China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang to visit Singapore from Nov 10-11 for top-level bilateral meeting

The 20th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC ) meeting, which is the apex platform for China’s vice-premier Ding Xuexiang, will take place from Sunday ( Nov. 10 ) until Monday ( Nov. 2 ).

The annual diplomatic appointment, which reviews the effectiveness of Singapore’s cooperation with China and charts the way of assistance, is co-chaired by him and Singapore’s deputy prime minister and minister for trade and industry, Gan Kim Yong.

They will also co-chair the 25th Suzhou Industrial Park Joint Steering Council ( JSC), the 16th Tianjin Eco-City JSC, and the 8th China-Singapore ( Chongqing ) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity JSC meetings.

The JCBC will continue to chart the forward-looking cooperation between both sides, Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office ( PMO ) said in a press statement on Saturday ( Nov 9 ).

” The JSCs will review the progress made on the three lineup government-to-government jobs and explain ways to further expand their advancement”, PMO added.

These three jobs are the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative. &nbsp,

Mr. Ding may make his second trip to Singapore as evil premier and co-chair. However, it will be the first time that Mr Gan is co-chairing the diplomatic meeting, which is held periodically in Singapore and China.

Twenty-four deals were signed at last week’s JCBC meeting in Tianjin, covering areas such as ecology, training, industry, food safety and healthcare.

According to PMO, Mr. Gan will host a delightful dinner on Sunday in addition to a bilateral meeting with Mr. Ding.

Mr. Ding may speak with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam during his two-day attend. Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Teo Chee Hean, may also serve as the evil top of China.

In addition, Mr. Ding and Mr. Gan will take part in a tree-planting meeting at the Singapore Botanic Gardens to honor the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park’s 30th celebration.

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US President-elect Trump’s ‘America First’ policy will impact global trade in Asia, say analysts

Holmes said that Trump’s economic policies will help to strengthen the dollar and could prompt the US Federal Reserve to prevent cutting interest rates or at least halt its easing cycle.

“That’s going to hurt places where they’re especially concerned about their forex- Indonesia, for instance. ( In ) Japan, the yen has sold off amongst a strong dollar, ” he said.

In South Asia, places like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Island may be affected, but India will likely be spared, he added.

“India seems to be somewhat isolated. It appears to have good relations with Trump, and its GDP ( gross domestic product ) is not significantly impacted by additional business. ”

RELATIONS WITH CHINA

As for US-China relations, Assoc Prof Chong said it depends on what Beijing meant when it called for a “peaceful co-existence ” following Trump’s victory.

They previously proposed that the US influence extends to Guam and other places in the Pacific, and that Beijing should have some sort of influence over everything two points west, ” he said.

It is up to Trump and the other players in the area to decide how they want to live together, deal with, or deal with a prospective situation in such a way. ”

Additionally, according to Assoc Prof. Chong, the world today is much more protectionist than in the beginning of Trump, with China being more concerned with preserving and growing its own business.

He added: “( In ) 2016, there was a lot more trust that China- and even Europe- would be more available to trade, to economic liberalisation. That has now established that it is not the situation.

Asia is today, in some ways, much less cozy than it was in 2016. ”

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Philippines says joint maritime exercises rein in China

MANILA: &nbsp, Joint naval exercises held frequently by the Philippines, United States and other Western powers are helping rein in “aggressive” Chinese actions in the South China Sea, a Filipino military official said on Wednesday ( Nov 6 ). Beijing has long sought to increase its appearance in the contestedContinue Reading

Skiing through climate change: China’s latest indoor facility embraces sustainability

Mr Greg Dingle, a researcher and educator focusing on sport and climate change at La Trobe Business School, questioned the sustainability of indoor ski resorts especially amid China’s climate pledges.

“Producing temperatures indoors that are cold enough for ski activities requires energy, lots of energy,” Mr Dingle said.

“Given the energy-intensity and likely tourist visitation of indoor ski resorts, my assessment is that they are likely not environmentally sustainable.” 

Other experts like Mr Liu Daizhong, East Asia director at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), noted severe environmental impacts which come with indoor ski resorts that use significantly higher energy and water consumption as compared to traditional outdoor ski lodges and resorts. 

“Climate change has a significant impact on the ski tourism industry,” Mr Liu told CNA, adding that indoor resorts were expected to operate all year round and “rely entirely on artificial snowmaking and cooling systems” which could lead to substantial electricity and water consumption. 

“Without effective energy-saving technologies, large-scale energy-intensive facilities like this could weaken China’s efforts to achieve its carbon neutrality goals,” Mr Liu said. 

Citing the example that if Chinese skiers are required to commute in a carbon-neutral manner to the resort, and stay in carbon-neutral accommodations, Mr Dingle believes it “perhaps is possibly consistent with the 2030 and 2060 climate commitments.”

When asked how L+SNOW resort could serve as a model for sustainable tourism, the operator told CNA that consumers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai previously had to fly to snowfields in Northeast China or even farther abroad, which “generated considerable carbon emissions during the trip.”

“But now, they don’t need to travel far to go skiing, making it more economical and energy-saving.”

Mr Ma, the ski instructor, says he sees a bright future for winter sports in China.

“Indoor ski resorts will have a positive impact … it’s not limited by seasons or weather, allowing more people to experience the joy of skiing at any time,” he said. 

“Skiing should focus more on popularising and promoting the sport to encourage greater participation, while simultaneously raising public awareness about environmental protection, contributing collectively to the preservation of our planet.”

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A US-China science pact has expired after 45 years. How is the world poorer for it?

According to analysts, US-China medical cooperations were now heading in troubled waters as geopolitical tensions grew before the STA expired.

Dr. Reyes claimed that the US-China scientific collaborations have typically fallen and are now” cold-storage periods.”

This is supported by research results. According to a study by Professor Tang Li from the Fudan University’s School of International Relations and Public Affairs in February this year, the percentage of Sino-American combined papers reached a peak of 13.9 percent in 2019 before declining to 11.7 percent in 2023, in comparison to US analysis alone.

Also, the share of US-China creative study compared to all Chinese content saw a strong drop, falling from 12.2 per share in 2017 to 5.7 per cent in 2023.

This general pattern had already been highlighted by academics at Yangzhou University in China and Ohio State University in the US, who co-published a research paper in February 2022.

” The drop in China-USA cooperation can be seen beginning in 2019, before the ( COVID-19 ) pandemic… the patterns suggest that political tensions, more than the pandemic, influenced the drop in China-US cooperation”, the paper stated. &nbsp,

A set point came in 2018 when the Trump presidency in the US launched the so-called China Initiative, say experts. The program sought to investigate possible breaches of regional security resulting from the leak of delicate scientific information to scientists who are suspected of having connections to Beijing.

According to a study conducted in 2022 by lawyer and law professor Andrew Chongseh Kim, scenarios involving Chinese academics who were subject to the Economic Espionage Act were more likely to be exposed and subject to harsher penalties than those involving non-Asians.

Additionally, according to the study, up to one in three Eastern scientists had false accusations, with the majority of those false accusations being dropped from juries and judges or dismissed by judges and juries.

The Biden presidency actually ended the China Initiative in early 2022. A senior US Justice Department official stated the focus on China had been” too narrow”, and the new approach would be a broader,” threat-driven” strategy targeting Russia, Iran and North Korea as well.

However, experts say there has been a lingering effects. Dr. Reyes, a researcher at HKU, claimed that institutions over the past two decades have been more cautious in their efforts to avoid breaking the law when working with Chinese scientists. He claimed that based on his relationships with academics in the US and internationally.

Because virtually every area of research has the potential to be viewed as a legitimate risk or used by China for unfriendly purposes, he said, “it’s a difficult position for institutions.”

Since the start of the China Initiative, a study by the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions in July revealed a 75 % increase in the number of Chinese-born scientists leaving the US, with the majority of them establishing new careers there. &nbsp,

The federal government is the main one source of funding for simple studies in the US. However, according to the study, 44 % of researchers who are awarded federal grants choose to avoid applying for them.

Among those in this group, 84 percent expressed concerns about possible legal repercussions from errors in forms and disclosures, and 65 percent expressed concern that their collaborations with Taiwanese researchers or institutions does make them suspect.

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Sri Lanka arrests over 230 Chinese in cybercrime raids

The foreign minister said on Tuesday ( Oct 15 ) that Sri Lankan police have detained more than 230 Chinese men who are accused of stealing money from international banks through online scams with assistance from security officials sent by Beijing. According to Vijitha Herath, authorities have seize 250 computersContinue Reading