By Fiona Sun
A group of cyclists and a minibus driver had a fiery exchange of words in a dispute on a busy road in Hong Kong’s Tai Po on Saturday.
Video footage circulating on social media captured the quarrel, which appeared to stem from the cyclists’ complaints over the driver’s behaviour.
The clip shows the minibus stationary in the middle lane on Tai Po Road, blocking traffic, as four cyclists walk across the road to approach the driver’s seat.
“What are you doing? [We are not] blocking your way!” one of the cyclists shouts.
The door of the minibus was opened at one point, with the driver and passengers threatening to call police.
The stand-off lasted about two minutes, before the cyclists returned to the roadside.The footage sparked fierce debate online. Photo: Facebook/Kitty Chau
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Japanese women join the sake industry despite traditional exclusions
By Associated Press
Not long after dawn, Japanese sake brewer Mie Takahashi checks the temperature of the mixture fermenting at her family’s 150-year-old sake brewery, Koten, nestled in the foothills of the Japanese Alps.
She stands on an uneven narrow wooden platform over a massive tank containing more than 3,000 litres (800 gallons) of a bubbling soup of steamed rice, water and a rice mould known as koji, and gives it a good mix with a long paddle.
“The morning hours are crucial in sake making,” said Takahashi, 43. Her brewery is in Nagano prefecture, a region known for its sake.
Takahashi is one of a small group of female toji, or master sake brewers. Only 33 female toji are registered in Japan’s Toji Guild Association out of more than a thousand breweries nationwide.
That is more than several decades ago. Women were largely excluded from sake production until after World War II.
Sake making has a history of more than a thousand years, with strong roots in Japan’s traditional Shinto religion.
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By Associated Press
Not long after dawn, Japanese sake brewer Mie Takahashi checks the temperature of the mixture fermenting at her family’s 150-year-old sake brewery, Koten, nestled in the foothills of the Japanese Alps.
She stands on an uneven narrow wooden platform over a massive tank containing more than 3,000 litres (800 gallons) of a bubbling soup of steamed rice, water and a rice mould known as koji, and gives it a good mix with a long paddle.
“The morning hours are crucial in sake making,” said Takahashi, 43. Her brewery is in Nagano prefecture, a region known for its sake.
Takahashi is one of a small group of female toji, or master sake brewers. Only 33 female toji are registered in Japan’s Toji Guild Association out of more than a thousand breweries nationwide.
That is more than several decades ago. Women were largely excluded from sake production until after World War II.
Sake making has a history of more than a thousand years, with strong roots in Japan’s traditional Shinto religion.
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Reporter’s note: How a mall in Mexico became a flashpoint in US-China rivalry
By Ji Siqi
At last month’s China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, I met a businessman who worked for years at a Chinese-language newspaper in Mexico City – and as I'd recently spent some time reporting in Mexico's capital, we had plenty to talk about.
The topic of conversation quickly turned to a controversial Chinese-funded megastore: Plaza Izazaga 89, or Mexico Mart, located in the centre of the city. It had been ordered to close temporarily by local authorities twice this year.
“It will be shut down again,” he said, confidently.
“How can you be sure?” I asked.
It didn't take long to find out. The very next day the mall was shuttered once again, and in far more visible fashion: a raid on the direct instruction of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
At a press briefing following the closure – and the seizure of 262,334 pieces of counterfeit goods worth 7.5 million pesos (US$371,795) – the country’s economic secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon said the government was protecting domestic industries and eradicating “illicit practices that affect the public and the national economy.” Similar operations will be carried out across the nation, he added.
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By Ji Siqi
At last month’s China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, I met a businessman who worked for years at a Chinese-language newspaper in Mexico City – and as I'd recently spent some time reporting in Mexico's capital, we had plenty to talk about.
The topic of conversation quickly turned to a controversial Chinese-funded megastore: Plaza Izazaga 89, or Mexico Mart, located in the centre of the city. It had been ordered to close temporarily by local authorities twice this year.
