Chinese EVs and the race for autonomous AI – Asia Times

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In 2015, the Chinese government announced the strategic industrial development policy known as Made in China 2025. Of the ten key industries targeted, new energy vehicles (NEVs) have arguably achieved the greatest success, changing the dynamics of the global auto industry and thoroughly alarming US and European governments.

They have also attracted the attention of US scientist and Pattern Computer CEO Mark Anderson, who sees an unprecedented challenge to Western supremacy in the technologies that support China’s hyper-competitive electric vehicle (EV) industry. Pattern Computer is a machine learning and AI company headquartered in the state of Washington.

In an essay entitled “THE RACE FOR AUTONOMOUS AI: The Key to Global Technical and Economic Dominance,” which appeared in the July 7 edition of his Strategic News Service Global Report on Technology and the Economy, Anderson identified the EV as an enabler for critically important technologies.

In his view, the winner of the race to lead the global EV market “will, in one product, gain leverage or domination in:

  • autonomous AI
  • light-weighting new materials
  • advanced manufacturing
  • lidar/radar
  • computer vision
  • advanced computing software and hardware
  • advanced chips
  • batteries
  • energy grid redesign
  • charging-station design and control
  • broadband realtime networking
  • data collection/management technologies
  • (and of course) the data itself collected around the world
  • oh yeah, and money – lots of it.”

Electric vehicles, therefore, are not just a “like to have” but a “must have” industry.

Autonomous AI is at the top of the list because it could deliver what OpenAI/ChatGPT promises to deliver but can’t – advanced general intelligence (AGI). ChatGPT and models like it are “for tasks that are language-related – only.”

“Instead of – or in addition to – the AGI hunt,” writes Anderson, “let’s focus on autonomy. After all, a compute system that can perform successfully on its own, without human guidance, may be the ultimate intended purpose of AGI in any case.”

“As with AGI,” he continues, “no one has yet succeeded in the hunt for autonomy, although it is likely that Elon Musk and Tesla have pressed the limits of the types of tools (neural networks, or NNs) they’re using.” Tesla has been troubled by numerous accidents, allegations of false advertising and the delayed launch of its robotaxi.

After noting that China appears to have surreptitiously acquired its autonomous driving technology from Tesla, Anderson asks, “What is China doing to cement a victory in this race for global domination in dozens of top technology categories?”

The answer, he writes, is “Everything it can, including:

• Conducting the world’s largest experiment in driverless cars, in Wuhan, operated by Baidu – about to jump from 800 to 1800 robotaxis

• Having cities designate special test areas for autonomy testing

• Censoring / deleting any news of deaths and accidents by autonomous vehicles

• Having passed laws preventing any autonomy data from leaving China, with the intention of keeping foreign automakers from benefiting cross-border

• Setting up ‘research’ stations on autonomy in Silicon Valley – a typical move for stealing IP in the past, as in the case of the destruction of Motorola

• Providing low- to zero-cost loans to virtually all EV companies, including those losing money (which is the majority)

• Picking favorites early – such as Huawei, Baidu, and BYD – and providing additional permitting and financial subsidies as needed

• Moving fast into the EU market, before the EU and Germany can work out a response, and working hard to delay such discussions

• Quickly building new plants in Eastern Europe, Mexico and the US, to get inside tariff borders before these ‘victim markets’ can respond to the current export onslaught of subsidized EVs”

In other words, China is serious about EVs in a way that makes US President Joe Biden’s efforts to promote them look pathetically inadequate and Donald Trump’s plan to undo them ill-conceived and dangerously ignorant.

“Today,” says Anderson, “there are something like 300 car companies in China, with about 100 making some form of EVs, essentially all of them subsidized…” Keeping in mind that the US and EU also subsidize their EV industries (and that Tesla pads its income statement with sales of carbon credits), let’s put this statement in context.

