever said that, because they could be deepfakes. Tesla's lawyers say that Elon Musk's past statements about the safety of its self-driving feature can't be trusted because they could be deepfakes, per court filings seen by Insider. Huang's lawyers want to interview Musk about statements he made promoting the capabilities of Tesla's self-driving software. But Tesla's lawyers say they don't know whether or not Musk actually said any of those things.

☆ China Strikes Energy Deals as Its Clout Grows in Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Sha Hua | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo Composite: Diana ChanSINGAPORE—For years, China has bought oil and gas from the Middle East. Now, Chinese companies are making big investments in parts of the energy infrastructure. The deals are allowing Beijing to diversify its energy supplies and gain strategic leverage as it becomes a bigger power broker in the region, while giving its companies access to technical expertise in areas of the industry long dominated by Western companies.

"We have an extraordinary relationship with China, a relationship that every day gets more acute and stronger," Lula said before his meeting with Xi. Brazil and China need to work together so that the relationship is not merely one of commercial interest, he added. China and Brazil did agree to set up a working group to pursue cooperation on semiconductors, strengthening ties with Beijing in areas of sensitive technology. Brazil is now the largest recipient of Chinese investment in Latin America, driven by spending on high tension electricity transmission lines and oil production. On Friday, the two countries agreed to encourage their companies to invest in each country in infrastructure, energy transition, logistics, mining, agriculture and high-tech industries.

☆ Record rise in China's sea levels from global warming threatens coastal cities like Shanghai
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Sea levels on China’s coastline have hit their highest on record for the second year in a row, rising more quickly than the global average and posing a serious threat to coastal cities such as the financial hub of Shanghai. The temperature of China’s coastal waters has increased significantly due to global warming, and the rise in sea levels has accelerated, said Wang Hua, head of the marine forecasting and monitoring department at the ministry. “In the last 11 years, from 2012 to 2022, China’s coastal sea levels were the highest since observations were first recorded,” Wang said at the news conference, which released the latest annual report on China’s sea levels. Over the past four decades, rising sea levels along the Chinese coast have caused long-term effects, including the erosion of coastal ecosystems and the loss of tidal flats. In 2022, high sea levels along the Chinese coast aggravated the impact of storms, dealing a severe blow to the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shandong.

TAIPEI, April 12 (Reuters) - Taiwan's TSMC (2330.TW) has not changed the investment plan for its new chip factory in the island's southern city of Kaohsiung, Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Wednesday, responding to a media report of the chipmaker slowing down expansion at home. "TSMC making Taiwan its global R&D hub and manufacturing hub has not changed," Wang told reporters on the sidelines of parliament. "TSMC investing in Taiwan, investing in Kaohsiung, also has not changed." Wang's comments come after Taiwan's DigiTimes publication reported, citing sources, that TSMC is slowing down its expansion plans in Kaohsiung and other Taiwanese cities. In 2021, TSMC said the Kaohsiung expansion would also include advanced 7-nanometer chips, but the company later postponed plans to build the advanced chips there.

☆ Followers Describe Allure of Chinese Businessman Charged With $1 Billion Fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Sha Hua | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/followers-describe-allure-of-chinese-businessman-charged-with-fraud-dcef4f0e

☆ China Sentences Human-Rights Activists to Prison for Subversion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Keith Zhai | Sha Hua | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In sentencing Xu Zhiyong, left, and Ding Jiaxi, the Chinese government is silencing two of the most influential critics of its approach to law. SINGAPORE—A Chinese court sentenced two of the country’s most prominent human-rights activists to prison terms of more than a decade each for subversion, slamming the door on an era of activism that briefly carved out space for liberal values in the authoritarian country. Xu Zhiyong was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fellow lawyer Ding Jiaxi was sentenced to 12 years on Monday by the Linshu County Court in eastern China’s Shandong province, said Mr. Ding’s wife, Luo Shengchun, citing information from their lawyers. Messrs. Xu and Ding had earlier been found guilty in a secret trial in Linshu in June, she said.