“It will be shut down again,” he said, confidently.
“How can you be sure?” I asked.
It didn't take long to find out. The very next day the mall was shuttered once again, and in far more visible fashion: a raid on the direct instruction of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
At a press briefing following the closure – and the seizure of 262,334 pieces of counterfeit goods worth 7.5 million pesos (US$371,795) – the country’s economic secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon said the government was protecting domestic industries and eradicating “illicit practices that affect the public and the national economy.” Similar operations will be carried out across the nation, he added.
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Hong Kong expo opens in Victoria Park, as stalls target bargain hunters
By Harvey Kong
One of Hong Kong’s largest annual bazaars has opened in Victoria Park, with stall operators pulling out all the stops to attract shoppers amid a challenging economic climate.
But attendees of the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo who spoke to the Post on Saturday indicated they would spend more cautiously this year. Some vendors also said they had not seen a significant benefit from the recent resumption of multi-entry visas for Shenzhen residents, as most customers they had served were locals.
Sally Yu, who was visiting the fair with her husband, said they had spent about HK$2,000 (US$257) on frozen meat, abalone, wine and dried seafood.
“I am spending my money carefully today, I will only buy things if I find them useful ... I have already cut down on a lot of things that I don’t need,” she said, attributing her cautious approach to the city’s economic situation.
The 24-day expo, which opened on Saturday, features 420 exhibitors showcasing more than 900 booths offering significant discounts on food, home appliances and beauty products.
A 38-year-old clerk surnamed Choi, who has visited the expo for the past four years, was another showing restraint.
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By Harvey Kong
One of Hong Kong’s largest annual bazaars has opened in Victoria Park, with stall operators pulling out all the stops to attract shoppers amid a challenging economic climate.
But attendees of the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo who spoke to the Post on Saturday indicated they would spend more cautiously this year. Some vendors also said they had not seen a significant benefit from the recent resumption of multi-entry visas for Shenzhen residents, as most customers they had served were locals.
Sally Yu, who was visiting the fair with her husband, said they had spent about HK$2,000 (US$257) on frozen meat, abalone, wine and dried seafood.
“I am spending my money carefully today, I will only buy things if I find them useful ... I have already cut down on a lot of things that I don’t need,” she said, attributing her cautious approach to the city’s economic situation.
The 24-day expo, which opened on Saturday, features 420 exhibitors showcasing more than 900 booths offering significant discounts on food, home appliances and beauty products.
A 38-year-old clerk surnamed Choi, who has visited the expo for the past four years, was another showing restraint.
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Ghana will not quit IMF deal but wants changes, says president-elect
By Reuters
Ghana’s president-elect John Dramani Mahama has said he will not abandon the country’s US$3 billion rescue package with the International Monetary Fund, but wants to review the deal to tackle wasteful state spending and upgrade the energy sector.
Mahama, a former president who won the December 7 election by a wide margin, said late on Friday he would also seek to tackle inflation and currency depreciation to mitigate a cost-of-living crisis in the West African nation.
Mahama had said previously that he would renegotiate the IMF programme secured by the government of outgoing President Nana Akufo in 2023.
“When I talk about renegotiation, I don’t mean we’re jettisoning the programme,” Mahama said.
“We’re bound by it but what we’re saying is within the programme, it should be possible to make some adjustments to suit reality.”
Ghana’s electoral commission declared Mahama, who was in office from 2012-16, winner of the presidential poll with 56.55 per cent of the vote.
The president-elect of the world’s number two cocoa producer inherits a nation emerging from its worst economic crisis in a generation, with turmoil in its vital cocoa and gold industries.
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By Reuters
Ghana’s president-elect John Dramani Mahama has said he will not abandon the country’s US$3 billion rescue package with the International Monetary Fund, but wants to review the deal to tackle wasteful state spending and upgrade the energy sector.
Mahama, a former president who won the December 7 election by a wide margin, said late on Friday he would also seek to tackle inflation and currency depreciation to mitigate a cost-of-living crisis in the West African nation.
