Chinascope – Page 177

Korea’s Lotte to Close Its China Headquarters, Shifting Focus to Southeast Asia

After Lotte Supermarkets left China in recent years, Korean media reported that the Lotte Group will close its China headquarters in Shanghai and shift its focus to Southeast Asia.

The reports quoted sources from inside the Lotte Group that the company made the decision to disband its China headquarters late last year and expects to complete the process before June. Lotte will continue to operate its Department Store in Chengdu city.

Lotte Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. It entered the Chinese market in 1994 and established its China headquarters in Shanghai in 2006. As of 2017, there were more than 100 Lotte Mart supermarkets across the country, with 70 percent of the group’s total sales revenue coming from China. In the same year, Lotte Group agreed to provide land to the U.S. military for the Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, triggering protests in China. Beginning in 2018, Lotte gradually withdrew its Lotte Mart, department stores, beverages and other businesses from the Chinese market.

Lotte Group is expanding into Southeast Asian markets. Recently, Lotte opened additional Lotte Mart supermarkets in Vietnam. The first trip that the new head of Lotte Supermarket made after taking office was to Indonesia.

Source: Radio Free Asia, March 23, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/ql2-03232022072406.html

Briefings | | March 31, 2022 | Economy/Resources

One in Four Hong Kong Residents Plan to Emigrate, Said Survey

Since March 2021, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI) has been conducting semiannual online surv percenteys on immigration related opinions. The most recent one was conducted from March 21 to March 24). In that survey, 6,723 Hong Kong citizens aged 12 or above were being interviewed via an online questionnaire.

The results showed that 24 percent of respondents have plans to emigrate, of which 3 percent are “ready to leave at any time,” 7% are “preparing,” and 14 percent “have plans but haven’t prepared.”

When asked about confidence in Hong Kong’s future, 58 percent of the surveyed showed no confidence in Hong Kong’s future political environment, 57 percent were not confident in the personal freedom, and almost half, or 4 percent, were pessimistic about its the economic outlook.

As for the factors affecting respondents’ desire to leave Hong Kong permanently, 85 percent worried about the deterioration of personal freedom or personal safety; 79 percent worried about the future of their families, the education of their next generation or the deterioration of Hong Kong’s economic prospects; and 50 percent complained about the epidemic situation in Hong Kong or the government’s ineffective measures.

According to the Hong Kong Immigration Department, from the fifth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak to early March this year, the net departure of Hong Kong residents exceeded 92,000, including as many as 65,300 in February this year, a significant increase of more than three times compared to January this year. The vast majority of those departed were via the Hong Kong International Airport.

The number of residents leaving Hong Kong with money is also on the rise. According to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), the number of claims for withdrawal of the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) on the grounds of permanent departure from Hong Kong in 2021 was 33,800, an increase of nearly 12 percent over 2020. The applications for Certificates of No Criminal Conviction (commonly known as “Good Citizen Certificates”), a necessary document for emigration, has risen to 38,000 in 2021, from 29,000 the year before, or an increase of over 30%.

Source: Voice of America, March 28, 2022
https://www.voachinese.com/a/hong-kong-survey-shows-24-have-emigration-plans-under-pandemic-20220328/6505017.html

Briefings | | March 31, 2022 | Social Stability

Scandal-Ridden Company Is Now China’s Top Coffee Chain

According to its 2021 financial results, Luckin Coffee, a Chinese coffee chain store, has overtaken Starbucks for the first time to become the top coffee chain in China.