As pointed out in Automobile History on the history.com website: “Thirty American manufacturers produced 2,500 motor vehicles in 1899, and some 485 companies entered the business in the next decade.” The number of US automakers then dropped to 253 in 1908 and 44 in 1929, when about 80% out of a total of 5.3 million vehicles were produced by the “Big Three” – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

In 2019, according to Bloomberg, there were some 500 EV makers in China. Now, five years later, consulting firm AlixPartners says there are 137 Chinese EV brands, of which 19 should be profitable by the end of the decade. The South China Morning Post writes “just 19,” but it would be more to the point to say “perhaps as many as 19.”

China’s national industrial policy has simply replicated the venture capital free-for-all and winnowing-out process that characterized the US auto industry in its formative years.

From 2019 to 2023, China’s NEV production (including battery EVs, hybrids and a small number of hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles) rose from 1.2 million to 8.9 million units, accounting for about 30% of the nation’s total motor vehicle production.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China accounted for nearly 60% of worldwide new EV registrations (including hybrids) in 2023. Europe accounted for just under 25% and the US for about 10%, IEA data shows.

Furthermore, the IEA notes that: “The year 2023 was the first in which China’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) industry ran without support from national subsidies for EV purchases, which have facilitated expansion of the market for more than a decade.”

Having achieved sufficient economies of scale, Chinese automakers no longer need them. According to Dialogue Earth, local subsidies and tax breaks are also likely to be phased out as government policy shifts “from carrot to stick.”

As for autonomous driving, recall that in 2019 Tesla sued one of its Chinese engineers for allegedly stealing its Autopilot source code and taking it with him to Xpeng. And that two other Tesla engineers also defected to Xpeng, which is known as China’s “Tesla clone.”

Furthermore, in Anderson’s estimation, “At a time when very few car companies worldwide have anything approaching even fault-ridden autonomous driving software, China suddenly now has about 30 EV companies with this ability.” Including Huawei, which provides autonomous driving technology to several Chinese automakers.

But it is not just the Chinese. Earlier this year, Volkswagen (VW) and Xpeng agreed to a “strategic technical collaboration” for the rapid development of “intelligent connected” EVs for the Chinese market. VW owns 4.99% of Xpeng.

VW also plans to form a 50-50 joint venture with Rivian Automotive of the US “to build on Rivian’s industry-leading software and electrical architecture to create best-in-class software-defined vehicle technology platform.”

In Japan, Toyota, Honda, Sony and a start-up called Turing are all working on software-defined and autonomous vehicles. Honda’s Traffic Jam Pilot, which was launched last March, “helps mitigate driver fatigue and stress while driving in a traffic jam.” As explained on the company’s website:

“While driving on an expressway, if the vehicle gets caught in traffic congestion, under certain conditions, the system takes control of acceleration, braking and steering while monitoring the vehicle’s surroundings on behalf of the driver. Without the need to operate the vehicle to follow the vehicle in front, stop and resume driving, the driver can watch television/DVD on the navigation screen or operate the navigation system to search/set a destination.”

The system determines the vehicle’s position using external and cameras, radar and LIDAR sensors, a Global Navigation Satellite System, high-definition maps, and an internal camera that monitors the driver.

Turing, a start-up with the mission “We Overtake Tesla,” goes a step further. Believing that “what is necessary for autonomous driving is not good eyes, but a good brain,” the company is developing AI that “directly issues driving instructions from camera images… without using many sensors or high-precision maps.”

Inspired by English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, the Japanese company aims to develop an autonomous driving system that thinks and acts like a human being. As explained by TechTarget, “Turing proposed that a computer can be said to possess artificial intelligence if it can mimic human responses under specific conditions.”

In summary, Anderson states that “Autonomy – on the land, in and under the sea, and in the air – is a pragmatic goal of AI that will replace the fantastical dreams of AGI rather quickly, as the latter technology becomes well accepted as a language aid, but not for use in trust-based situations.

“True autonomy will require… a complete, demonstrable lack of hallucinations and other unavoidable failure modes. Autonomy, and not ChatGPT, will become the ultimate ‘Turing test’ for advanced AI.”