☆ TSMC talking to US about CHIPS Act 'guidance' amid subsidy concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW) said on Monday it is communicating with Washington about its "guidance" for a law designed to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing that has sparked concerns about subsidy criteria. "We can confirm that we are communicating with the U.S. government about the CHIPS ACT guidance," TSMC, the world's leading contract chipmaker, said in a short emailed statement. Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters on Monday that TSMC was specifically talking to the United States about the details of the subsidies. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) is investing $40 billion in a new plant in the western U.S. state of Arizona, supporting Washington's plans for more chip-making at home. The subsidies would come from a $52 billion pool of research and manufacturing funds earmarked under the CHIPS Act.

☆ China urges Australia to treat all firms, including TikTok fairly
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, April 7 (Reuters) - China said Australia's "discriminatory" ban on TikTok from all federal government-owned devices harmed the interests of Australian businesses and the public, urging Canberra to treat all firms fairly, a commerce ministry statement said on Friday. "Australia treated TikTok differently from other social media platforms and adopted discriminatory restrictive measures, which are not conducive to maintaining Australia's national security," the statement said. China also urged Australia to create a favourable environment for bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Reporting by Ellen Zhang, Judy Hua and Liz Lee; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Companies Get Another Year for Some International Sustainability Disclosures
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The International Sustainability Standards Board voted Tuesday to give companies an extra year to disclose sustainability metrics unrelated to climate issues to investors under its soon-to-be-finalized standards. The ISSB is part of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, whose accounting rules are followed in more than 140 countries. The February vote also would have had companies disclose non-climate sustainability metrics as soon as 2025. ISSB staff recommended the one-year delay after companies said reporting all sustainability information at once would be too burdensome. Some ISSB members on Tuesday said a delay would give companies more time to prepare better disclosures and understand investor expectations.

☆ Taiwan says US officials have visited to discuss concerns about chip subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-Hua and the Speaker of the Czech Republic parliament Marketa Pekarova Adamova attend a Taiwan-Czech Joint Business Council Meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, March 27, 2023. REUTERS/I-Hwa ChengTAIPEI, March 31 (Reuters) - The United States has sent officials to Taiwan to listen to concerns in the chip industry about the criteria for new U.S. semiconductor subsidies, Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Friday. The criteria are worrying companies like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS), South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, a concern shared by the world's leading contract chipmaker in Taiwan, TSMC (2330.TW). "The U.S. side has sent relevant officials to Taiwan to listen to the industry's opinions, to collect their views," she added, without giving details. "Following on, if the industry needs the government to help communicate with the United States, the Economy Ministry will certainly assist with communication," Wang said.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Five big lenders post over 3.5% annual net profit growthNet interest margin shrank at all fiveNPL ratios steady or down for all fiveBEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - China's Big Five lenders posted above 3.5% annual net profit growth this week, but warned that the foundations of the country's recovery were "not yet solid". China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS), and Bank of China (BoC) (601988.SS) both posted just over 5% annual net profit growth on Thursday. Even higher figures came from the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (601288.SS) (AgBank) on Thursday and China Construction Bank Corp on Wednesday, which both posted over 7% annual net profit growth. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS), , the world's largest listed lender by assets, came in at 3.5% annual net profit growth. NPLsWhile all five lenders posted steady or falling non-performing loan ratios, they also logged shrinking net interest margins (NIM), a key gauge of bank profitability.

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, March 29 (Reuters) - Investors are piling into China's tech, media and telecom shares, with speculative bets on chatbot development crowding out other sectors in a scenario that offers a stark contrast with global caution. On some days, including several last week, turnover in tech, media and telecom (TMT) stocks made up more than 40% of total market trade, according to China Merchants Securities' research, for a record concentration of trading volume. "In the stockmarket, AI will be an epic opportunity," said Niu Chunbao, a fund manager at Wanji Asset Management who worried he was missing the rally and bought AI stocks in recent weeks, after cutting exposure to new energy in February. An eye-catching tripling in the share price of chipmaker Cambricon Technology Corp (688256.SS) has driven its market value above $10 billion, despite the company reporting losses since 2017. ($1=6.8891 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Jason Xue in Shanghai and Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taiwan welcomes large Czech delegation after Honduras shifts allegiance to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The roughly 150-person Czech delegation arrived in Taipei on Saturday, led by the speaker of the lower chamber of the Czech parliament, Marketa Pekarova Adamova. "This visit of the delegation to Taiwan certainly represents that Taiwan is in a democratic alliance," she said. Pekarova Adamova, who is due to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen later on Monday, told the business forum that Taiwan was a crucial investment partner for her country. "Taiwan is not only an important economic partner but also a friendly and democratic partner and deserves our attention and support." Newly elected Czech president Petr Pavel drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing in January after taking a call from Tsai, a clear shift from his predecessor's attempts to win Chinese business.

