China intrigued by Russia’s planned rail link to planet’s largest coalfield
By Victoria Bela
Russia’s plan to connect the world’s largest coalfield – stretching across the country’s far east region and Siberia – with coastal export ports near the Chinese border has caught the eye of Beijing’s coal industry.
The China Coal Economic Research Association noted in a recent article on its website that Russia intends to build a new rail system to transport coal from the vast Tunguska sedimentary basin, the largest coalfield on Earth by projected reserves.
The state-supervised association said in the article, which was also published on its WeChat account, that the basin is still poorly characterised due to difficulty accessing the region and its harsh climate, but has large coal potential.
According to Moscow’s announcement in October, the rail line will run to Khabarovsk Krai on the far eastern coast – one of the country’s main coal exporting regions that directly borders China’s Heilongjiang province.
The railway will also transport coal from the Elga coal complex – one of the largest deposits of coking coal, which is used primarily in steel production – that is already in operation.
The Tunguska sedimentary basin spans 1 million square kilometres (386,102 square miles) across Siberia and Russia’s far east region, and has proven coal reserves of 6.4 billion tonnes.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Victoria Bela
Russia’s plan to connect the world’s largest coalfield – stretching across the country’s far east region and Siberia – with coastal export ports near the Chinese border has caught the eye of Beijing’s coal industry.
The China Coal Economic Research Association noted in a recent article on its website that Russia intends to build a new rail system to transport coal from the vast Tunguska sedimentary basin, the largest coalfield on Earth by projected reserves.
The state-supervised association said in the article, which was also published on its WeChat account, that the basin is still poorly characterised due to difficulty accessing the region and its harsh climate, but has large coal potential.
According to Moscow’s announcement in October, the rail line will run to Khabarovsk Krai on the far eastern coast – one of the country’s main coal exporting regions that directly borders China’s Heilongjiang province.
The railway will also transport coal from the Elga coal complex – one of the largest deposits of coking coal, which is used primarily in steel production – that is already in operation.
The Tunguska sedimentary basin spans 1 million square kilometres (386,102 square miles) across Siberia and Russia’s far east region, and has proven coal reserves of 6.4 billion tonnes.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
TikTok pays users to shop, invite friends as US ban looms
By Bloomberg
TikTok is offering users hundreds of dollars to spend time in the app, invite friends to join and purchase products on TikTok Shop, in an effort to expand the business as quickly as possible ahead of its possible ban in the US.
TikTok users recently began seeing a new “limited time offer”, which compensates them in the form of TikTok Shop credits. The promotions are appearing on TikTokers’ “For You” page, the main feed they see when they open the app. On Friday, a major court ruling upheld a law that could ban TikTok nationwide as soon as January.
Users can earn US$50 for recruiting first-timers to sign up for TikTok and unlock an additional US$350 in bonuses if they bring in more. They can also make money by checking into the app every day for a week, and by scrolling through 10 TikTok Shop items five times per week. Those who click through the offer can score an additional US$80 in coupons to spend after making a purchase on TikTok Shop.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The app, owned by China-based ByteDance, has been working to boost users’ time spent and develop shopping habits ahead of its possible ban. Earlier this year, in a separate move to capture new users, TikTok started requiring people to download the app if they want to watch TikTok videos others share. President Joe Biden signed a law in April requiring ByteDance to sell the app to an American owner by January 19 to address national security concerns, or face a ban.
Regulatory roadblocks have done little to slow down ByteDance’s growth plans. The company had aimed to increase the volume of merchandise sold on the app thorough TikTok Shop tenfold, to US$17.5 billion, Bloomberg reported in January. ByteDance has only increased its ambitions since. TikTok Shop tripled its US sales to more than US$100 million on Black Friday. Shop also went live in Spain on Tuesday, its first stop on a wider European roll-out.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Bloomberg
TikTok is offering users hundreds of dollars to spend time in the app, invite friends to join and purchase products on TikTok Shop, in an effort to expand the business as quickly as possible ahead of its possible ban in the US.