Mahama had said previously that he would renegotiate the IMF programme secured by the government of outgoing President Nana Akufo in 2023.
“When I talk about renegotiation, I don’t mean we’re jettisoning the programme,” Mahama said.
“We’re bound by it but what we’re saying is within the programme, it should be possible to make some adjustments to suit reality.”
Ghana’s electoral commission declared Mahama, who was in office from 2012-16, winner of the presidential poll with 56.55 per cent of the vote.
The president-elect of the world’s number two cocoa producer inherits a nation emerging from its worst economic crisis in a generation, with turmoil in its vital cocoa and gold industries.
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What’s stopping human-like machine intelligence? Chinese AI experts weigh in
By Holly Chik
China still has a long way to go to develop its own human-like self-learning software known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), two leading industry figures told an AI forum in Shanghai on Friday.
Addressing the Pujiang AI Conference, Qiao Yu, lead scientist at the Shanghai AI Laboratory, the event’s organiser, said there were technical challenges on the path to AGI, with room for innovation in model architecture, data and learning algorithms.
One of the barriers is creating multimodal large models, systems that can process a range of information such as text and video, laying a foundation for AGI.
“[I] hope that multimodal large models can achieve breakthroughs in strong generalisation capabilities, just as language models did,” he said, adding that he anticipated advances through “scaling laws”, where a model’s performance improves as its size and training data increase.
He also said the balance between AI performance and safety was key to driving a sustainable and healthy development of artificial intelligence.
Zhang Xiangyu, chief scientist at Shanghai-based AI start-up StepFun, agreed that there was a long way to go before AGI could be realised, saying the future would require smarter goal-oriented approaches and transparency.
“The industry should steer clear of blindly following trends and use white box [learning] models to guide practical applications to avoid wasting resources,” he said.
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By Holly Chik
China still has a long way to go to develop its own human-like self-learning software known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), two leading industry figures told an AI forum in Shanghai on Friday.
Addressing the Pujiang AI Conference, Qiao Yu, lead scientist at the Shanghai AI Laboratory, the event’s organiser, said there were technical challenges on the path to AGI, with room for innovation in model architecture, data and learning algorithms.
One of the barriers is creating multimodal large models, systems that can process a range of information such as text and video, laying a foundation for AGI.
“[I] hope that multimodal large models can achieve breakthroughs in strong generalisation capabilities, just as language models did,” he said, adding that he anticipated advances through “scaling laws”, where a model’s performance improves as its size and training data increase.
He also said the balance between AI performance and safety was key to driving a sustainable and healthy development of artificial intelligence.
Zhang Xiangyu, chief scientist at Shanghai-based AI start-up StepFun, agreed that there was a long way to go before AGI could be realised, saying the future would require smarter goal-oriented approaches and transparency.
“The industry should steer clear of blindly following trends and use white box [learning] models to guide practical applications to avoid wasting resources,” he said.
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Syrians on a shopping spree in former rebel stronghold
By Agence France-Presse
Crowds of visitors wander brilliantly lit shopping aisles, stunned by the abundance of goods on offer in the heart of the former rebel stronghold in northwest Syria.
Dana, near Sarmada in Idlib province, is less than 40 kilometres east of the country’s second city Aleppo, but was cut off from the rest of the country until the fall of president Bashar al-Assad less than a week ago.
It is a major shopping centre because of its proximity to the border with Turkey.
People pay in Turkish lira or in US dollars, and all the big brands are available, brought in from Syria’s powerful neighbour.
Everything from clothes to electrical goods to furniture is on display in main street stores and four shopping malls with gleaming windows.
“It’s been a long time since I have seen so many things,” said 54-year-old mother Aisha Darkalt, visiting from Aleppo with her family.
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By Agence France-Presse
Crowds of visitors wander brilliantly lit shopping aisles, stunned by the abundance of goods on offer in the heart of the former rebel stronghold in northwest Syria.
