Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, Israeli official says
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South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Smart money in US still bets on Beijing
Wall Street and Washington don't always see eye to eye, especially over China. The White House of Donald Trump and politicians from both major US parties constantly issue warnings and threats against Beijing. Corporate bosses, however, have a very different attitude. Unlike politicians, they have the bottom line to worry about. Sensing a division, top Chinese officials have launched a charm offensive to reassure Western investors, but especially Wall Street bosses, that the country is open for business. Actually it's even more welcoming today, despite the trade war, uncertainties about its 90-day tariff pause, and the threatened ban against Huawei's most advanced chips. Vice-Premier He Lifeng recently met Citigroup chairman John Dugan and Carlyle Group chief executive Harvey Schwartz in Beijing, and told them that the Chinese economy had shown 'strong resilience and great vitality'. It was the same point he passed on earlier to the chief executives of Apple, Nvidia and JPMorgan Chase. Dugan and Schwartz's meetings with He came back to back. That was perhaps not an accident. The bank's history in China dates back more than a century, and Carlyle was one of the first foreign private equity firms to invest in China from the early 2000s. It has been a profitable partnership, as the Chinese learned the workings of private capital and investment. China always remembers its old friends. And Carlyle has a habit of retaining the services of top US officials who have retired, so its unrivalled political network is important to Beijing. These top US bosses have reciprocated to China's goodwill. JPMorgan and Bank of America came under attack in April from the US House Select Committee on the CCP for being part of the team that underwrote the initial public offering of Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) in Hong Kong. Both banks ignored the warning, and CATL's successful IPO is so far the world's largest this year. Meanwhile, Jensen Huang, the Nvidia CEO, has publicly declared Washington's global chip curbs on China a failure, having only forced the country to advance rapidly its own chipmaking capabilities. Unlike Washington, America's corporate bosses understand the meaning of win-win.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Drone use by police in Hong Kong welcome as long as safeguards in place
The widespread use of drones – from food delivery to law enforcement and rescue operations – has revolutionised practices across the private and public sectors. But while the use of unmanned aircraft is an irreversible trend as new technologies and regulations enable more such devices to take to the sky, it also raises legitimate concerns, such as the potential threats to public safety and privacy intrusion. There needs to be proper control and safeguards so that the anticipated convenience and efficiency does not come with negative impacts on society. The Hong Kong Police Force is conducting two types of drone patrols in the city's northern border area of Heung Yuen Wai and urban locations in Kowloon West for crime detection. The former involves using an automatic drone docking system to conduct patrols along boundary fences on a set route under the monitoring of an officer. For the densely populated area in Kowloon West, officers will work in pairs and operate the drone within view. The aircraft will be flying 60 metres above buildings, amid concerns that they may peer into the windows of residential blocks. The regular drone patrols mark a shift from the current operation-based approach, in which such devices are usually deployed for mountain rescues and crowd control for specific events. The use of drones can complete border patrols within 15 to 20 minutes, compared to patrols involving two or three officers taking around an hour. The new measures are timely and should be welcomed. In the age of technology and artificial intelligence, drone patrols have been introduced in other places. The deployment keeps the police force updated with the latest technology, increases operational efficiency and saves manpower and resources. The Post raised concerns over privacy when the scheme was first floated late last year. The assurance by the force to comply with privacy laws is to be welcomed. Residents living in areas under drone paths will also be given advance notice of the operation. Public confidence can be enhanced when there are sufficient safeguards to dispel fears that citizens are being spied on by police drones. The trial is a good opportunity to see whether privacy and other operational issues need to be further addressed.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How US tech curbs pushed China to innovate, and where a ‘super AI' could emerge
Angela Zhang is a law professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Zhang is an expert on technology regulation and antitrust in China, and her research focus has recently been on artificial intelligence oversight. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus . For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here Advertisement How will the new US-China tariff war affect the Chinese technology sector and competition between the two countries on artificial intelligence ? Tariffs can affect the Chinese tech sector in two main ways. First, there are the direct effects. Higher tariffs make it harder for Chinese tech products to compete in the US market. If the tariffs stay relatively modest – like the levels we saw before 'Liberation Day' – Chinese suppliers might absorb some of the extra costs. Prices would go up a bit, but their products might still be competitive. But if the tariffs go up dramatically – say, to the 145 per cent that President [Donald] Trump proposed before China and the US reached an agreement in Geneva – then Chinese products would probably lose their price advantage and be effectively shut out of the US market. Second, there are indirect effects. As Chinese companies face more trade barriers from the US, they'll need to work even harder on cutting costs and scaling up. A good example is what we saw in response to the chip embargo – many Chinese tech firms started open-sourcing their AI models. That's a more cost-effective and collaborative way to keep developing advanced technologies when resources are tight. I expect we'll see similar strategies in other areas like electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy. These firms are going to keep pushing hard to make their products even more competitive. Advertisement At the same time, they're not going to sit still. I think we'll see Chinese companies look more aggressively to other markets – Asia, Latin America, Africa. And we'll likely see more efforts to deepen trade with Europe, including offering technology transfers in exchange for market access. Of course, there's a lot of uncertainty ahead. But one thing is clear: Chinese firms are going to face serious challenges in the coming years under the Trump administration.
