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☆ Chinese papers go black in mourning for late leader Jiang Zemin
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A Chinese flag is lowered to half-staff, following the death of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in Shanghai, China, December 1, 2022. REUTERS/Aly SongBEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers turned their front pages black on Thursday and flags were put at half mast in mourning for the death of former president Jiang Zemin, whose death has prompted a wave of nostalgia for the more liberal times he oversaw. Jiang died in his home city of Shanghai just after noon on Wednesday of leukaemia and multiple organ failure. "Beloved comrade Jiang Zemin will never be forgotten," it said in its headline, above a story republishing the official announcement of his death. "Having someone educated as leader really is a good thing, RIP," wrote one user on WeChat adding a candle emoji.

☆ Foxconn asks workers for referrals to replenish China plant's staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn on Wednesday offered a 1,000 yuan ($141.11) award to staff who successfully recommend people to work at its plant in China's Zhengzhou city, as it tries to replenish depleted staff numbers there after recent unrest. Typically, a Foxconn worker makes between 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month. Last week, violent protests erupted at the facility over a bonus issue, prompted several others to leave. Foxconn has already upped bonuses for existing workers, and is offering higher pay packages for new workers. On Wednesday, the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone where the Foxconn plant is located, said it would undertake those measures from Dec. 1.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn is using cash bonuses to tempt people to work at its iPhone City after COVID protests gutted its staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple supplier Foxconn is offering $141 dollars for successful staff referrals, Reuters reported. Foxconn is attempting to lure new staff to the so-called "iPhone City" after protests saw large numbers of workers leave. Apple is facing a shortfall of nearly 6 million iPhones this year because of protests. Apple is facing a shortfall of nearly six million iPhone Pros this year due to the protests against China's zero-COVID policy. To lure workers back, the firm is now offering $1,800 bonuses to some workers to continue working at the factory.

"Things reached a tipping point, we had to come out," Yang, 32, who declined to be identified by her full name given fear of reprisals, told Reuters. Authorities have denied the deaths in the fire were linked to lockdown measures that blocked the victims' escape. "I'm very proud that I can stand up with the best young people in China and speak out for everyone," said Cheng. She and other young protesters are tech savvy, with many communicating over Telegram in amorphous, anonymous and decentralised acts of defiance, with echoes of Hong Kong's leaderless pro-democracy protests in 2019. But it's better than facing the reality day by day and then not being able to do anything, and then you feel sorry for yourself."

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.

☆ China says it drove away U.S. cruiser near Spratly Islands
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) - China's military said on Tuesday it drove away a U.S. guided-missile cruiser that "illegally intruded" into waters near the South China Sea's Spratly Islands. Tian said the U.S. cruiser's intrusion showed that the United States was a "security risk maker" in the South China Sea and "is another iron-clad proof of its hegemony in the navigation and militarization of the South China Sea". China's military said its troops would remain on high alert, the Southern Theatre Command said on its WeChat social media account. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and it has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between it and the United States. U.S. warships have passed through the South China Sea with increasing frequency in recent years, in a show of force against the Chinese claims.

☆ Dating apps and Telegram: How China protesters are defying authorities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Protesters came out in several Chinese cities for three days from Friday in a show of civil disobedience unprecedented since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago. Authorities denied accusations posted on social media that a lockdown had prevented people escaping the blaze but that did not prevent protests on Urumqi streets, videos of which were posted on the Weibo and Douyin social media apps. Censors tried to scrub them quickly but they were downloaded and reposted not only across Chinese social media but also to Twitter and Instagram, which are blocked in China. A few hours before protesters gathered in cities like Shanghai and Chengdu, online flyers and pinned locations were widely shared on Telegram groups, Instagram and Twitter, social media users said. Police have been checking phones for VPNs and the Telegram app, residents and social media users said.

CNN —China’s vast security apparatus has moved swiftly to smother mass protests that swept the country, with police patrolling streets, checking cell phones and even calling some demonstrators to warn them against a repeat. While protests over local grievances do occur in China, the current wave of demonstrations is the most widespread since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement of 1989. Some of the boldest protests took place in Shanghai, where crowds called for Xi’s removal two nights in a row. Police cars patrol Shanghai's Urumqi Road, which has been completely blocked off by tall barricades after a weekend of protests. Another Shanghai protester told CNN they were among “around 80 to 110” people detained by police on Saturday night, adding they were released 24 hours later.

☆ China's 'iPhone city' is lifting its lockdown after a wave of protests over the strict policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Factory workers have been protesting against China's strict pandemic restrictions amid an Omicron surge. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyChina's "iPhone city" is ending its strict lockdown. Zhengzhou, a city in east-central China that is home to Apple's largest iPhone factory, Foxconn, is lifting its lockdown policy after five days, Bloomberg first reported, citing a WeChat post from the local government. The city made the announcement hours after officials in China said they would avoid strict restrictions, Bloomberg reports, after protests erupted in cities across the country against President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy. The protests threatened to impact Apple's iPhone output, with Bloomberg reporting that there could be a production shortage of almost six million iPhone Pros this year as a result.

