Analysis: China role in Saudi, Iran deal a tricky test for US
Posted: March 11, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, Iran, Middle East, Saudi, Saudi-Iran deal, US, Wang Yi 102 CommentsBy Phil Stewart and Michelle Nichols
March 11, 2023 9:20 AM GMT+8 Last Updated 8 hours ago
Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Minister of State and national security adviser of Saudi Arabia Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban pose for pictures during a meeting in Beijing, China March 10, 2023. China Daily via REUTERS
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) – The surprise deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties offers much for the United States to be intrigued about, including a possible path to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program and a chance to cement a ceasefire in Yemen.
It also contains an element sure to make officials in Washington deeply uneasy – the role of China as peace broker in a region where the U.S. has long wielded influence.
The deal was announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing between the Middle East rivals. White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that while Washington was not directly involved, Saudi Arabia kept U.S. officials informed of the talks with Iran.
Relations between the U.S. and China have become highly contentious over issues ranging from trade to espionage and increasingly the two powers compete for influence in parts of the world far from their own borders.
Kirby appeared to downplay China’s involvement in Friday’s development, saying the White House believes internal and external pressure, including effective Saudi deterrence against attacks from Iran or its proxies, ultimately brought Tehran to the table.
But former senior U.S. and U.N. official Jeffrey Feltman said China’s role, rather than the re-opening of embassies after six years, was the most significant aspect of the agreement.
“This will be interpreted – probably accurately – as a slap at the Biden administration and as evidence that China is the rising power,” said Feltman, a fellow at the Brookings Institution.
NUCLEAR TALKS
The agreement comes as Iran accelerates its nuclear program after two years of failed U.S. attempts to revive a 2015 deal that aimed to stop Tehran producing a nuclear bomb.
Those efforts have been complicated by a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities on protests and tough U.S. sanctions on Tehran over accusations of human rights abuses.
Brian Katulis, of the Middle East Institute, said that for the U.S. and Israel the agreement offers a “new possible pathway” for reviving stalled talks on the Iran nuclear issue, with a potential partner in Riyadh.
“Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned about Iran’s nuclear program,” he said. “If this new opening between Iran and Saudi Arabia is going to be meaningful and impactful, it will have to address the concerns about Iran’s nuclear program – otherwise the opening is just optics.”
Friday’s agreement also offers hope for more durable peace in Yemen, where a conflict sparked in 2014 has widely been seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
A U.N.-brokered truce agreed last April has largely held despite expiring in October without agreement between the parties to extend it.
Gerald Fierestein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, said Riyadh would “not have gone along with this without getting something, whether that something is Yemen or something else is harder to see.”
GROWING ROLE FOR CHINA
China’s involvement in brokering the deal could have “significant implications” for Washington, said Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama.
Russel said it was unusual for China to act on its own to help broker a diplomatic deal in a dispute to which it was not a party.
“The question is, whether this is the shape of things to come?” he said. “Could it be a precursor to a Chinese mediation effort between Russia and Ukraine when Xi visits Moscow?”
When it comes to Iran, it is not clear that the results will be good for the U.S., said Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at International Crisis Group.
“The drawback is that at a time when Washington and Western partners are increasing pressure against the Islamic Republic … Tehran will believe it can break its isolation and, given the Chinese role, draw on major-power cover,” said Rafati.
China’s involvement has already drawn skepticism in Washington about Beijing’s motives.
Republican Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, rejected China’s portrayal of itself as peace-broker, saying it “is not a responsible stakeholder and cannot be trusted as a fair or impartial mediator.”
Kirby said the U.S. was closely monitoring Beijing’s behavior in the Middle East and elsewhere.
“As for Chinese influence there or in Africa or Latin America, it’s not like we have blinders on,” he said. “We certainly continue to watch China as they try to gain influence and footholds elsewhere around the world in their own selfish interests.”
Still, Beijing’s involvement adds to a perception of growing Chinese power and influence that contributes to a narrative of a shrinking U.S. global presence, said Jon Alterman, of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“The not-so-subtle message that China is sending is that while the United States is the preponderant military power in the Gulf, China is a powerful and arguably rising diplomatic presence,” he said.
Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Jonathan Landay and David Brunnstrom; Writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis
Note: This is Reuters’ report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
China Worthwhile Taking Risks of Sri Lanka Lending
Posted: March 11, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, China-Myanmar pipeline, Hambantota, Kyaukpyu, Myanmar, Southwest China, Sri Lanka 2 CommentsChina Project’s article “China agrees to $2.9 billion debt relief package for Sri Lanka” questions “But who will be taking the haircuts when future global loans go bad?”
The article seems to believe that China will take the haircuts as it concludes, “Western economies and other major bilateral lenders have clashed with Beijing over how to provide debt relief. While China has a history of giving out principal haircuts, Chinese financial institutions have been reluctant to do so in fear that it would set a precedent for its debt dealings with other countries.”
Obviously, the article is ignorant of China’s great strategy in investing in Sri Lanka. China has an urgent need to develop its west but there are not outlets to sea in China’s west. For Southwest China, Myanmar may provide such an outlet to enable China to bypass the Malacca Strait. There have been oil and gas pipelines through Myanmar to China’s Yunnan and Sichuan. To expand the development, China has signed a memorandom of understanding on China-Myanmar Economic Corridor with Myanmar centered on development of Kyaukpyu port and a transport lifeline from China’s Ruili to Kyaukpyu.
China has been building a railway from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province to Ruili, which is scheduled to operate by 2025. The railway from Ruili to Kyaukpyu will certainly be built whether Myanmar is under military or civilian rule as the gas and oil pipeline was built under military rule.
When the port and railway are ready, Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port will become a transition hub like Singapore, China’s Southwest will be able to bypass Malacca and have shortcut to the Middle East, Europe and Africa. China has purchased 80% right to operate Hambantota and has been investing in Sri Lanka to enable its enterprises to move there to exploit the cheap labor and land there.
From that perspective, it is certainly worthwhile for China to take the risks in lending to Sri Lanka.
Comment by Chan Kai Yee on China Project’s article, full text of which can be viewed at https://thechinaproject.com/2023/03/07/china-agrees-to-2-9-billion-debt-relief-package-for-sri-lanka/?
China says US should change attitude or risk conflict
Posted: March 9, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, China-US tensions, Qin Gang, US, Wang Yi, Xi Jinping 10 CommentsBy Ryan Woo
March 8, 2023 10:32 AM GMT+8 Last Updated a day ago
BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) – The United States should change its “distorted” attitude towards China or “conflict and confrontation” will follow, China’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, while defending its stance on the war in Ukraine and its close ties with Russia.
The U.S. had been engaging in suppression and containment of China rather than engaging in fair, rules-based competition, Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing.
“The United States’ perception and views of China are seriously distorted,” said Qin, a trusted aide to President Xi Jinping and until recently China’s ambassador in Washington.
“It regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge. This is like the first button in the shirt being put wrong.”
Relations between the two superpowers have been tense for years over a number of issues including Taiwan, trade and more recently the war in Ukraine, but they worsened last month after the United States shot down a balloon off the U.S. East Coast that it says was a Chinese spying craft.
The U.S. says it is establishing guardrails for relations and is not seeking conflict but Qin said what that meant in practice was that China was not supposed to respond with words or action when slandered or attacked.
“That is just impossible,” Qin told his first news conference since becoming foreign minister in late December.
Qin’s comments struck the same the tough tone of his predecessor, Wang Yi, now China’s most senior diplomat after being made director of the Foreign Affairs Commission Office at the turn of the year.
“If the United States does not hit the brakes, and continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailment, which will become conflict and confrontation, and who will bear the catastrophic consequences?”
In Washington, John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, brushed off the criticism and said the United States does not seek confrontation with Beijing.
“We seek a strategic competition with China. We do not seek conflict,” Kirby told reporters. “We aim to compete and we aim to win that competition with China but we absolutely want to keep it at that level.”
U.S. officials often speak of establishing guardrails in the bilateral relationship to prevent tensions from escalating into crises.
Qin likened Sino-U.S. competition to a race between two Olympic athletes.
“If one side, instead of focusing on giving one’s best, always tries to trip the other up, even to the extent that they must enter the Paralympics, then this is not fair competition,” he said.
Image: Qin Gang
Journalists attend a news conference by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
‘JACKALS AND WOLVES’
During a nearly two-hour news conference in which he answered questions submitted in advance, Qin made a robust defence of “wolf warrior diplomacy”, an assertive and often abrasive stance adopted by China’s diplomats since 2020.