TikTok users recently began seeing a new “limited time offer”, which compensates them in the form of TikTok Shop credits. The promotions are appearing on TikTokers’ “For You” page, the main feed they see when they open the app. On Friday, a major court ruling upheld a law that could ban TikTok nationwide as soon as January.
Users can earn US$50 for recruiting first-timers to sign up for TikTok and unlock an additional US$350 in bonuses if they bring in more. They can also make money by checking into the app every day for a week, and by scrolling through 10 TikTok Shop items five times per week. Those who click through the offer can score an additional US$80 in coupons to spend after making a purchase on TikTok Shop.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The app, owned by China-based ByteDance, has been working to boost users’ time spent and develop shopping habits ahead of its possible ban. Earlier this year, in a separate move to capture new users, TikTok started requiring people to download the app if they want to watch TikTok videos others share. President Joe Biden signed a law in April requiring ByteDance to sell the app to an American owner by January 19 to address national security concerns, or face a ban.
Regulatory roadblocks have done little to slow down ByteDance’s growth plans. The company had aimed to increase the volume of merchandise sold on the app thorough TikTok Shop tenfold, to US$17.5 billion, Bloomberg reported in January. ByteDance has only increased its ambitions since. TikTok Shop tripled its US sales to more than US$100 million on Black Friday. Shop also went live in Spain on Tuesday, its first stop on a wider European roll-out.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Mainland Chinese investors not impressed with Wealth Management Connect expansion
By Cao Li
The addition of 14 securities firms last week to the scheme that allows investors in Hong Kong and on the mainland to buy wealth-management products across borders did little to raise the programme’s total investments.
By Sunday’s end, only 6.28 per cent of the total 150 billion yuan (US$21 billion) quota in the southbound Wealth Management Connect scheme had been used, a negligible increase of 0.08 per cent compared with levels before the additional firms joined. The northbound usage was far lower.
Industry insiders point to a range of issues, from restrictive marketing approaches to stringent investor eligibility requirements, that they say will continue to deter wealthy Chinese from the scheme – even as they rush to open bank accounts in Hong Kong to explore diverse investment options such as insurance and time deposits.
“It doesn’t matter that they added more brokers,” said Eugenie Shen, head of the asset management group at the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA).
Launched in 2021, the Wealth Management Connect scheme seeks to foster financial integration across the Greater Bay Area by allowing residents of Hong Kong, Macau and the nine cities in Guangdong province that make up the economic zone to directly invest in approved wealth-management products across borders.
To participate in the scheme, mainland investors must be residents of one of the nine cities in Guangdong province and must have paid tax there for at least two years, down from five initially. Investors are also required to have certain investment experiences and hold at least 1 million yuan in net financial assets. The maximum investment is capped at 3 million yuan, up from 1 million yuan initially.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Cao Li
The addition of 14 securities firms last week to the scheme that allows investors in Hong Kong and on the mainland to buy wealth-management products across borders did little to raise the programme’s total investments.
By Sunday’s end, only 6.28 per cent of the total 150 billion yuan (US$21 billion) quota in the southbound Wealth Management Connect scheme had been used, a negligible increase of 0.08 per cent compared with levels before the additional firms joined. The northbound usage was far lower.
Industry insiders point to a range of issues, from restrictive marketing approaches to stringent investor eligibility requirements, that they say will continue to deter wealthy Chinese from the scheme – even as they rush to open bank accounts in Hong Kong to explore diverse investment options such as insurance and time deposits.
“It doesn’t matter that they added more brokers,” said Eugenie Shen, head of the asset management group at the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA).
Launched in 2021, the Wealth Management Connect scheme seeks to foster financial integration across the Greater Bay Area by allowing residents of Hong Kong, Macau and the nine cities in Guangdong province that make up the economic zone to directly invest in approved wealth-management products across borders.