As Anderson implies, there is more to this than China leading the new industrial revolution. Dr. Paul Kallender, defense expert at Japan’s Keio Research Institute, suggests that we “re-imagine the EV as an autonomous weapons system operating in a total surveillance information environment.”

It depends on a dozen advanced technologies with dual civilian-military applications that must perform flawlessly in difficult and dangerous environments.

Follow this writer on X: @ScottFo83517667

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The Big Read: Infamous as a red-light district, Geylang gets a partial makeover but stigma lingers

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A ‘TRANSIENT’ COMMUNITY NOT OF LOCALS To what extent then does Geylang’s lingering stigma affect residential property developments in the area? For residential units located on even-numbered lorongs, which are commonly associated with vice activities, it can often take up to six months before a willing buyer is found, saidContinue Reading

Supplementary bill to “pass with flying colours”

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PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2024 at 05:02

Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira is at a press conference on the digital wallet handout scheme at Government House on July 24. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira is at a press conference on the digital wallet handout scheme at Government House on July 24. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

The Pheu Thai Party is confident that a supplementary bill aimed at funding its flagship digital wallet handout scheme will pass the House’s second and third readings on Wednesday.

Wisut Chainaroon, a Pheu Thai MP-list and the chief government whip, said on Sunday the bill will pass as the handout scheme has kindles new hope among the public.

The final deliberation of the bill is expected to wrap up in four hours, as only 20 MPs have listed questions about the scheme’s budget, he says.

The bill, which seeks to increase the budget for the current fiscal year by 122 billion baht, passed its first reading in the House of Representatives on July 17.

Thirachai Saenkaew, a Pheu Thai MP for Udon Thani and spokesman for a committee studying the supplementary bill, said the panel reviewed the bill three times and is ready to answer all questions presented in parliament.

“We invited various agencies to provide information. We have confirmed the digital wallet project covers all groups of people, including those who do not have smartphones. The application will be ready for the project when it is launched,” he said.

Regarding opposition parties’ concerns about whether the 2024 budget expenditure can be carried on to the year 2025, he said the Budget Bureau confirmed the 2024 budget can be used until next year.

He is confident the second and third readings of the bill will go as smoothly as the first.

Meanwhile, a source said that although the scrutiny committee agreed with the bill in principle, it had raised some points that the government must consider.

First, the government should specify in the project’s terms of reference that it will collect users’ spending data so it can monitor the economic effect of the stimulus scheme.

The panel also suggested the government differentiate between investment expenditures and regular expenditures and recommended the Budget Bureau define “investment expenditure” with additional details to ensure clarity, the source said.

The committee also suggested a clear list of items or services that people are prohibited from buying using the handout money, the source said.

The Trade Competition Commission should be involved in providing advice and evaluating the results of the project, especially in terms of its impact on the retail and wholesale markets, the source said.

The government must also punish those who violate the rules of the project and establish a unit or a channel through which the public can file complaints about wrongdoers or ask for help, the source said.

The Personal Data Protection Committee and the Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee should also participate in the project.

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Supplementary bill for digital handout to “pass with flying colours”

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In: South-East Asia

PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2024 at 05:02

Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira speaks at a press conference on the digital wallet handout scheme at Government House in Bangkok on July 24. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira speaks at a press conference on the digital wallet handout scheme at Government House in Bangkok on July 24. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

The Pheu Thai Party is confident that a supplementary bill aimed at funding its flagship digital wallet handout scheme will pass the House’s second and third readings on Wednesday.

Wisut Chainaroon, a Pheu Thai MP-list and the chief government whip, said on Sunday the bill will pass as the handout scheme has kindles new hope among the public.

The final deliberation of the bill is expected to wrap up in four hours, as only 20 MPs have listed questions about the scheme’s budget, he says.

The bill, which seeks to increase the budget for the current fiscal year by 122 billion baht, passed its first reading in the House of Representatives on July 17.