☆ Blank sheets of paper become symbol of defiance in China protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In Shanghai, a crowd that started gathering late on Saturday to hold a candlelight vigil for the Urumqi victims held up blank sheets of paper, according to witnesses and videos. Other images showed dozens of other people subsequently taking to the university's steps with blank sheets of paper，illuminated against the night sky by flashlights from their mobile phones. In Hong Kong in 2020, activists also raised blank sheets of white paper in protest to avoid slogans banned under the city's new national security law, which was imposed after massive and sometimes violent protests the previous year. Several Internet users showed solidarity by posting blank white squares or photos of themselves holding blank sheets of paper on their WeChat timelines or on Weibo. By Sunday morning, the hashtag "white paper exercise" was blocked on Weibo, prompting users to lament the censorship.

Later on, they shouted, “lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!”, according to a video circulated on social media. [1/3] Workers in protective suits keep watch behind a barrier at a sealed restaurant area, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 26, 2022. Some posted screenshots of street signs for Wulumuqi Road, both to evade censors and show support for protesters in Shanghai. Shanghai's 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, an ordeal that provoked anger and protest. A video shared with Reuters showed Beijing residents in an unidentifiable part of the capital marching around an open-air carpark on Saturday, shouting "End the lockdown!"

☆ China's Shenzhen limits indoor venue occupancy, asks public to work from home
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Shenzhen said it will limit restaurant and other indoor venues to 50% occupancy as part of its COVID prevention measures. New arrivals to the southern city will be barred from entering venues such as theatres and gyms for the first three days, it also said in a government notice on WeChat. During an evening briefing, local authorities also required the majority of enterprises, employees and residents to work from home from Monday to Friday. Reporting by Beijing newsroom and David Kirton in Shenzhen; Writing by Liz Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A 26-story pig skyscraper in China will slaughter 1 million animals a year, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Hannah Williams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's skyscraper pig farm aims to tackle the country's growing pork demands, The Guardian reports. The Guardian reported the new tower in China is the largest "single-building pig farm in the world." Statements on the company's WeChat account analyzed by The Guardian reveal the farm-in-the-sky will house more than 600,000 animals. Animals are automatically fed via buttons in a central control room, and the pigs' waste is used to generate heating and power. Hubei Zhongxin Kaiwei Modern Farming, the company behind the development, has already sent 3,700 sows to the farm, The Guardian reported.

☆ Huge COVID protests erupt in China's Xinjiang after deadly fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters verified the footage was published from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi. Videos showed people in a plaza singing China's national anthem with its lyric, "Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves!" The Urumqi protests followed a fire in a high-rise building there that killed 10 on Thursday night. Urumqi officials abruptly held a news conference in the early hours of Saturday, denying that COVID measures had hampered escape and rescue but saying they would investigate further. Some lamented its similarities to the deadly September crash of a COVID quarantine bus.

☆ China sentences Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years for rape
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 25 (Reuters) - A Beijing court on Friday sentenced Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail after finding him guilty of crimes including rape. The court in Beijing's Chaoyang District said investigations showed that from November to December 2020, the man also known as Wu Yifan raped three women. The court also said Wu would be deported, although lawyers in China have said deportations typically take place after a defendant serves their sentence. Officials from the Canadian embassy in Beijing attended the sentencing, according to state media. The Canadian embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

☆ Neuberger Berman gets Chinese regulatory approval to conduct mutual fund business
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Nov 25 (Reuters) - U.S. asset manager Neuberger Berman's Chinese unit said on Friday it has been granted a license by the Chinese securities regulator to conduct mutual fund business. It officially becomes the second wholly foreign-owned fund management company allowed to conduct mutual fund business in the country, the company said on its official WeChat account. BlackRock (BLK.N) already operates a fully owned mutual fund business in China. In September, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved Neuberger Berman to set up a wholly owned mutual fund unit in Shanghai. Reporting by Samuel Shen, Ella Cao and Twinnie Siu, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk says he wants 'Twitter 2.0' to have video chat, voice calls, and encrypted DMs — and has enlisted the help of Signal's founder
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Musk said in the meeting he wants to encrypt DMs for security and add voice and video chat functions. The creator of messaging app Signal, a former Twitter employee, could help with the plans, Musk said. Under the plans, DMs would be encrypted, meaning the text could only be read by participants, as is the case on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. Musk added that he had spoken with the creator of Signal, Moxie Marlinspike, an ex-Twitter employee, who is "potentially willing to help out" with encrypting Twitter DMs. In August, an ex-employee was found guilty of spying after passing Twitter users' information to Saudi Arabia, having been paid over $300,000 to do so.