To participate in the scheme, mainland investors must be residents of one of the nine cities in Guangdong province and must have paid tax there for at least two years, down from five initially. Investors are also required to have certain investment experiences and hold at least 1 million yuan in net financial assets. The maximum investment is capped at 3 million yuan, up from 1 million yuan initially.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Reshuffle shows Hong Kong government’s commitment to accountability
By Ronny Tong
The central government’s announcement last week that Hong Kong’s tourism and transport ministers would be replaced, following Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s recommendation, came as a surprise to many.
It was unexpected not only because there appeared to be no hint whatsoever that it was going to happen, but also because the reshuffle was seen as coming a bit too early, in the sense that the administration is just short of its midterm.
The biggest surprise, however, came at the press conference to introduce the new appointees, when Lee said: “We will be looking at people who will be doing things under the philosophy ‘there’s never the best, only the better’.” He added: “I want to do more in this two and half years. I want to get the people that will fit my criteria.” This was seen as a thinly veiled accusation that the two removed officials were simply not good enough.
While it is hardly unprecedented for key government officials to be replaced (some even argue that this has become a “constitutional convention”), this was the first time a chief executive has explained a cabinet reshuffle in such a frank way. Was Lee too harsh or simply doing his job properly?
The chief executive’s constitutional power to remove a principal official is well defined in the Basic Law, which makes clear the city leader’s function in not just nominating and reporting to Beijing the appointment of key officials but also in recommending their removal.
But the Basic Law merely spells out the power and procedure under which such functions are to be exercised; it does not tell us by what principle and under what circumstances such power will be exercised. Such constitutional power is not to be exercised capriciously or whimsically, so how is the chief executive guided in its exercise? The answer lies in the nature of the office of the chief executive.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Ronny Tong
The central government’s announcement last week that Hong Kong’s tourism and transport ministers would be replaced, following Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s recommendation, came as a surprise to many.
It was unexpected not only because there appeared to be no hint whatsoever that it was going to happen, but also because the reshuffle was seen as coming a bit too early, in the sense that the administration is just short of its midterm.
The biggest surprise, however, came at the press conference to introduce the new appointees, when Lee said: “We will be looking at people who will be doing things under the philosophy ‘there’s never the best, only the better’.” He added: “I want to do more in this two and half years. I want to get the people that will fit my criteria.” This was seen as a thinly veiled accusation that the two removed officials were simply not good enough.
While it is hardly unprecedented for key government officials to be replaced (some even argue that this has become a “constitutional convention”), this was the first time a chief executive has explained a cabinet reshuffle in such a frank way. Was Lee too harsh or simply doing his job properly?
The chief executive’s constitutional power to remove a principal official is well defined in the Basic Law, which makes clear the city leader’s function in not just nominating and reporting to Beijing the appointment of key officials but also in recommending their removal.
But the Basic Law merely spells out the power and procedure under which such functions are to be exercised; it does not tell us by what principle and under what circumstances such power will be exercised. Such constitutional power is not to be exercised capriciously or whimsically, so how is the chief executive guided in its exercise? The answer lies in the nature of the office of the chief executive.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Hong Kong has fully restored global aviation hub status, IATA chief says
By Cannix Yau
Hong Kong has fully regained its status as an international aviation hub, the head of an international association has said, arguing that some foreign airlines’ failure to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels in the city is due to supply chain and airspace issues rather than geopolitics.
Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told the Post on Tuesday in Geneva that he stood by his earlier convictions about Hong Kong restoring its world-class aviation hub status by the end of this year.
“I think so [about Hong Kong regaining its aviation status]. And you know Cathay [Pacific Airways] will be at 100 per cent of 2019 capacity at the end of this year or from January next year,” he said at IATA’s headquarters in Geneva.
He pointed out the issue dogging the city’s aviation industry had more to do with supply chains and airspace issues than lacking attractiveness or geopolitical reasons.
“The reason that some foreign airlines have not returned or built up the capacity that they had is principally an aircraft and airspace issue. So it goes back to the supply chain,” he said.