☆ Wealth managers ramp up staff in Hong Kong to chase Chinese demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, March 24 (Reuters) - Wealth management firms are expanding operations aggressively in Hong Kong to meet pent-up demand from rich Chinese individuals looking to invest more money overseas after three years of COVID-19 curbs, industry sources said. Noah Holdings (NOAH.N), the largest independent wealth management firm in China, was among five private banks and wealth management firms Reuters talked to that said they held client events in the city and organised private art tours. Hywin Holdings (HYW.O), another Chinese wealth manager, invited 30 ultra-high-net worth clients to workshops, fund manager visits and even a yacht party in Hong Kong last week. Chinese financial institutions are vying for this growing wealth management business in Hong Kong. Chinese Everbright Bank and Hua Xia Bank set up private banking departments in Hong Kong in the past few months, according to sources familiar with their plans.

☆ China gives chipmakers easier subsidy access to help guide industry recovery - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 21 (Reuters) - China is facilitating easier access to subsidies and more control over state-backed research for a handful of its chip companies, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Chipmakers such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) (0981.HK), Hua Hong Semiconductor (1347.HK) and Huawei, as well as equipment suppliers like Naura (002371.SZ) and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc China(688012.SS) might benefit from the policy, the report added citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters had reported in December that China is working on a more than 1 trillion yuan ($145.34 billion) support package for its semiconductor industry, amid tightening U.S. restrictions aimed at slowing its technological advances. The chosen firms will have access to additional government funding without having to achieve previously necessary performance goals, the report said, adding that they will also be allowed to play a bigger role in state-sponsored research projects. ($1 = 6.8803 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China launches recruitment drive for college graduates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The recruitment drive, hosted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, will last from Sunday to May 26, Xinhua said. The government aims to keep survey-based jobless rate of around 5.5% this year. During the first 10 days of the recruitment drive, 19 offline job fairs, eight cross-region job fairs and job fairs featuring sectors such as manufacturing, medicine and health, Internet and electricity and new energy will be hosted, Xinhua said. China's survey-based jobless rate was 5.6% in February, but for 16-24 years old it was 18.1%, National Bureau of Statistics data showed. A rise in the jobless rate in February was due to seasonal factors, the bureau said.

☆ Fact Check-Viral clip shows tree catkins, not ‘rain of worms’ in China - scientists
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A viral clip online likely shows the catkins, or flower spikes, of poplar trees covering cars in northern China, not a “rain of worms” as social media posts and some news reports have claimed, experts told Reuters. One tweet saying: “China citizens told to find shelter after it looked like it started to rain worms” has been viewed more than 18 million times at the time of writing (here). There can be thousands of poplar catkins per tree, Claire Thomas Federici, a botanist and plant geneticist at the University of California, Riverside (here), said by email. China has a “distinctively rich” variety of trees in the poplar family, particularly in northern China, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (here), (here). Experts say the video from China likely shows catkins from poplar trees instead of a “rain” of worms or caterpillars.

☆ China Suspends Deloitte’s Beijing Unit and Fines It
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Rebecca Feng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Deloitte Hua Yong says it employs more than 20,000 professionals across 30 cities in China. China’s Finance Ministry has suspended the operations of Deloitte’s Beijing office for three months, citing “serious audit deficiencies” in the firm’s work with a big state-owned asset manager. The move followed an investigation into its audits of China Huarong Asset Management Co., a firm which was bailed out in late 2021. The Finance Ministry said that Deloitte Hua Yong, the Chinese name of the auditor’s local affiliate, didn’t assess the true value of China Huarong’s assets or provide proper audit opinions on unusual transactions even after identifying them.