“When jackals and wolves are blocking the way, and hungry wolves are attacking us, Chinese diplomats must then dance with the wolves and protect and defend our home and country,” he said.
Qin also said that an “invisible hand” was pushing for the escalation of the war in Ukraine “to serve certain geopolitical agendas”, without specifying who he was referring to.
He reiterated China’s call for dialogue to end the war.
China struck a “no limits” partnership with Russia last year, weeks before its invasion of Ukraine, and has blamed NATO expansion for triggering the war, echoing Russia’s complaint.
China has declined to condemn the invasion and has fiercely defended its stance on Ukraine, despite Western criticism of its failure to single Russia out as the aggressor.
China has also vehemently denied U.S. accusations that it has been considering supplying Russia with weapons.
ADVANCING RELATIONS WITH MOSCOW
Qin said China had to advance its relations with Russia as the world becomes more turbulent and close interactions between President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, anchored the neighbours’ relations.
He did not give a definite answer when asked if Xi would visit Russia after China’s parliament session, which goes on for one more week.
Since Russia invaded its southwestern neighbour a year ago Xi has held talks several times with Putin, but not with his Ukrainian counterpart. This undermines China’s claim of neutrality in the conflict, Kyiv’s top diplomat in Beijing said last month.
Asked whether it was possible that China and Russia would abandon the U.S. dollar and euro for bilateral trade, Qin said countries should use whatever currency was efficient, safe and credible.
China has been looking to internationalise its currency, the yuan, which gained popularity in Russia last year after Western sanctions shut Russia’s banks and many of its companies out of the dollar and euro payment systems.
“Currencies should not be the trump card for unilateral sanctions, still less a disguise for bullying or coercion,” Qin said.
Reporting by Yew Lun Tian, Laurie Chen, Ryan Woo and the Beijing Newsroom; additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Tom Hogue and Alex Richardson
Note: This is Reuters’ report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
China opposes Dutch plan to curb chip exports – Chinese ministry
Posted: March 9, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, Netherland, semiconductor, US Comments Off on China opposes Dutch plan to curb chip exports – Chinese ministryReuters
March 9, 2023 4:04 PM GMT+8 Last Updated an hour ago
Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration (image omitted)
BEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) – China is opposed to a Dutch plan for restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.
The Netherlands’ government on Wednesday said it planned new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, joining a U.S. effort to curb chip exports to the world second-biggest economy.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, asked about the Dutch decision at a regular media briefing, said China had lodged representations with the Netherlands.
“We are firmly opposed to the Netherlands’ usage of administrative means to intervene and limit normal economic and trade exchanges between Chinese and Dutch companies,” Mao said.
The U.S. in October imposed sweeping export restrictions on shipments of American chipmaking tools to China.
Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Writing By Ella Cao and Liz Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue, Robert Birsel
Note: This is Reuters’ report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
China Steps Up Pursuit of One-in-Three Strategy
Posted: March 9, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anti-US rhetoric, China, one-in-three, Qin Gang, US, Xi Jinping Comments Off on China Steps Up Pursuit of One-in-Three StrategyFP’s “China Brief: Beijing sharpebs its anti-America rhetoric” gets it entirely wrong.
Beijing has not openly sharpened its anti-America rhetoric as it pursues the strategy of one-in-three instead a cold war of one-in-two that puts Europe on US side.
This has been very clear by China’s prime time news description of the US as the culprit and Europe as the victim of Ukraine war. The sharpening of China’s anti-US rhetoric is but a natural development of China’s one-in-three strategy aiming at driving a wedge in the alliance between the US and Europe. Only by sharpening the rhetoric, will China be able to make its strategy clearer.
I have repeated times and again that interest is the driving force of diplomacy. Enmity against the US and friendship with or at least maintenance of neutrality of Europe is in China’s greatest interest. As the US has been making every effort to block China’s rise, it’s hopeless for China to benefit from its relations with the US, but a friendly or neutral Europe may greatly benefit China in economy and technology. Therefore, sharpening anti-US rhetoric may make China’s one-in-three strategy clearer to Europe especially when Europe has been suffering from its support for Ukraine’s hopeless war while the US has been profiting from it.
Will China-US tensions worsen? Certainly. Whether China will provide weapons to Russia in its Ukraine war or keep on blaming NATO is not the litmus test on China’s anti-US mentality. China will keep on sharpening that rhetoric due to the bipartisan hostility against China in the US. However, as China has no intention to replace the US as world leader, when China has indeed surpassed the US for some time there will be some ease in such hostility. However, by that time China’s one-in-three strategy will have succeeded for a long time and be replaced by a new strategy.
Comment by Chan Kai Yee on Foreign Policy’s China Brief article, full text of which can be viewed at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGrcrxzWtTfPXNTWVhxbWpBlSvZ
In a rare move, President Xi Jinping directly mentions US in ‘containing & suppressing’ China
Posted: March 8, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, containment, suppression, US, Xi Jinping 12 Comments“A response to the harsh criticisms of China.”
Keyla Supharta | March 08, 2023, 05:05 PM
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China President Xi Jinping made a rare, unusually direct statement of rebuke against the U.S. on Monday (Mar. 6), accusing Washington of “containing and suppressing China”.
Some perceive Xi’s statement as an indication of the country’s changing political stance, preparing for more confrontation and competition with the U.S..
Meanwhile, others viewed Xi’s statement as a way to deflect the blame for China’s weakening economy.
Containment and suppression
“Western countries—led by the U.S.—have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development,” Xi said, as reported by China state media outlet Xinhua News Agency.
This accusation marks a departure from Xi’s usual refrain from directly criticising or naming the U.S. in a public setting, noted hawkish American media outlet Wall Street Journal.
Curiously, the Chinese version of his speech in state media differs from the English translation published by Xinhua, which did not make a direct reference to the U.S. or used the word “containment”.
It instead quoted Xi asking government officials to “have the courage to fight as the country faces profound and complex changes in both the domestic and international landscape.”
Xi was delivering his speech at one of the country’s annual “Two Sessions” which brings top political bodies and legislature in China together for major policy announcements, as well as a review of past policies.
China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, previously expressed the same sentiment during a press conference at the “Two Sessions”, saying that the U.S.’s claim to out-compete China without conflict is an attempt to “contain and suppress China in all respects”.
“Bracing for more competition”
Some viewed Xi’s directness as a reflection of the country’s changing political stance.
According to The New York Times, Xi’s direct reference to the U.S. as a hostile entity “reflects how he is bracing for more confrontation and competition between the world’s two largest economies.”
While his speech may be received positively by a nationalist domestic audience, it risks wariness abroad, especially at a time when China has yet to stabilise its relationship with the West.
Speaking to The New York Times, senior research fellow at Quincy Insitute for Responsible Statecraft Michael Swaine said that “this is the first time to my knowledge that Xi Jinping has publicly come out and identified the U.S. as taking such actions against China.”
“It is, without doubt, a response to the harsh criticisms of China, and of Xi Jinping personally, that Biden and many in the administration have levelled in recent months,” he added.
But just last month, in a comment on the balloon incident, U.S. President Joe Biden said the country will be competing responsibly with China, but is “not looking for a new Cold War,” Time reported.
Shifting blame on China’s slowing economy
An expert who spoke to The Wall Street Journal believes that Xi’s statement could be an effort to shift blame away from the policies he fronted and the slowing economy.
With Xi embarking on his third term as president and attempting to consolidate more power, he might be seeking new ways to explain the country’s mounting problems, especially on the economy, Shirley Martey Hargis, a nonresident fellow at the Washington think tank Atlantic Council said to the Journal.
Previously, China announced a GDP growth target of 5 per cent in 2023, which is lower than the 5.5 per cent target for 2022.
Xi said China is facing multiple difficulties such as the epidemics and an “increasing downward pressure on the economy,” Xinhua reported.
However, he encouraged the people to “stay calm, maintain resolve, pursue progress while ensuring stability, take active steps, unite as one and have the courage to fight.”
He also stressed the need for a good relationship between government and business to create more jobs, increase consumption and fight international competition.
According to the Global Times, Xi’s speech instilled confidence in many businessmen across the country.
It quoted Wang Yu, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and chairman of Spring Airlines, who commented on the economic aspects of Xi’s speech, and said that it eliminates any worries among private entrepreneurs.
Source: Mothership.sg “In a rare move, President Xi Jinping directly mentions US in ‘containing & suppressing’ China”
Note: This is mothership.sg’s report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
Chinese start-up AutoFlight’s ‘flying car’ claims new world record for distance flown, as Shanghai firm gears up for increased production
Posted: March 5, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, flying car, Prosperity I, Tian Yu 32 CommentsAutoFlight’s Prosperity I air taxi reached a distance of 250.3 kilometres during a recent test flight, setting a world record for such an aircraft
Company founder Tian Yu expects the US and Europe to be the top two markets for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft like Prosperity I
Electric & new energy vehicles
Lilian Zhang
Published: 7:00am, 4 Mar, 2023
I
AutoFlight founder, chairman and chief executive Tian Yu says his company has received hundreds of orders at home and abroad for its Prosperity I electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Photo: Handout
AutoFlight founder, chairman and chief executive Tian Yu says his company has received hundreds of orders at home and abroad for its Prosperity I electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Photo: Handout
AutoFlight, a Chinese start-up founded in Shanghai, has set a new world record for distance flown by an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in a recent test flight of its autonomous “Prosperity I” air taxi, according to the company’s founder.
The five-seater Prosperity I reached a distance of 250.3 kilometres (93.4 miles) during a test flight on February 23, which AutoFlight founder, chairman and chief executive Tian Yu claims as the longest flight of its kind in the world.
Tian said in an interview that this achievement takes his dream for eVTOLs another step to being realised. “I believe in the long run that eVTOLs will provide a good solution to traffic congestion and revolutionise the way of travel and lifestyle,” he told the South China Morning Post.
“Helicopters are very expensive and noisy,” he said. “Operating a helicopter costs up to US$2,000 per hour, but operating an eVTOL would cost only about one-tenth or one-twentieth [by comparison], which would make it affordable.”
AutoFlight’s five-seater Prosperity I has a range of about 250 kilometres. Photo: Handout
Without the need to use runways, eVTOLs are also more efficient to operate, easy to maintain and environmentally friendly, he added. Prosperity I uses rotors to lift itself vertically for take-off and then transitions to a horizontal flight on the wing, like a traditional aeroplane.
AutoFlight, which expects Prosperity I to complete its European Aviation Safety Agency certification by 2025, has applied in mainland China for its initial use in logistics.
Tian said there is high domestic demand for eVTOLs and local governments are “very supportive” of AutoFlight’s self-developed “flying car”.
Still, the market for eVTOLs like Prosperity I is expected to initially take off outside China, where air taxis can be used by commuters for daily travel and intercity trips that cover distances of 50 kms to 100 kms.
“The top two markets will be the United States and Europe, where [adopting transport innovation] is more of a culture thing, and people there are more accepting [of eVTOLs],” Tian said.
AutoFlight’s successful long-distance test flight for Prosperity I re
flects intensifying competition among Chinese companies in the eVTOL sector, as they ride the next wave of innovation in the world’s largest electric vehicle market.
The company is “one of only a few eVTOL OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to have mastered the challenging ‘transition phase’, from vertical to horizontal flight, and has done so hundreds of times”, AutoFlight said in a statement on Thursday.
On January 30, Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group said its subsidiary Aerofugia completed a test flight of its five-seater prototype AE200-series flying car, made within two months of the firm obtaining the country’s first licence for such a manned flying car.
That was completed on the same day that electric carmaker Xpeng Motors announced that its eVTOL unit, AeroHT, had received a special permit to continue manned flights in its two-seater X2 electric flying car.
AutoFlight’s sprawling manufacturing complex in Kunshan, a county-level city in eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: Handout (image omitted)
AutoFlight’s Tian, an electronics technology graduate from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and model plane enthusiast, has been a serial entrepreneur in the aircraft industry for more than 20 years. His ventures range from manufacturing remote-controlled model planes to personal electric aircraft.
In 2011, Tian obtained a patent for a composite eVTOL aircraft, which combined fixed-wing and electric multi-rotors that can take off or land vertically.
“I thought [the technology] could make a huge impact in the future,” he said, indicating that his patent signified that eVTOLs could be “safer and more reliable”, as well as have a wider application than helicopters.
In 2016, Tian founded AutoFlight to focus on the research and development of eVTOL technology and aircraft manufacturing. The company has established a 27,000-square-metre (291,000-square-foot) production complex in Kunshan, a county-level city in eastern Jiangsu province, that is in proximity to its various suppliers within the Yangtze River Delta region.
AutoFlight’s Prosperity aircraft seen in mid-flight. Photo: Handout
At a September 2021 aviation show in China, AutoFlight first unveiled its four-seater V1500M eVTOL. The Prosperity I represents the latest five-seater version of this aircraft.