Thirachai Saenkaew, a Pheu Thai MP for Udon Thani and spokesman for a committee studying the supplementary bill, said the panel reviewed the bill three times and is ready to answer all questions presented in parliament.

“We invited various agencies to provide information. We have confirmed the digital wallet project covers all groups of people, including those who do not have smartphones. The application will be ready for the project when it is launched,” he said.

Opposition concerns

Regarding opposition parties’ concerns about whether the 2024 budget expenditure can be carried on to the year 2025, he said the Budget Bureau confirmed the 2024 budget can be used until next year.

He is confident the second and third readings of the bill will go as smoothly as the first.

Meanwhile, a source said that although the scrutiny committee agreed with the bill in principle, it had raised some points that the government must consider.

First, the government should specify in the project’s terms of reference that it will collect users’ spending data so it can monitor the economic effect of the stimulus scheme.

The panel also suggested the government differentiate between investment expenditures and regular expenditures and recommended the Budget Bureau define “investment expenditure” with additional details to ensure clarity, the source said.

The committee also suggested a clear list of items or services that people are prohibited from buying using the handout money, the source said.

The Trade Competition Commission should be involved in providing advice and evaluating the results of the project, especially in terms of its impact on the retail and wholesale markets, the source said.

The government must also punish those who violate the rules of the project and establish a unit or a channel through which the public can file complaints about wrongdoers or ask for help, the source said.

The Personal Data Protection Committee and the Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee should also participate in the project.

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UOB makes ‘management refresh’ amid digital push | FinanceAsia

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United Overseas Bank (UOB) is making several senior leadership changes. From September 1, Susan Hwee, head of group technology and operations (GTO) will assume the role of head of group retail, taking over from Eddie Khoo.

Khoo (pictured left) is retiring from his role, but will still take on the position of senior adviser to United Overseas Bank (UOB) Vietnam.

To replace Hwee (pictured middle), UOB has promoted Singapore-based Lawrence Goh (pictured right) is promoted head of GTO and will commence the role on the same day as September 1, according to a UOB press release.  

UOB is a leading bank in Asia, headquartered in Singapore with subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The global bank has 500 offices in 19 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.

Hwee has more than 35 years of experience in the technology and banking industry. Having joined UOB in 2001, Hwee leads the bank’s global strategy for technology, operations and information security in her present role as head of GTO.

According to the release, Hwee is “instrumental in the development and innovation” of UOB’s digital platform, UOB TMRW, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to push digital acquisition and customer engagement.

Hwee’s promotion will see her spearhead plans to strengthen the bank’s digital operations and product solutions while increasing customer engagement and connection to Asean opportunities, the release said. Hwee will also help integrate AI and push digital acquisition across UOB’s customer base.

Goh will succeed Hwee as head of GTO after more than three decades of IT experience spread across positions in corporate and consultancy roles. Goh began his professional life at a global advisory firm, having held positions of leadership in strategy and transformation, infrastructure consulting and security. 

Goh currently manages the day-to-day operation and strategic planning of UOB’s infrastructure and platform services across the bank’s international network as chief operating officer for GTO and head of group infrastructure platform services.

Responsible for progressing UOB’s technology strategy, Goh has been “instrumental in shaping the bank’s technological investment and transformation”, according to the release, having established UOB’s first Test Centre of Excellence in 2018 to enhance the bank’s testing quality, automation and consistency.

The aim of Goh’s new role is to push innovation and technology integration to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience, the release said

Khoo is to become senior advisor to UOB Vietnam after retiring as head of group retail. Khoo joined UOB in 2005 and has been “pivotal in growing UOB’s group retail business to the strong regional franchise the bank has today”, the release said.

UOB Vietnam has been integrating Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses following its full integration of Citi’s consumer banking businesses into UOB Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, after UOB’s acquisition of several of Citigroup’s businessesin 2022. 