In 2020, Luckin Coffee made its name for accounting fraud. It “intentionally and materially” inflated its 2019 revenue and understated a net loss, while it was listed on the American stock market. The scandal resulted in the stock price crashing and several executives being fired. Trading was suspended and the company was delisted from NASDAQ in June 2020. In February 2022, Luckin paid off its $180 million penalty levied by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the recently released 2021 financial report, Luckin’s total net revenue was 7.9 billion yuan ($US 1.24 billion), a leap of 97.5 percent over 2020. By the end of 2021, Luckin, with 6,024 stores across China, beat Starbucks (5,557 stores) for the first time and became the country’s largest coffee chain brand.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 27, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202203270111.aspx

Briefings | | March 30, 2022 | Economy/Resources

HKET: Report on Surge in Cyberattacks against NATO: Originating from Chinese IP Addresses

Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the leading financial daily in Hong Kong, recently reported that, with the war between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict has spread to the Internet. Many hacker organizations have participated. Check Point Research (CPR), the threat intelligence division of the software technology company Check Point, just released a research report showing that cyber-attacks by hackers against government organizations outside Ukraine increased by 21 percent. The attacks launched from Chinese IP addresses against NATO countries increased by 116 percent. Overall cyber-attacks against all industries in Ukraine increased by 20 percent, with an average of 1,466 attacks per Ukraine organization per week. However, the number of active networks in Ukraine has dropped by 27 percent due to the impact of the war. Overall cyber-attacks against Russia have grown by only one percent. Cyber-attacks against governments or military sectors in all regions of the world have increased significantly, up 21 percent from pre-conflict levels. It is worth noting that the attacks from Chinese IPs are 72 percent higher than before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The attacks from Chinese IPs on NATO corporate networks are 116 percent higher. Check Point indicated that hackers aren’t just targeting government or military targets. They are also taking advantage of the public’s eagerness to launch phishing attacks. The attacks cannot be attributed directly to China, as both domestic and foreign hackers can use Chinese IP as the source of the attack.

Source: HKET, March 23, 2022
https://bit.ly/3JKnEvf

Briefings | | March 29, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Pandemic: Shanghai Started a Half-City Lock-down

China has continued to report that its COVID-19 infection numbers are increasing and are more than they were previously.

On March 27, Beijing reported 6,215 cases (1,129 confirmed infection cases and 4,996 asymptomatic cases). The CCP is known for hiding COVID information, so the actual infection count is unknown.

Shanghai reported 3,500 cases (50 confirmed infection cases and 3,450 asymptomatic cases), accounting for 56 percent of all announced cases in China. The city, with a population of 26 million, announced a lock-down in Pudong of half of the city on the east side of the Hongpu River from March 28 to April 1 and then a lock-down of Puxi, the other half of the city on the west side of the Hongpu River, from April 1 to April 5. April 5 is the day for people to worship their dead family members, but the government announced the cemeteries will be closed to visitors and they will instead offer online grave visits or valet grave visits instead.

Jilin Province reported around 2,000 cases. It is building modular hospitals in its two most infected, cities Changchun and Jilin, as well as a few other cities. The province has built 19 modular hospitals, including eight in Changchun, ten in Jilin, and one in Huichun. Liaoning Province and Fujian Province also started building modular hospitals.

LTN: Alibaba, Tencent and Didi to Lay Off Many Workers

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that Chinese tech giants Tencent, Alibaba and Didi will slash jobs this year due to a slowing economy and regulatory pressure from Beijing. Some departments will lay off 20 percent of their workers. Thousands of employees will lose their jobs. Shenzhen-based Tencent plans to lay off 20 percent of its 20,000-person cloud and smart industry business group this year. As of September, last year, Tencent had about 107,000 employees. After Chinese regulators ordered the Didi app to be removed from the AppStore Beijing-based Didi will lay off 20 percent of its staff in some of its business groups, including its core ride-hailing service. Its app was banned from accepting new customers, and the app has so far not been reinstated as Didi failed to fully resolve concerns over how it handles data security. By the end of 2020, Didi had about 16,000 employees. Alibaba, headquartered in Hangzhou, is considering laying off about 20 percent of the workforce in some of its business groups related discounted shopping, grocery shopping, travel services and food delivery. These consumer-facing sectors are suffering the slowdown in China’s economy. As of September last year, Ali had about 259,000 employees. Stock shares of Chinese internet companies have tumbled over the past year. Alibaba’s share price has plunged nearly 60 percent in a year. Tencent’s has shrunk by about 40 percent, and Didi’s stock price has dropped to about $4 since it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in July last year at $14 per share.