☆ Chinese leader Xi Jinping is heading to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Russia next week to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. This marks the first time that Xi will be traveling to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war. Xi's visit would mark the first time China's leader will visit Russia since Moscow launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022. Xi and Putin will discuss "deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation" between their nations, the Kremlin said in a Friday statement. Ahead of the announcement, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Thursday evening.

Former real-estate developer Guo Wengui has said he fled China in 2014 after hearing that a state security official to whom he was close would be arrested. Chinese businessman Guo Wengui , who gained attention by lobbing corruption allegations at Beijing from a Manhattan penthouse and later launched a media company with Trump confidant Steve Bannon , was arrested Wednesday and accused of orchestrating a $1 billion fraud. Mr. Guo took advantage of the hundreds of thousands of followers he amassed online, prosecutors alleged, by soliciting investments in his cryptocurrency, media and other companies. Instead, he used the money to buy a $26 million home in New Jersey, a yacht, a Ferrari and a $36,000 mattress, among other items, said the indictment, which charged Mr. Guo with 11 counts of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said they seized $634 million in criminal proceeds and assets that included a Lamborghini.

New bank lending fell much less than expected in February from a record high the previous month. Chinese banks extended 1.81 trillion yuan ($260 billion) in new loans last month. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted they would fall to 1.50 trillion yuan from 4.9 trillion yuan in January, and compared with 1.23 trillion yuan a year earlier. Household loans, mostly mortgages, fell to 208.1 billion yuan in February from 257.2 billion yuan in January, while corporate loans fell to 1.61 trillion yuan from 4.68 trillion yuan. TSF for the month of February fell to 3.16 trillion yuan from 5.98 trillion yuan in January, but was still well ahead of expectations for 2.20 trillion yuan.

☆ At China political meeting, internet bosses are out, chip execs are in
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Laurie Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HARDWARE FOCUSNewcomers to the events include representatives from chip firms Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), state-backed Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd, Shandong Youyan Semiconductor Materials Co. in the NPC and Cambricon Techologies Corp in the CPPCC. Other new NPC delegates come from robotics, laser, aerospace and aeronautics firms. Delegates for the NPC and CPPCC are chosen every five years by the Communist Party and have the option to resign. Some celebrity CPPCC delegates did not reappear on this year's list, such as Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, film director Feng Xiaogang and state television anchor Bai Yansong. Yao Ming, a retired basketball star who heads the Chinese Basketball Association, has moved from the CPPCC to the NPC.

☆ Dow said it was recycling our shoes. We found them in Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

While the sample was small, the fact that none of these shoes made it to a Singapore recycling facility underscores weaknesses in the system. Dow said these builds will use the 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) of recycled shoe material that have been produced through the Singapore recycling project so far. Reuters had dropped those shoes into a Dow recycling bin at a Singapore community center in September, three months earlier. Recycling flopsThis is not the first novel recycling scheme launched by Dow that hasn’t lived up to its billing. In its Jan. 18 statement, Dow said the shoe recycling partners are “energized by the common vision of sport championing a greener and more sustainable Singapore.” Dow did not comment on the Journal of Consumer Psychology study.

☆ More US firms in Taiwan say they’re seeing ‘significant disruption’ due to rising tension with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Eric Cheung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Taipei CNN —The number of companies in Taiwan saying they’re experiencing business disruptions due to rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing has almost doubled, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan. An annual survey, which polled 214 member firms in Taiwan, showed that the number of companies reporting “significant disruption” rose from 17% to 33% between August and December 2022, the chamber said Tuesday. China’s ruling Communist Party has increasingly exerted its territorial claims over democratic Taiwan, a self-governing island, despite having never controlled it. Almost half of the companies that the chamber surveyed said they’re developing contingency plans in response to the heightened tension. “For companies in Taiwan, cross-strait relations are very important,” Kristie Hsu, a director at Taiwan’s Chung-Hua Institution of Economic Research, told CNN.

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