Dana, near Sarmada in Idlib province, is less than 40 kilometres east of the country’s second city Aleppo, but was cut off from the rest of the country until the fall of president Bashar al-Assad less than a week ago.
It is a major shopping centre because of its proximity to the border with Turkey.
People pay in Turkish lira or in US dollars, and all the big brands are available, brought in from Syria’s powerful neighbour.
Everything from clothes to electrical goods to furniture is on display in main street stores and four shopping malls with gleaming windows.
“It’s been a long time since I have seen so many things,” said 54-year-old mother Aisha Darkalt, visiting from Aleppo with her family.
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Nearly half of young Hongkongers say they are ‘failures’, survey finds
By Fiona Sun
Nearly half of young people in Hong Kong consider themselves “failures”, primarily due to academic performance, a survey has found, with the group behind the poll calling for more mental health support.
The Hong Kong Christian Service released the findings of its survey on Saturday and said the high ratings on its “failure index” showed the need for strong support networks.
“This highlighted a critical need for a shift in society’s attitudes towards failure, emphasising the importance of the support network, including family, schools and peers, for young people in facing challenges to improve their mental health and achievement motive,” said Apple Ngo Hoi-ling, a service supervisor at a club run by the organisation in Sham Shui Po.
The Christian Service conducted the survey between June and September, interviewing 597 people aged 12 to 24 to look into their experiences with failure and the impact it has on them.
The findings showed that 48.3 per cent of respondents rated their “failure index” at 6 or above out of 10, indicating a tendency to view themselves as failures. A higher score indicates greater feelings of failure.
More than three-quarters of respondents said their most serious failures were related to academic achievement. Others said their failures were tied to personal development and interpersonal relationships.
The average score stood at 5.6, with most people defining failure as not achieving personal goals, being unable to demonstrate their strengths and abilities, as well as falling short of meeting others’ expectations.
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By Fiona Sun
Nearly half of young people in Hong Kong consider themselves “failures”, primarily due to academic performance, a survey has found, with the group behind the poll calling for more mental health support.
The Hong Kong Christian Service released the findings of its survey on Saturday and said the high ratings on its “failure index” showed the need for strong support networks.
“This highlighted a critical need for a shift in society’s attitudes towards failure, emphasising the importance of the support network, including family, schools and peers, for young people in facing challenges to improve their mental health and achievement motive,” said Apple Ngo Hoi-ling, a service supervisor at a club run by the organisation in Sham Shui Po.
The Christian Service conducted the survey between June and September, interviewing 597 people aged 12 to 24 to look into their experiences with failure and the impact it has on them.
The findings showed that 48.3 per cent of respondents rated their “failure index” at 6 or above out of 10, indicating a tendency to view themselves as failures. A higher score indicates greater feelings of failure.
More than three-quarters of respondents said their most serious failures were related to academic achievement. Others said their failures were tied to personal development and interpersonal relationships.
The average score stood at 5.6, with most people defining failure as not achieving personal goals, being unable to demonstrate their strengths and abilities, as well as falling short of meeting others’ expectations.
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In Hong Kong, AI is bringing conversations about wartime atrocities into the classroom
By Xinlu Liang
In a high school classroom in Hong Kong, a student asks a survivor of the Nanking massacre if she has ever thought about taking her own life.
Dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, her white hair neatly combed, 95-year-old Xia Shuqing calmly answers.
“I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to be brave and speak up more for justice – I wanted to live on,” Xia says.
It is a candid conversation, made possible by an innovative artificial intelligence project.
Using a mobile app, the students are engaging in dialogue with the interactive testimony of a survivor of the massacre, which took place over six weeks from December 13, 1937, when Japanese troops captured the city that is now known as Nanjing, in eastern China.
The project aims to preserve the testimonies and legacy of “comfort women” – wartime sex slaves – and survivors of other atrocities, including the massacre.
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By Xinlu Liang
In a high school classroom in Hong Kong, a student asks a survivor of the Nanking massacre if she has ever thought about taking her own life.
Dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, her white hair neatly combed, 95-year-old Xia Shuqing calmly answers.