It was made to take off and land from urban landing pads using eight fixed VTOL propellers. For forward flight, the aircraft has a high wing and two rear-pusher propellers that allow it to have a range of 250 kms.
In November 2021, AutoFlight received a US$100 million investment from Berlin-based tech holding company Team Global, which is owned by European tech investor Lukasz Gadowski. Team Global has stakes in around a dozen start-ups in the aviation sector worldwide, including drones, flight control and air taxis.
At present, AutoFlight employs nearly 500 employees globally and has offices in the US and Europe. In Germany, for example, the company runs a flight control system research centre. It also has a composite material manufacturing plant in Jining, a prefecture-level city in eastern Shandong province.
I
‘Flying taxi’: Drone rises to the occasion with first test flight in real-life air traffic
Tian said AutoFlight has received hundreds of orders at home and abroad, including some deals with domestic logistics companies.
Apart from logistics, he expected AutoFlight eVTOLs to be used for transport to islands, mountains, deserts and various places where roads are not well developed, especially for emergency and rescue work.
During last year’s surge in Covid-19 infections in China, AutoFlight used a smaller eVTOL aircraft to deliver nucleic acid detection kits in Xian, capital of northwest Shaanxi province.
The global “urban air traffic” sector is projected to become a US$1.5 trillion industry by 2040, with China accounting for about 29 per cent of the total market, according to a Morgan Stanley report published in 2021.
Tian Yu, AutoFlight’s founder, chairman and chief executive, expects his company to increase its manufacturing output to about 1,000 aircraft annually. Photo: Handout
Tian Yu, AutoFlight’s founder, chairman and chief executive, expects his company to increase its manufacturing output to about 1,000 aircraft annually. Photo: Handout
Despite the vast market potential for eVTOLs, companies like AutoFlight are expected to meet strict regulatory requirements and get certified by aviation authorities for safety measures consistent with those of large civil airlines, according to policies implemented in the European Union.
In mainland China, tight air control poses another challenge. In recent years, however, the central government has gradually relaxed its restrictions on low-altitude airspace for civilian use in a bid to promote the rapid development of the country’s civil aviation industry.
Tian said the company’s next step is to secure next year the relevant Type Certificate – a government certification on the airworthiness and reliability of a particular aircraft – for Prosperity I’s use in cargo transport services. After receiving that certification from China’s aviation authorities, AutoFlight will gradually increase its production capacity from dozens of aircraft annually to around 1,000 per year, he said.
“You can’t skip these over,” Tian said. “We must follow a very detailed and rigorous process to build our aircraft.”
Source: SCMP “Chinese start-up AutoFlight’s ‘flying car’ claims new world record for distance flown, as Shanghai firm gears up for increased production”
Note: This is SCMP’s Reuters’ report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
Exclusive: China increasingly ambitious with 2023 growth target, may aim for up to 6%
Posted: March 2, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: China, economic recovery, growth rate 7 CommentsBy Kevin Yao
A general view shows Beijing’s skyline on a sunny day, China January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee (image omitted)
BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) – China is becoming increasingly ambitious with its 2023 growth target, aiming potentially as high as 6%, in a bid to boost investor and consumer confidence and build on a promising post-pandemic recovery, sources involved in policy discussions said.
Four of the sources said China was likely to aim for growth up to 6%, while three others said China was targeting 5%-5.5%. They all spoke on condition of anonymity as the discussions were held behind closed doors.
In all, those numbers point to rising optimism within Chinese policy circles compared with November, when government advisers recommended more modest targets ranging from 4.5% to 5.5%.
The previous recommendations were made weeks before China lifted the world’s harshest COVID-19 curbs. Recent data showed the economy recovering from its pandemic shock at a better-than-expected pace.
The final growth target, which can be a range, will be announced on March 5, at the start of China’s annual legislative meeting.
“This year’s growth target could be 5-6%,” said one of the people involved in the discussions. “We need to achieve an economic recovery, boost employment, and confidence, these are the key factors we need to consider.”
One of the three sources advocating for a more modest target warned “the property sector is still falling and it’s difficult to fill the gap while foreign trade is likely to drag on economic growth this year.”
None of the seven sources is involved in the final decision-making process.
The government is also set to unveil more stimulus during this month’s National People’s Congress, to mitigate the impact of property market weakness and waning global demand for its exports, four of the people said.