“It’s because of the lack of availability of widebody aircraft … because of the additional maintenance time and checks that the existing aircraft require, much more so than anything to do with the market.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Cannix Yau
Hong Kong has fully regained its status as an international aviation hub, the head of an international association has said, arguing that some foreign airlines’ failure to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels in the city is due to supply chain and airspace issues rather than geopolitics.
Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told the Post on Tuesday in Geneva that he stood by his earlier convictions about Hong Kong restoring its world-class aviation hub status by the end of this year.
“I think so [about Hong Kong regaining its aviation status]. And you know Cathay [Pacific Airways] will be at 100 per cent of 2019 capacity at the end of this year or from January next year,” he said at IATA’s headquarters in Geneva.
He pointed out the issue dogging the city’s aviation industry had more to do with supply chains and airspace issues than lacking attractiveness or geopolitical reasons.
“The reason that some foreign airlines have not returned or built up the capacity that they had is principally an aircraft and airspace issue. So it goes back to the supply chain,” he said.
“It’s because of the lack of availability of widebody aircraft … because of the additional maintenance time and checks that the existing aircraft require, much more so than anything to do with the market.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
China KOL with 46 million followers detained for poking woman in miniskirt with stick
By Alice Yan
An influencer in China with a staggering 46 million followers has been subjected to a 10-day administrative detention for poking a woman’s buttocks with a bamboo stick during a live-streaming event.
According to the police authority in Sanya, located in southern China’s Hainan island province, the individual, known by the surname Meng, was detained for this vulgar act involving a woman he had hired to enhance his online traffic.
The police stated on December 4, as reported by Hunan Daily, that the “harassment” scheme they orchestrated has had a detrimental impact on society.
Meng, 28, is more widely recognised by his alias, Qi Tiandao, on the short video platform Kuaishou, where he has garnered 46 million followers. He is known for his “humorous-style” live-streaming, often conducted in outdoor settings across mainland China.
During a live-streaming session staged in Sanya at the end of November, Meng fixated on a woman dressed in a short skirt who was buying milk tea on the street, all while being broadcast live. It was later revealed that the woman had been hired by Meng to act as a passer-by, according to police.
Moments later, Meng picked up a short bamboo stick, squatted down, and stealthily approached the woman, using the stick to poke her backside.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Alice Yan
An influencer in China with a staggering 46 million followers has been subjected to a 10-day administrative detention for poking a woman’s buttocks with a bamboo stick during a live-streaming event.
According to the police authority in Sanya, located in southern China’s Hainan island province, the individual, known by the surname Meng, was detained for this vulgar act involving a woman he had hired to enhance his online traffic.
The police stated on December 4, as reported by Hunan Daily, that the “harassment” scheme they orchestrated has had a detrimental impact on society.
Meng, 28, is more widely recognised by his alias, Qi Tiandao, on the short video platform Kuaishou, where he has garnered 46 million followers. He is known for his “humorous-style” live-streaming, often conducted in outdoor settings across mainland China.
During a live-streaming session staged in Sanya at the end of November, Meng fixated on a woman dressed in a short skirt who was buying milk tea on the street, all while being broadcast live. It was later revealed that the woman had been hired by Meng to act as a passer-by, according to police.
Moments later, Meng picked up a short bamboo stick, squatted down, and stealthily approached the woman, using the stick to poke her backside.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
China’s naval base handover in Cambodia: a sign of waning US influence?
By Maria Siow
China’s handover of a naval base in Cambodia to Phnom Penh early next year following a revamp is symbolic of the “slow erosion” of US geopolitical dominance in Southeast Asia, according to analysts.
The timeline for the Ream Naval Base’s redevelopment was confirmed by Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia programme, who shared the details with This Week in Asia after speaking to Cambodian officials.
The base in Sihanoukville province was originally scheduled to have been handed over in September this year, according to a report by Radio Free Asia in August.
When the works on Ream are completed, analysts say China is likely to use its facilities for exercises and resupply as well as to deploy patrol frigates and smaller ships nearby.