“I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to be brave and speak up more for justice – I wanted to live on,” Xia says.
It is a candid conversation, made possible by an innovative artificial intelligence project.
Using a mobile app, the students are engaging in dialogue with the interactive testimony of a survivor of the massacre, which took place over six weeks from December 13, 1937, when Japanese troops captured the city that is now known as Nanjing, in eastern China.
The project aims to preserve the testimonies and legacy of “comfort women” – wartime sex slaves – and survivors of other atrocities, including the massacre.
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US starts relocating Marines from Japan’s Okinawa over base grievances
By Agence France-Presse
The United States has begun relocating thousands of Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa, Tokyo and Washington said on Saturday, after decades of mounting grievances among locals over America’s military presence.
In 2012, the United States said it would redeploy 9,000 Marines from the island where communities complain bases are an unfair burden – with objections ranging from pollution to noise and helicopter crashes.
The relocation began with “a small detachment of approximately 100 logistics support Marines” transferred to the US island territory of Guam, Japan’s defence ministry and the US Marine Corps said.
“Commencement of relocation to Guam signifies the first phase of relocating Marines to locations outside of Japan,” said the joint statement.
There are currently around 19,000 Marines in Okinawa – strategically located east of Taiwan, which has become a flashpoint for tensions between the United States and China.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
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By Agence France-Presse
The United States has begun relocating thousands of Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa, Tokyo and Washington said on Saturday, after decades of mounting grievances among locals over America’s military presence.
In 2012, the United States said it would redeploy 9,000 Marines from the island where communities complain bases are an unfair burden – with objections ranging from pollution to noise and helicopter crashes.
The relocation began with “a small detachment of approximately 100 logistics support Marines” transferred to the US island territory of Guam, Japan’s defence ministry and the US Marine Corps said.
“Commencement of relocation to Guam signifies the first phase of relocating Marines to locations outside of Japan,” said the joint statement.
There are currently around 19,000 Marines in Okinawa – strategically located east of Taiwan, which has become a flashpoint for tensions between the United States and China.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
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Iran confirms increase in IAEA nuclear inspections
By Agence France-Presse
Iran confirmed on Saturday that it has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to increase the number of inspections it carries out into Tehran’s nuclear programme, state media reported.
“We have increased capacity – it is natural that the number of inspections should also increase,” the official IRNA news agency quoted the country’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami as saying.
“When we carry out nuclear activities, and where we deal with nuclear materials, changing the scale will naturally change the monitoring level,” he added.
Eslami’s comments came after an IAEA report that Iran had agreed to increased monitoring.
“Iran agreed to the agency’s request to increase the frequency and intensity of the implementation of safeguard measures at Fordo enrichment plant” south of Tehran, the IAEA report said.
Last week the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had revamped Fordo so it could “significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent”, close to the 90 per cent needed to make a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and denies it is seeking an atomic weapons capability.
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By Agence France-Presse
Iran confirmed on Saturday that it has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to increase the number of inspections it carries out into Tehran’s nuclear programme, state media reported.
“We have increased capacity – it is natural that the number of inspections should also increase,” the official IRNA news agency quoted the country’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami as saying.
“When we carry out nuclear activities, and where we deal with nuclear materials, changing the scale will naturally change the monitoring level,” he added.
Eslami’s comments came after an IAEA report that Iran had agreed to increased monitoring.
“Iran agreed to the agency’s request to increase the frequency and intensity of the implementation of safeguard measures at Fordo enrichment plant” south of Tehran, the IAEA report said.
Last week the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had revamped Fordo so it could “significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent”, close to the 90 per cent needed to make a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and denies it is seeking an atomic weapons capability.
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Farage challenges UK two-party system, threatens European-style fragmentation
By Bloomberg
At Britain’s general election in July, the populist Reform UK Party leader Nigel Farage finally won a seat in the House of Commons on his eighth attempt, entering Parliament with four colleagues. Now he is setting his sights on upturning the country’s traditional two-party duopoly.
“At the next election in 2029 or before, there will be hundreds of newcomers under the Reform UK label,” Farage promised rival politicians at a swanky London dinner earlier this month. “We are about to witness a political revolution.”
The Brexit campaigner and Donald Trump supporter is prone to grandiose statements, but as often in the past, he is impossible to ignore.
With the official Conservative opposition struggling for relevance, his right-wing party enjoys momentum off the back of faltering poll numbers for the new Labour government amid a rocky start by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Buttressed also by endorsements from billionaire Elon Musk, Reform is challenging both main parties in the polls, and Farage is now the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Starmer as premier.
Politicians and strategists at the top of the two parties that have dominated British politics for a century told reporters they are increasingly alive to the threat posed by Reform. Speaking on condition of anonymity about internal party thinking, the Tory and Labour officials expressed concern at signs the UK could be shifting toward a less predictable multiparty politics more common on the European continent.
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By Bloomberg
At Britain’s general election in July, the populist Reform UK Party leader Nigel Farage finally won a seat in the House of Commons on his eighth attempt, entering Parliament with four colleagues. Now he is setting his sights on upturning the country’s traditional two-party duopoly.
“At the next election in 2029 or before, there will be hundreds of newcomers under the Reform UK label,” Farage promised rival politicians at a swanky London dinner earlier this month. “We are about to witness a political revolution.”
The Brexit campaigner and Donald Trump supporter is prone to grandiose statements, but as often in the past, he is impossible to ignore.
With the official Conservative opposition struggling for relevance, his right-wing party enjoys momentum off the back of faltering poll numbers for the new Labour government amid a rocky start by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Buttressed also by endorsements from billionaire Elon Musk, Reform is challenging both main parties in the polls, and Farage is now the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Starmer as premier.
Politicians and strategists at the top of the two parties that have dominated British politics for a century told reporters they are increasingly alive to the threat posed by Reform. Speaking on condition of anonymity about internal party thinking, the Tory and Labour officials expressed concern at signs the UK could be shifting toward a less predictable multiparty politics more common on the European continent.
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‘I want to live’: death of China cancer fighter, worked to finance own education, saddens many
By Fran Lu
Many on social media are mourning the death of a 25-year-old Chinese woman who tenaciously fought terminal cancer until it ultimately took her life.
Lu Wenna, an auxiliary police officer in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, passed away on December 6 from a rare form of cancer known as rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma.
Since her diagnosis in May last year, she had been responding positively to treatment and documenting her journey on her Douyin account, @bunana, where she had amassed 32,000 followers.
Despite her deteriorating physical condition, Lu inspired many with her passion for life.
In one video shortly before her death, she stated: “I want to live.”
In another video from November, she expressed gratitude to her online supporters: “Yunnan is warm in winter. There is sunshine, my mum’s love, my sister, and your company. I am satisfied.”
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By Fran Lu
Many on social media are mourning the death of a 25-year-old Chinese woman who tenaciously fought terminal cancer until it ultimately took her life.
Lu Wenna, an auxiliary police officer in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, passed away on December 6 from a rare form of cancer known as rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma.
Since her diagnosis in May last year, she had been responding positively to treatment and documenting her journey on her Douyin account, @bunana, where she had amassed 32,000 followers.
Despite her deteriorating physical condition, Lu inspired many with her passion for life.
In one video shortly before her death, she stated: “I want to live.”
In another video from November, she expressed gratitude to her online supporters: “Yunnan is warm in winter. There is sunshine, my mum’s love, my sister, and your company. I am satisfied.”
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Cross-strait exchanges under pressure by Taiwan’s ruling DPP
By Lawrence Chung
A push by Taiwan’s main opposition party to improve cross-strait relations is coming under pressure from the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin City Forum – set for Tuesday – hangs in the balance as Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an faces growing demands to cancel the event if Beijing continues to escalate its military pressure on the island.