☆ China's problem of youth game addiction has been solved -top industry body
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - China has resolved the problem of game addiction among its youth, a report co-written by the country's top gaming industry association said, in remarks likely to be welcomed by the regulations-battered sector. The comment came from a report by the China Game Industry Group Committee, affiliated with the online game publishing regulator, China Game Industry Research Institute and data provider CNG, CNG said on its official WeChat account on Tuesday. The move came as part of a broad regulatory crackdown against the Chinese technology sector and was seen as an effort to also tighten controls over the gaming industry, which was hit soon afterward with a lengthy title approval freeze. CNG said the report found that more than 75% of young players now played games for less than 3 hours a week and praised Chinese game companies for achieving "remarkable results" after setting up systems to curb game addiction. Reporting by Brenda Goh and Josh Ye; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zoom cuts annual revenue forecast on slow online business
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Tiyashi Datta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) on Monday lowered its annual revenue forecast, as the video-conferencing platform expects a hit from declining online business. Zoom chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg said during a post-earnings call that the company's online business would decline nearly 8% during the year. The easing of pandemic-related restrictions across the world is also weighing on its business as people started spending less time online. Zoom now expects annual revenue to be between $4.37 billion and $4.38 billion, compared with an earlier outlook of $4.39 billion and $4.40 billion. On an adjusted basis, the pandemic winner earned $1.07 per share during the quarter, compared with estimates of 84 cents, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Zoom cuts annual revenue forecast as video-conferencing service demand wanes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) on Monday lowered its annual revenue forecast amid waning demand for the video conferencing platform as pandemic restrictions ease and competition amps up. After recording blistering growth during the pandemic, Zoom, which competes with WeChat Work, Microsoft Teams (MSFT.O), Cisco (CSCO.O) WebEx and Slack, is facing a slowdown as red-hot inflation is dampening the spending power of customers. Zoom now expects annual revenue to be between $4.37 billion and $4.38 billion, compared with an earlier outlook of $4.39 billion and $4.40 billion. The company, however, raised its annual adjusted profit per share to between $3.91 and $3.94, compared with $3.66 to $3.69 forecast earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.07 per share during the quarter, compared with estimates of 84 cents per share, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Guangzhou Covid-19: China locks down key transportation hub; markets fear economic fallout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —China has locked down a major transportation hub in the south, as the country’s grapples with its largest nationwide Covid outbreak since April. The lockdown also follows rising cases in Beijing, which reported the country’s first Covid deaths in nearly six months. Asian markets and oil prices slid on Monday as investors fretted about the prospect of China re-tightening Covid rules. Guangzhou, one of China’s largest cities with nearly 19 million residents, imposed a five-day lockdown in Baiyun district, which is home to one of the country’s busiest airports. Goldman Sachs analysts said Monday that the latest news on China’s Covid management has been “confusing” to investors.

Hong Kong/Beijing CNN Business —More than 100,000 people have signed up for a massive recruitment drive by Apple’s supplier Foxconn for the largest iPhone factory in China, according to Chinese state media. And our hiring process is now closed temporarily,” a Foxconn executive, Yang Han, in Zhengzhou told state news outlet Yicai on Thursday. Some local governments in Henan have recently also asked community officials to join the production line themselves, according to multiple Chinese state media reports. Several unidentified such officials, also known colloquially as local “grassroots officials,” or “cadres,” told state media publication Cailian Press Tuesday that they were told to work at the Zhengzhou campus from one to six months. “We now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated,” the tech giant said in a statement earlier this month.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. Serious red flags around Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX emerged before the now-embattled cryptocurrency exchange even launched, according to an early would-be investor. Alex Pack, now the managing partner of New York-based venture capital firm Hack VC, said he met Bankman-Fried in 2018. Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO of FTX last Friday as the crypto company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In 2018, Bankman-Fried was a relatively unknown founder seeking a deal in the emerging crypto market.

HONG KONG, Nov 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Naspers (NPNJn.J) has a new Tencent (0700.HK) quandary. In June, they launched an open-ended plan to gradually sell Tencent shares and use the proceeds to repurchase stock in both companies. The problem, however, is that Tencent stock has underperformed that of Naspers and Prosus. Over the same period Naspers shares rose 6% while those of its Dutch subsidiary are down 19%. “The Naspers Board and Prosus Board reiterate their continued confidence in Tencent's long term prospects and continue to believe that the share repurchase programme is in the best interests of Prosus, Naspers and their respective shareholders," they said in a statement.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. the person said, adding that the calls would connect but Chinese officials wouldn't pick up. Based on a long-standing practice, faxes continue to be exchanged between two semi-official organisations that handle routine affairs: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. The council told Reuters that while Chinese officials do not reply directly, they have handled Taiwanese requests when needed or responded through public statements. China this year labeled Tsai's administration "evil" while Taiwan called China "incredibly absurd".

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