Source: LTN, March 22, 2022
https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/3867177

Briefings | | March 28, 2022 | Economy/Resources Information/Technology

India Plans to Double Russian Coking Coal Imports

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that India’s Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said India plans to double its coking coal imports from Russia. Singh said in a conference in New Delhi that, coking coal is a key raw material for steelmaking, and the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected the stable supply. Data from consultancy Kpler showed that, at least 1.06 million tons of coking and thermal coal have been shipped to Indian ports since March, the most since January 2020. U.S. President Joe Biden said on March 21 that India’s response to confronting Russia was “erratic,” an exception among Washington’s allies. Unlike other members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) – the United States, Japan and Australia – India continues to purchase Russian oil, refuses to publicly condemn Russia, and abstained from voting three times on the relevant United Nations resolutions related to Ukraine. An Indian government official said that India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil, relies on imports for nearly 85 percent of its demand, while supplies from Russia are “negligible” at less than one percent. Another Indian government official said, “Russia offers oil and other commodities at lower discounts, and we are happy to accept that.”

Source: Sina, March 27, 2022
https://news.sina.com.cn/w/2022-03-27/doc-imcwiwss8447433.shtml

Briefings | | March 28, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Zheng Yongnian: Revelation for China from Russia-Ukraine Conflict – Open up More

In an exclusive interview with the Global Times on March 18, 2022, Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) and the Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Global and Contemporary China, said that the revelation for China from the Russia-Ukraine conflict is that China should open up more. The economic ties with the West will make it difficult for the parties involved in the sanction to sustain it. Here are some main points from Professor Zheng’s statement:

The Russia-Ukraine conflict may have an important effect on the international order

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has become more and more contemptuous of Russia, considering it a “troublemaker,” It considers China to be a major competitor or even an enemy. Therefore, over the past years, the U.S. has been building an “Asian mini-NATO” against China. The U.S. strategic focus is increasingly shifting from Europe and the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region.

In general, the post-World War II international order is in the process of rapid disintegration. Many countries are seeking their own geopolitical sphere of influence. They are hoping to establish an international order that is beneficial to themselves.

What the United States is doing in Asia now is no different from what NATO did back when it was formed. The actual “Asian version of a NATO” prototype already exists. The reason why the conflict between the “Asian version of NATO” that the United States is trying to form and China has not escalated sharply is entirely because China does not want to follow the example of the former Soviet Union to form its own group. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the trend of Asia becoming the center of the world economy will become more obvious and U.S. involvement in Asia will further expand.

Three Important Revelations for China from the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The revelations for China from the Russia-Ukraine conflict have been huge. The biggest difference between China and Russia is that Russia is only a military power without being a strong economic power, while China has both sufficient military power for self-preservation and it also has strong economic power. In addition, it has close economic ties with the West. Therefore, in the eyes of the American elite, China poses a far greater challenge to the United States than Russia does to the United States. (The following are the three revelations:)

China should open up more and Chinese companies must overcome all difficulties and continue to work hard to go global. Economic interdependence cannot absolutely prevent the outbreak of war, but it can moderate the intensity of the war. If the economic sanctions that the United States and Europe imposed on Russia are “to kill a thousand enemies, while only having a loss of five hundred oneself,” then supposedly to sanction China, which has an open and strong economy, that will become “to kill a thousand enemies, meanwhile having a loss of a thousand” oneself. So, it is difficult to sustain such sanctions. A mutually bound economy between China and the West has already caused the West real pain.
China cannot accept that the West completely binds China and Russia together, nor can it allow the United States to “kidnap” Europe. China and Europe have huge common interests but without geopolitical disputes. The ideological differences are entirely possible to bridge. Although the current security concerns of Europe override its economic considerations to a certain extent after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Europe is still an object for China to pursue.
How should China handle the relationship between “opening up” and “security”? Security is always a relative concept, and non-opening provides the biggest insecurity. What we should do is to explore our own security mechanism in an open state, rather than stop opening up to the outside world for the sake of so-called absolute security.

Source: Global Times, March 18, 2022
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/47Ecx6AuEL5

Reports | | March 27, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized