US House passes bills targeting China, morphing robots unveiled: SCMP daily highlights
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The US House of Representatives intensified its legislative push against Beijing, advancing a slate of China-related bills targeting industrial espionage, export controls, national security threats and alleged human rights abuses.
Recycling critical materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are driving profits and shoring up China's resource security as the trade war with US hits supply chains.
A new report has suggested migratory pests are partially responsible for rice yield losses in southern China. Photo: Xinhua
Migratory pests from mainland Southeast Asia, thriving under El Niño, are partially driving rice yield losses in southern China, a study led by Peking University has found.
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South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
From AI to chips: China courts private tech firms to help drive next 5-year plan
China has signalled growing support for the private sector, as the head of the government department that oversees economic reform sat down with representatives of the tech industry to gather input ahead of Beijing's next five-year development blueprint , analysts said. Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), met leaders from five private enterprises to 'gather opinions and suggestions for the scientific formulation of the '15th Five-Year Plan', with a focus on technological innovation', according to a statement published by the NDRC on Tuesday. Zheng said private enterprises could play a crucial role in helping Beijing formulate its next plan, which will cover the years 2026 to 2030. The private sector 'possesses strong innovation momentum, great potential and abundant vitality', he added, making private companies 'a key force in developing new quality productive forces'. Since the start of the year, the Chinese government has struck an increasingly private-sector-friendly tone. In February, President Xi Jinping held a rare high-level meeting with business heads – the first since 2018. In May, a new private sector law came into effect, promising fairer market competition, equal market access and stronger legal protections. Peng Peng, head of the Guangdong Society of Reform, a think tank affiliated with the provincial government, said the 15th Five-Year Plan would 'focus on technology and innovation as engines [for development], which means it needs to promote new and future-oriented industries.' 'Private companies have a lot more advantages in this regard. They are the key driving force in innovation.'
HKFP
an hour ago
- HKFP
Google searches for ‘secessionist' online game surge in Hong Kong after national security warning
Google searches for mobile game Reversed Front: Bonfire have surged in Hong Kong after the city's authorities warned that downloading the game app may violate national security laws. Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, the game app vanished from Hong Kong's App Store, less than 24 hours after the warning was issued. Hong Kong's national security police said in a statement issued at around 6pm on Tuesday that Reversed Front: Bonfire – created by Taiwanese developers ESC Taiwan – promotes secessionist agendas, advocates 'armed revolution' and the overthrow of the 'fundamental system of the People's Republic of China.' Anyone who publishes related content, including sharing the game online, may be accused of inciting secession and inciting subversion, both offences under the Beijing-imposed national security law, police said. Doing so may also violate the city's homegrown national security law, also known as Article 23, which criminalises 'offences in connection with seditious intention.' On Wednesday afternoon, Google Trends, a tool that measures the frequency of search queries, showed that 逆統戰 – the Chinese name of the mobile game – was the most searched topic in the city, followed by AFC Asian Cup qualifiers – after Hong Kong defeated India 1-0 in a Tuesday evening match – and the Hong Kong Observatory. Google recorded more than 20,000 searches for the game over the past 21 hours – an increase of 1,000 per cent. Apart from warning against downloading the game app, police also urged those who have downloaded it to 'uninstall it immediately.' Netizens commented on Facebook, saying that 'thanks to the government, now I know there is such a game.' According to the description on the gaming platform Steam, Reversed Front takes players through a war 'to overthrow the communist regime.' Players can assume different roles, such as Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, the Uyghurs, and Mongolia. According to a BBC report in 2020, ESC Taiwan raised around NT$19 million (HK$4.5 million) online to create a similarly themed tabletop game. Amidst the controversy over protest song Glory to Hong Kong last year, Google Trends suggested upticks in interest that correlated with times when the song had been misplayed at sporting events, or when the government had published press releases or made legal moves against it. Taken down from App Store Reversed Front: Bonfire was initially available on both Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. However, it was removed from the Play Store in May for failing to ban players from using hate speech, according to Reversed Front's social media post. When HKFP checked at around 8pm on Tuesday, the app could no longer be found on Hong Kong's Play Store but was still available on the App Store in the city. However, at around 10am on Wednesday, the app disappeared from the App Store in Hong Kong. In a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon, Reversed Front said that the game was the most downloaded app on Hong Kong's App Store. HKFP has reached out to Apple for comment.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
China may let Hong Kong-listed firms raise funds in Shenzhen via ‘H + A' IPOs
New Chinese government guidelines allowing Hong Kong-listed companies to seek secondary share listings in Shenzhen could help these companies expand on the mainland while potentially encouraging more Hong Kong share offerings, according to analysts. Unveiled on Tuesday by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council, the guidelines allow mainland companies with Hong Kong-listed shares (known as H shares), to issue A shares, or yuan-denominated shares, on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange – a reversal of the so-called A + H pathway that mainland-listed companies can use to add dual listings on the Hong Kong exchange The guidelines did not elaborate on which companies would be eligible for H + A listings or the required procedures. The new opportunity would diversify fundraising options for businesses within the Greater Bay Area , the economic region including Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province, said Wilson Chan Fung-cheung, adjunct professor at City University. It would 'allow businesses within the [bay area] to raise new funds to expand their operations in mainland China, where their brands are more widely recognised', he said. The dual-listing scenario could also tempt more businesses to seek listings in Hong Kong, as a single application could allow them to offer shares in both markets, said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International in Hong Kong. The new regime could exclude some listed companies, including Tencent Holdings , that use a structure that disallows mainland listings. Many Chinese companies listed in the US and Hong Kong use the set-up, known as the variable interest entity structure, to circumvent Chinese restrictions that prohibit foreign investors from holding assets in certain sectors such as the internet and telecommunications.