Beijing is expected to hand over a deep-draft pier that could accommodate aircraft carriers and other base facilities along with two Chinese Type 056C warships to Cambodia, Radio Free Asia reported.
Rahman said the handing over of the base next year would take place as scheduled “if there are no major construction issues”.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Maria Siow
China’s handover of a naval base in Cambodia to Phnom Penh early next year following a revamp is symbolic of the “slow erosion” of US geopolitical dominance in Southeast Asia, according to analysts.
The timeline for the Ream Naval Base’s redevelopment was confirmed by Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia programme, who shared the details with This Week in Asia after speaking to Cambodian officials.
The base in Sihanoukville province was originally scheduled to have been handed over in September this year, according to a report by Radio Free Asia in August.
When the works on Ream are completed, analysts say China is likely to use its facilities for exercises and resupply as well as to deploy patrol frigates and smaller ships nearby.
Beijing is expected to hand over a deep-draft pier that could accommodate aircraft carriers and other base facilities along with two Chinese Type 056C warships to Cambodia, Radio Free Asia reported.
Rahman said the handing over of the base next year would take place as scheduled “if there are no major construction issues”.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
DA has unusual ideas to halt Trump hush money case while upholding historic conviction
By Associated Press
Eager to preserve US president-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction even as he returns to office, prosecutors are suggesting various ways forward – including one based on how some courts handle criminal cases when defendants die.
Trump’s spokesman called the ideas “pathetic”.
In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books.
The proposals include freezing the case until Trump is out of office, or agreeing that any future sentence would not include jail time. Another idea: Closing the case with a notation that acknowledges his conviction but says that he was never sentenced and that his appeal was not resolved because of presidential immunity.
The last is adopted from what some states do when a criminal defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether that option is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Judge Juan M. Merchan could innovate in what is already a unique case.
“This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers”.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Associated Press
Eager to preserve US president-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction even as he returns to office, prosecutors are suggesting various ways forward – including one based on how some courts handle criminal cases when defendants die.
Trump’s spokesman called the ideas “pathetic”.
In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books.
The proposals include freezing the case until Trump is out of office, or agreeing that any future sentence would not include jail time. Another idea: Closing the case with a notation that acknowledges his conviction but says that he was never sentenced and that his appeal was not resolved because of presidential immunity.
The last is adopted from what some states do when a criminal defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether that option is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Judge Juan M. Merchan could innovate in what is already a unique case.
“This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers”.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
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金永铉被指控在 12 月 3 日的戒严令实施失败中起了主导作用。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Reuters,Associated Press)
金永铉被指控在 12 月 3 日的戒严令实施失败中起了主导作用。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Reuters,Associated Press)
肆虐的野火席卷加州马里布，数千人被迫逃离
数百名消防员争分夺秒地控制着一场迅速蔓延的野火，这场野火正威胁着这座富裕的海滨小镇。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Agence France-Presse)
数百名消防员争分夺秒地控制着一场迅速蔓延的野火，这场野火正威胁着这座富裕的海滨小镇。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Agence France-Presse)
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特朗普任命金伯利-吉尔弗约尔（Kimberly Guilfoyle）为美国驻希腊大使，因有报道称她与小唐不和
唐纳德-特朗普称曾与儿子小唐订婚的金伯利-吉尔弗约尔是 "亲密的朋友和盟友"。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Agence France-Presse)
唐纳德-特朗普称曾与儿子小唐订婚的金伯利-吉尔弗约尔是 "亲密的朋友和盟友"。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Agence France-Presse)
继 OpenAI 推出 Sora 之后，Adobe 在推出人工智能视频方面又落后了
Adobe 发布基于浏览器的视频生成工具两个月后，该产品仍在进行有限的测试，而 OpenAI 本周公开发布了 Sora。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Bloomberg)
Adobe 发布基于浏览器的视频生成工具两个月后，该产品仍在进行有限的测试，而 OpenAI 本周公开发布了 Sora。
via News - South China Morning Post (author: Bloomberg)