Khoo intends to apply his experience to support UOB’s management team to drive the bank’s retail strategy in Vietnam, with UOB Vietnam “imperative” to strengthening the bank’s regional franchise.

“This management refresh is part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen UOB’s capabilities to serve our enlarged customer base across the region,” commented Ee Cheong Wee, deputy chairman and chief executive officer of UOB, in the release.

Wee added: “With rapid digitalisation in our key markets, Susan’s experience is crucial to drive digital engagement strategies and uplift customer experience. Lawrence, as a seasoned IT leader, will continue to drive innovation and lead our technology transformation in our new phase of growth. Eddie has made invaluable contributions to our retail banking business. In his new role, he will continue to support our team to realise the potential of our retail franchise in Vietnam.”  

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¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.

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Commentary: Chinese e-commerce platforms are poised to rival Amazon’s empire

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Next came Temu. It is a division of PDD Holdings, a global business organization with broad supply chain management experience. Another of PDD Holdings ‘ companies, Pinduoduo, began as a platform to buy raw produce and broadened to another manufactured goods. Temu launched in the United States in September 2022 and in Europe in April 2023, while Pinduoduo operates in China.

Temu uses software to meet China’s production capacity to need in the United States and exceedingly the&nbsp, rest of the world, in more than 250 item categories. Where Shein has 6, 000 strongly integrated manufacturers, Temu has more than 100, 000, offering a far wider range of goods at breathtakingly low prices. An electric eating dish sells for US$ 2.14 and a dress for US$ 6.18, with free shipping.

Temu attributes these prices to clear shipping through merchants and stores from the factory in China to the American consumer, bypassing both merchants and merchants.

TikTok Shop is another brand-new Chinese marketplace. TikTok Shop uses what it knows about its people ‘ choices to help Chinese companies find global areas by building on the largest market for short-form advertising in the world.

In terms of developing buyer brands, China used to trail behind Japan and South Korea. Many people speculated that China might not have developed the social detail that Japan and South Korea possess.

It turns out that techniques, running on software engineering, can do the job. At a strange rate, China is becoming a household name in both advertising and financial.

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China quietly taking the lead in climate diplomacy – Asia Times

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Seven centuries seems a career in politics. Donald Trump, president, announced in 2017 that the United States may retreat from the Paris Agreement. In order to restate their political responsibility to international climate action, Canada, China, and the European Union convened an urgent appointment.

The powerful meet turned into a year-long event that took place in Wuhan, China, this week as a chance for a second Trump presidency looms large.

At the invitation-only gathering of environment ministers and senior representatives from nearly 30 nations, Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen represented Australia.

The group gathered to progress global climate negotiations in the lead-up to the next United Nations climate conference ( COP29 ) in Baku, Azerbaijan. Stronger pollution reduction goals may send strong signals to purchase, which has been slow in Australia but not in China.

China is making notable improvement in moving from fossil fuels to clean energy. In addition to a surge in the production of low-carbon systems, including batteries and electric vehicles, analysts have observed record progress in solar and wind, which have reduced energy’s discuss in electricity generation.

All of this indicates that China’s greenhouse gas emissions does had reached a peak, which would be good for the world. Australia also needs to move quickly if it wants to become a powerhouse in solar energy.

China obviously wants to take a greater share of the global lead in the change of electricity, but it also wants to put pressure on its own businesses and industries to take action. China’s choice to host this year’s gathering, and others, reflects this goal.

Earlier this month, China hosted a five-day gathering of “like-minded developing places” in Shandong. Then there was a “BASIC” ministerial conference on climate actions with Brazil, India and South Africa next trip.

The 8th Ministerial on Climate Action was officially known as the big conference this year. In addition to boosting global cooperation, it also involved in-depth discussions on issues relating to COP29 and COP30, as well as promoting the transition to power.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell called for bolder weather action from all countries, particularly the wealthy G20, at the conference. Every country is required to submit fresh national climate plans and goals by February of next year in accordance with the Paris Agreement. As Stiell says:

Done properly, these programs are the key to stronger economic expansion, more jobs and success, much less waste and better wellbeing.