Citing the increasing military presence of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) around Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) – the island’s top body overseeing cross-strait policy – has raised doubts about the forum, which was originally conceived in 2010 as a platform for Taipei and Shanghai to foster municipal-level cooperation.
The MAC has granted conditional approval for the event, saying it would be cancelled if the PLA’s activities caused a “deterioration in the situation”. On Wednesday, MAC spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said deterioration could take various forms and would be assessed through multiple indicators rather than a single factor.
This week, the PLA’s activities have included at least 146 aircraft sorties and 53 warship sailings, with 67 aircraft either crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The manoeuvres, according to Taiwanese defence officials, reflect heightened pressure on the island.
On Friday, the MAC said it had denied entry to nine reporters from mainland China given “intensified political and military threats against Taiwan”, adding that their media agencies already had journalists on the island to cover the event.
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By Lawrence Chung
A push by Taiwan’s main opposition party to improve cross-strait relations is coming under pressure from the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin City Forum – set for Tuesday – hangs in the balance as Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an faces growing demands to cancel the event if Beijing continues to escalate its military pressure on the island.
Citing the increasing military presence of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) around Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) – the island’s top body overseeing cross-strait policy – has raised doubts about the forum, which was originally conceived in 2010 as a platform for Taipei and Shanghai to foster municipal-level cooperation.
The MAC has granted conditional approval for the event, saying it would be cancelled if the PLA’s activities caused a “deterioration in the situation”. On Wednesday, MAC spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said deterioration could take various forms and would be assessed through multiple indicators rather than a single factor.
This week, the PLA’s activities have included at least 146 aircraft sorties and 53 warship sailings, with 67 aircraft either crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The manoeuvres, according to Taiwanese defence officials, reflect heightened pressure on the island.
On Friday, the MAC said it had denied entry to nine reporters from mainland China given “intensified political and military threats against Taiwan”, adding that their media agencies already had journalists on the island to cover the event.
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China’s annual growth on track to hit target of around 5%, senior official suggests
By Mandy Zuo
China’s economic growth this year will be about 5 per cent, a high-level official said on Saturday, suggesting that the country is hitting its annual target.
The world’s second largest economy is going to achieve major goals for 2024 and contribute to nearly 30 per cent of global growth, Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission’s general office, told an economic forum in Beijing.
Describing employment and prices as stable, Han said China’s foreign exchange reserves – the world’s largest – are expected to remain above US$3.2 trillion, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Earlier this year the country’s annual growth target was set at “around 5 per cent” and policymakers have unveiled a series of stimulus measures in recent months in an effort to hit the target and revive the slowing economy.
It is the first comment about China’s economic prospects from a top official following the two-day Central Economic Work Conference last week, where planners looked back at 2024 and mapped out strategies for the new year.
Economic planners pledged to seek a sustainable growth rate through a number of policy changes including a higher fiscal deficit ceiling, more treasury bonds and cuts to interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio.
The new policy proposals “carry significant weight”, and specific plans will be unveiled during the annual parliamentary session in March, Han said.
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By Mandy Zuo
China’s economic growth this year will be about 5 per cent, a high-level official said on Saturday, suggesting that the country is hitting its annual target.
The world’s second largest economy is going to achieve major goals for 2024 and contribute to nearly 30 per cent of global growth, Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission’s general office, told an economic forum in Beijing.
Describing employment and prices as stable, Han said China’s foreign exchange reserves – the world’s largest – are expected to remain above US$3.2 trillion, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Earlier this year the country’s annual growth target was set at “around 5 per cent” and policymakers have unveiled a series of stimulus measures in recent months in an effort to hit the target and revive the slowing economy.
It is the first comment about China’s economic prospects from a top official following the two-day Central Economic Work Conference last week, where planners looked back at 2024 and mapped out strategies for the new year.
Economic planners pledged to seek a sustainable growth rate through a number of policy changes including a higher fiscal deficit ceiling, more treasury bonds and cuts to interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio.
The new policy proposals “carry significant weight”, and specific plans will be unveiled during the annual parliamentary session in March, Han said.
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