To spur growth, the government is expected to widen its annual budget deficit to around 3% of gross domestic product this year and issue about 4 trillion yuan in special bonds to support investment spending, they said.
The new economic leadership team, expected to be led by former Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang as China’s new premier, are keen to show their ability to deliver better economic growth to create more jobs and ease funding strains on local governments, the four said.
BIG MISS
China’s economy grew 3% in 2022 from a year earlier, badly missing the official target of around 5.5%, as the COVID-19 pandemic, property market stress and slowing global demand took a heavy toll. Excluding 2020, when the pandemic started, it was the worst performance since 1976 – the final year of Mao Zedong’s decade-long Cultural Revolution that wrecked the economy.
It was also the biggest ever miss of a growth target. China previously only had narrow misses during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and during a currency crisis in 2014-15.
The last time China set a target range was in 2019 at 6-6.5%.
Some economists argue that ambitious annual growth targets in China are counterproductive, and policymakers should rather focus on structural reforms to improve the sustainability of any economic expansion.
Lofty goals have in the past pressured local governments to launch expensive infrastructure projects, which have contributed significantly to China’s overall indebtedness of almost 300% of economic output.
Three of the sources also said China will stick to the long-standing inflation target of around 3%.
STRONG START
Consumption and services are leading China’s recovery so far this year. Manufacturing activity also expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, an official survey showed on Wednesday, beating expectations.
Iris Pang, chief Greater China economist at ING, said in a note that this week’s upbeat data gave the government strong reasons to set a high growth target of 5.5% to 6%.
On March 5, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang is due to deliver the 2023 government work report, which includes key economic goals and policy priorities.
Li was quoted by state media on Wednesday as saying that the government was still amending the work report.
“This year’s growth will be higher than 6%, which is not high considering last year’s low base,” Yu Yongding, an influential government economist who previously advised the People’s Bank of China, told Reuters.
Yu said a growth target of above 6% would help “boost morale and stimulate China’s economic growth potential.”
Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Marius Zaharia & Shri Navaratnam
Note: This is Reuters’ report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
China leads US in global competition for key emerging technology, study says
Posted: March 2, 2023 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ASPI, China, emerging technology, five eyes, stunning lead 12 CommentsReuters
March 2, 2023 1:14 PM GMT+8 Last Updated 5 hours ago
Flags of China and U.S. are displayed on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration (image omitted)
SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) – China has a “stunning lead” in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies as Western democracies lose a global competition for research output, a security think tank said on Thursday after tracking defence, space, energy and biotechnology.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said its study showed that, in some fields, all of the world’s top 10 research institutions are based in China.
The study, funded by the United States State Department, found the United States was often second-ranked, although it led global research in high-performance computing, quantum computing, small satellites and vaccines.
“Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs,” the report said, urging greater research investment by governments.
China had established a “stunning lead in high-impact research” under government programs.
The report called for democratic nations to collaborate more often to create secure supply chains and “rapidly pursue a strategic critical technology step-up”.
ASPI tracked the most-cited scientific papers, which it said are the most likely to result in patents. China’s surprise breakthrough in hypersonic missiles in 2021 would have been identified earlier if China’s strong research had been detected, it said.
“Over the past five years, China generated 48.49% of the world’s high-impact research papers into advanced aircraft engines, including hypersonics, and it hosts seven of the world’s top 10 research institutions,” it said.
In the fields of photonic sensors and quantum communication, China’s research strength could result in it “going dark” to the surveillance of western intelligence, including the “Five Eyes” of Britain, United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, it said.
National talent flows of researchers were also tracked and monopoly risks were identified.
China was likely to emerge with a monopoly in 10 fields including synthetic biology, where it produces one-third of all research, as well as electric batteries, 5G, and nano manufacturing.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government research body, ranked first or second in most of the 44 technologies tracked, which spanned defence, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials and quantum technology.
China was bolstering its research with knowledge gained overseas, and the data showed one-fifth of the top Chinese researchers were trained in a Five Eyes country, it said.
The study recommended visa screening programs to limit illegal technology transfers and instead favour international collaboration with security allies.
Australia’s universities have said they are complying with foreign influence laws designed to stop the illegal transfer of technology to China, but also noted international collaboration is an integral part of university research.
Note: This is Reuters’ report I post here for readers’ information. It does not mean whether I agree or disagree with the report’s views.
Tiananmen's Tremendous Achievements 