Information/Technology - 21. page

People’s Daily recently reported on a technological advancement in using light (rather than wireless communication) to convey information among drones within a drone swarm.

To achieve efficient collaborative work, drones in a cluster (or swarm) need to be able to “communicate” closely. However, current drone swarms rely mainly on wireless communication, which has obvious electromagnetic characteristics. This makes drone swarms easy to identify and susceptible to electromagnetic interference.

A research team at the Northwestern Polytechnical University reported a technological breakthrough by imitating the communication method of fireflies. They utilized lighting equipment on one drone to emit light signals and employed photodetectors on another drone to capture these signals and perform intelligent analysis. This enables collaborative flight among drones. The transmission of light signals is not affected by electromagnetic interference. Additionally, the energy requirement to emit light is low and generates almost no heat, making it suitable for small drones that have limited amounts of energy.

Source: People’s Daily, May 15, 2024
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0515/c1004-40236280.html

CNBeta, one of China’s largest technology news sites and a member of Microsoft Chinese Technology Cooperation Network, recently republished an article by Hankyung (The Korea Economic Daily, South Korea’s largest business newspaper by revenue), suggesting that China’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), has achieved a new milestone in the use of Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) technology to manufacture computer chips without the use of more advanced Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) equipment. The news claimed that the new 5nm process, which uses legacy DUV equipment, has been completed and SMIC is ready to mass produce a first batch of wafers.

In the meantime, Huawei has also announced that its next-generation Kirin SoC chip will appear in the upcoming Mate 70 series mobile phone this October. There is no word yet on production volumes, but SMIC’s 5nm process has previously been considered expensive to produce due to the lack of next-generation equipment. A current U.S. trade ban prohibits companies like the Netherlands’ ASML from supplying cutting-edge EUV equipment to any Chinese company.

It is estimated that the cost of SMIC’s 5nm chips will be 50 percent higher than Taiwanese TSMC’s chips. Also, Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next operating system will be unveiled with the new Mate 70 mobile phone, aiming to compete head-to-head against Google’s Android platform.

Source: CNBeta, May 15, 2024
https://www.cnbeta.com.tw/articles/tech/1431027.htm
https://www.hankyung.com/amp/2024051366751

Recently, many social media users found their X platform accounts critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) suddenly suspended without warning or explanation, and they were unable to appeal.

For example, Yang Caiying, who lives in Japan, said that her account was suspended because she shared information (found on the Internet) about CCP officials who persecuted her family members. Her friend’s X account was also suspended for mentioning some corrupt Chinese officials. Her repeated appeals to X yielded no results. “These days, I appeal twice every day. The first response always comes quickly, citing repeated violations of the rules leading to permanent suspension. My second appeal hardly got any response. I asked X to provide me the tweets supposedly violating their rules, but they didn’t provide the tweets nor did they offer any explanation. Their actions are just like those of the Chinese government.”

A social media user collected information from more than a hundred netizens who reported their accounts being suspended on May 3rd.

People suspect that X has a list of accounts targeted for suspension. The account “Nike in Australia” (Nike在澳洲) said, “R.I.P. I really didn’t expect my account to die on World Press Freedom Day, May 3rd. Perhaps, this platform will become more and more like Weibo. Maybe we’ll have to use puns in our tweets in the future. We all know that he [Elon Musk] went to China for one day, and the ban on use of his car’s [Tesla’s] Full-Self Driving capabilities in China was removed. But when he came back, before sitting for long enough to warm his seat, he started suspending accounts (that the CCP does not like). Apparently, dictatorship can be contagious; for money, so-called ‘values of freedom’ can also be sold.”

Source: Epoch Times, May 7, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/5/7/n14242524.htm

On April 26th, China’s Ministry of State Security announced two law enforcement regulations which state that local law enforcement officers will be granted the power to inspect electronic devices. This means that, beginning on the implementation date of July 1st, tourists visiting China may have their phones or laptops checked by local officers. Customs officers in Shenzhen and Shanghai have already started randomly checking phones and laptops of incoming travelers.

The new “Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures” and “Criminal Case Procedures” regulations allow state security officers, with approval from superiors at the municipal level or above, to legally inspect individuals’ and organizations’ electronic devices, facilities, applications and tools. In emergencies, officers only need approval from municipal-level superiors to inspect someone’s devices on the spot after showing their police or investigator credentials.

A Ms. Jiang returning from Shenzhen told Radio Free Asia that she saw customs officers checking a female tourist’s phone at the border, asking if she had any other phones. Mr. Shao from Shanghai said he witnessed customs officers searching a man’s phone after returning from Japan recently.

A Chinese legal scholar Lu Chengyuan said the regulations aim to create an atmosphere of self-censorship and fear of contacting foreigners or using encrypted messaging apps like Signal, violating constitutional free speech rights. He criticized the decision to allow administrative law enforcement officers to search phones without first obtaining a judicial warrant, calling it a blatant violation of privacy rights.

Another scholar, Mr. Liu, said that extending the justification of national security into people’s everyday lives has created an omnipresent atmosphere of state security terror. The regulations lack clarity on what qualifies as an “emergency” allowing officers to search phones.

Source: Radio Free Asia, May 7, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql2-05072024015832.html

China has made progress in development of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. China views the eVTOL platform as a revolution in aviation. “Similar to the transition from gasoline cars to electric cars on the ground, [a transition] from gasoline-powered helicopters to eVTOL aircraft [is occurring],” said Xie Jia, Senior Vice President of Fengfei Aviation Technology, Shanghai.

On October 10, 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China jointly issued an “Outline for the Development of a Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry (2023-2035)” proposing that, by 2025, eVTOLs will achieve pilot operation. The outline further proposes that, by 2035, new types of general aviation equipment characterized by unmanned, electric, and intelligent features will achieve commercialization and large-scale application.

In October 2023, China had its first flight of a 2-ton eVTOL in Shanghai. The aircraft, the M1, was developed by the Future Wing Company in Shanghai. The vehicle became China’s first independently-developed and domestically-produced 2-ton eVTOL. Production was domestic in all three core areas: electric systems, flight control systems, and composite materials. The M1 has a composite wing configuration with 20 rotors, a maximum payload of 500 kilograms, seating for 5 people, a cruising speed of 200 kilometers per hour, and an intended range of 250 kilometers. It can meet short-distance air travel needs within and between cities, shortening travel time from 2-3 hours to around 30 minutes.

In March of 2024, the eVTOL “Shengshi Long” took off from Shenzhen and landed at the Zhuhai, both in Guangdong Province, covering a distance in 20 minutes that would have taken 3 hours by car. This was the world’s first public demonstration of an eVTOL flight that traveled over water and between cities. The aircraft was developed by Shanghai Fengfei Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., with a takeoff weight of 2 tons, seating for 5 people, a cruising speed of up to 200 kilometers per hour, and 100 percent domestic production of its core modules.

Sources:
1. People’s Daily, October 31, 2023
http://sh.people.com.cn/n2/2023/1031/c176738-40623560.html
2. People’s Daily, March 2, 2024
http://ent.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0302/c1012-40187361.html