The transition to a low-carbon society requires architectural adjustments that are both socially challenging and time-consuming. However, as I’ve mentioned below, China’s efforts to develop the technologies for the trend of solar power are beginning to bear fruit.

Electricity

About 40 % of China’s CO₂ emissions come from power generation, mainly fuel, but the share of renewable energy is growing.

Wind capacity expanded from 61 gigawatts ( GW ) in 2012 to 441GW in 2023, while solar capacity rose from 3.4GW in 2013 to 610GW.

X Screenshot

Coal-fired power plants are being built also, though at a much slower rate. Hydrodropower went through many droughts in a row.

The rapid development of solar and wind is being managed by developing new storage methods. These include waters pump store, chemical store, compressed-air storage, and digital power plants. Long-distance transmission systems will help better use of biofuels.

China is even conducting climate legislation experiments, including carbon trading and offsets. Because the state wants to concentrate on fossil fuel use, a two system that has existed for almost 30 years is being redesigned.

The strategy is to remove strong fuel burning with light, coal with natural gas, and combustion turbines with electric automobiles.

Transport

In 2023, international electronic vehicle sales exceeded 13 million. With more than 7 million sold, or a third of auto sales, China has the largest private electric car market.

In contrast, China exported 1.2 million electrical vehicles in 2023. This was 80 % more than the previous month.

Because they have quite a large market share, energy vehicles are already less expensive than those with internal combustion engines in China. Local carmakers now offer roughly 50 various small, affordable electric models.

Screenshot

Steel

China made the announcement in April that it would start extending emissions trading to the metal sector. This business is the government’s second-largest CO₂ emission, behind power.

Emissions investing is a market-based view to controlling waste. The federal grants allows that allow a certain amount of CO2 to be released over a predetermined amount of time. These grants can be purchased, traded, or both.

China accounts for more than half of the country’s steel manufacturing. Because metal is used in renewable energy production and the manufacture of electric vehicles, the economy even supports the energy transition. Nearly 70 % of the world’s main wind turbine components and 80 % of solar panel components are produced in China.

To reduce pollutants, the government is urging economy to collaborate with universities and research institutes. It will not be quick, and it will be expensive.

China is the world’s largest hydrogen producer, but 80 % comes from fossil fuels. Green gas research and development is getting more and more money, with some companies determined to take the result. If steel-making may become powered by natural gas, it would be a key milestone.

A glimpse of the future

Given the confusion surrounding the US election in November, China’s constant hands in climate politics is welcome.

China is even demonstrating what is feasible if the energy transition is transformed into a source of development option for Australia and other countries. The size of China’s rollout of solar energy is astounding, but so is the pace of development of new technologies to support renewable energy, including the efficient storage of wind and solar power to provide electricity on demand.

More than two-thirds of the world’s greenhouse gas decline may be supported by the technology also in growth, according to the International Energy Agency in 2020. China wants to dominate the market and dominate it initially. And there’s every sign it will flourish.

Xu Yi-chong is Professor of Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University

This content was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original post.

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India-China warming pops US pipe dream – Asia Times

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Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, endorsed her financial advisor’s proposal on July 25 to open the nation to direct Chinese investment, which has been successfully stagnant since the 2020 Sino-Indian border clashes.

According to a report from Reuters earlier this week,” India’s Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said… that New Delhi can either integrate into China’s supply chain or encourage foreign direct investment ( FDI) from China.

According to Nageswaran, focusing on FDI from China appears more likely to boost India’s imports to the US than it did earlier, according to Reuters.

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s earlier this month visit to New Delhi, the proposed starting to China is intended as a rebuke to American diplomatic conduct there.

According to Global Risk-Reward Monitor, the Asia Times ‘ email,” On July 11, Modi asked Putin to assist India in resolving its long-standing border dispute with China.” Given that it pits the state’s two largest nations against one another, this is the most significant military discord in Asia. Russian mediation, but informal, may entail a political revolution, and make a mockery of America’s hope of uniting Eastern countries against China.”

In 2022, I argued that a statistical imperative—the declining inhabitants of non-Muslim parts of Asia versus the development of Muslim populations—would drive India, Russia and China toward a proper reconciliation.

These potential competitors have been pushed together by the conflict in Ukraine. India’s deep hunger for subsidized Russian oil increased its imports from Russia to US$ 67 billion in 2023 from$ 8.7 billion in 2022. India, also, acts as Russia’s supply broker, re-selling Russian oil and distillates to second countries.

Notable is the fact that, despite India and China having a border disagreement, India has not joined the US and its supporters in condemning China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim community. However, India has been accused of violating the rights of its Muslim majority in the United States.

We often engage with our American companions in these shared values ( of human rights ), according to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who stated in 2022.” We are monitoring some new concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some state, officers, and prison officials,” said Blinken.

S. Jaishankar, India’s foreign secretary, responded that India may say something about human rights violations in the US.

China’s growing business with the International South, somewhat including India, has advanced the leads for reconciliation between the country’s two largest countries.

India depends on Taiwanese supply chains to grow its trade sector. It imports pieces and investment goods from China and gathers finished goods for developed markets, as do Mexico, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Chinese trading partners.

Since the Covid illness, India’s imports from China have more than doubled, with the majority of China’s trade deal moving away from the US and Europe toward the World South.

Origin: Asia Times

India’s export to the US have risen in lockstep with its imports from China, as Nageswaran indicated. The two set are represented by the following chart in US dollars per month in thousands.

Origin: Asia Times

Physical and psychological investment of India are both constrained by. Although the two nations have comparable groups, India’s per head GDP is roughly a fifth of China’s in terms of purchasing power parity.

Origin: Asia Times

China is the nation’s expert in equipment. India faces a$ 1.7 trillion deficit in basic infrastructure, including roads, railways, water and broadband.

A 2022 World Bank report reckoned that” India will need to invest$ 840 billion over the next 15 years—or an average of$ 55 billion per annum—into urban infrastructure if it is to effectively meet the needs of its fast-growing urban population. ” The government spends just$ 16 billion a year on urban infrastructure.

India’s dilapidated bridge program, left over from the English Raj, adds only 4 kilometers of track per day. 6 kilometers of track was laid daily on the country’s first sea-crossing high-speed bridge range between Fuzhou and the port town of Xiamen in China. Foreign track-laying machines can put down 8 kilometers of tracks on average each day.

By way of example: China’s high-speed road covers the 2, 300 meters between Beijing and Guangzhou in nine hours. Four times as long is a significantly shorter flight from New Delhi to Bangalore.

China is among the best 20 countries in value of feeding, according to the World Hunger Index, while India ranks 111 out of 125 places.

China and India have roughly the same population size but China’s tertiary education rate reached 72 % in 2022, versus 31 % in India, according to the World Bank. China’s second-tier universities, also, train skilled engineers, while India’s executive education outside the renowned Technical Institutes is less dependable.

India has n’t participated in the PISA tests of student competence since 2009, when it ranked number 72 out of 73 countries. China ranks number 2, after Singapore.

Origin: Asia Times

Investment and transfer of technology are the things India most needs.

In the optimistic conceits of American experts, India will act as a counterweight to China’s influence in Asia.

Walter Russell Mead, a Wall Street Journal columnist and author, stated at the National Conservatism Conference on July 9 that” the rise of India has the potential to lead to the kind of Asia Americans have always desired to see.” China, which has grown so quickly, seems to have the notion that it can rule all of Asia and establish a new order in it. The economic development of India’s full potential will end that conceit in China, which will be accompanied by Vietnam, Indonesia, and many other Asian states. As India develops, it demonstrates to China that its road to hegemony is closed.”

Contrary to Mead’s wishful thinking, China’s export prowess is a magnet that realigns all of Asia’s economies around its economic sphere. Contrary to Mead, China does not want to “impose an order” on Asia because it is corrupt about how its neighbors operate, but it does want to reshape the region in its wider economic context.

The Modi government is considering a reconciliation with its northern neighbor in addition to that.

I wrote in 2022 that the humiliating abandonment of Afghanistan by America created a puddle of instability in central Asia. The American invasion aimed to end the Taliban, but it ultimately ended with its restoration, giving at least a starting point for Islamist radicals in neighboring nations like China, Pakistan, as well as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. For China, Russia, and India, this presents a first-class strategic challenge. All three countries have significant Muslim minorities.”

What has changed since 2022 is China’s economic footprint in Central Asia. In the last four years, China’s exports to Turkey and Central Asia have tripled.

Origin: Asia Times

China is investing in developing nations that might represent a potential future source of instability and is helping America’s mess in the region after the collapse of Afghanistan by building railways, roads, and broadband.

India’s biggest internal problem remains restive pockets in its 14 % Muslim population. Russia, India, and China all have a shared desire to stabilize the Muslim populations of Asia. Only China has the resources to accomplish this through economic growth.

Spengler is channeled by David P. Goldman. Follow him on X at @davidpgoldman

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Typhoon Gaemi displaces nearly 300,000 in eastern China

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” Big Floods” Officials in China were alerted that Typhoon Gaemi was bringing with it heavy storms that might cause flooding. They have relocated more than 290, 000 people in Fujian and locked down public transportation, offices, schools and businesses in some places. In the neighboring Zhejiang province, film airedContinue Reading

Why Singapore firms are entering the German market, and how Enterprise Singapore is helping them

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In: South-East Asia

SPIKE IN COUNTRIES EXPLORING EUROPE&nbsp,

Business Singapore, which champions internationalisation, said it has seen a rise in firms exploring options in Europe post-pandemic. &nbsp,

In 2023, EnterpriseSG supported 220 organizations to observe a wide range of areas in Europe, including Belgium, France and Germany. This was 20 per cent higher than in 2022, and nearly 50 per cent more than that in 2019, pre-COVID-19. &nbsp, &nbsp,

European businesses, in particular, are eager to companion, or touch merger and acquisition opportunities with Singapore firms, said Mr Alan Yeo, chairman of Europe at EnterpriseSG. &nbsp,

Many small- and medium-size enterprises ( SMEs ) in Germany, have faced challenges in growing due to the limited size and market size in Germany, and want to venture out, but they have limited opportunities, he said. &nbsp,

They even find succession planning for their mainly niche and technology-based companies challenging, he added. &nbsp,

They are looking for companions to expand in terms of various businesses, particularly those in Southeast Asia and Asia, and some of them are open to joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions, he said. &nbsp,

GROWING TECH PARTNERS&nbsp,

With Singapore and Germany sharing some economical concern regions, it continues to be room for start-ups to click options. EnterpriseSG is looking to expand its network of colleagues in the technology industry as part of an action called the Global Innovation Programme. &nbsp,

Companies like TeleMedC, which uses what may go off as a regular eye test to find diseases like diabetes, have benefitted from the program. &nbsp,

The company aimed to exit Asia in 2021 and enter Europe via Germany with its artificial intelligence software. &nbsp,

But, success was out of sight first. Speech was a great barrier, said the agency’s CEO Para Segaram. &nbsp,

” None of us spoke German, so it was very difficult going to a country where you do n’t even know the language. The whole company do is all in German, so it’s very challenging”, he said. &nbsp,

He added that the business was unsure of how to enter the European market. Through the program, he was able to link up with various participants. &nbsp,

According to its assistant managing director of advancement Emily Liew, EnterpriseSG appoints a network of companions to speed up businesses’ journeys by familiarizing them with a business, helping them strategize, and building contacts. &nbsp,

” We will connect them to investors, reference clients or another co-innovators, if you know they need to enhance their product for the business further”, she said. &nbsp,

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