Hong Kong reported 158.1mm of rainfall in the space of an hour on Thursday night, the highest since records began in 1884, causing widespread flooding and disrupting road and rail traffic. The record rain, reported in the hour up to midnight on Thursday, comes just days after the city dodged major damage from a super typhoon. Late on Thursday, authorities in the Chinese city said various districts had been flooded and emergency services were conducting rescue operations. Members of the public were instructed to stay in a safe place. “Heavy…
Day: September 7, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping visits flood damaged crops and homes after Typhoon Doksuri threatened northern food bowl
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited flood affected areas in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China where he inspected damaged homes and crops on Thursday, state media reported. Xi, who is the paramount leader of China’s ruling Communist Party and its top military commander, visited flood-affected villages in Shangzhi, according to Xinhua. Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, inspects restoration work on damaged houses and infrastructure in Longwangmiao on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua The president’s visit came a month after Typhoon Doksuri brought heavy rain to the country’s north, particularly Heilongjiang, the nation’s biggest…
North Korea warns of underwater nuke attack as new submarine unveiled
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a fresh warning to the U.S. and its allies of a preemptive underwater nuclear strike, as he commissioned the authoritarian state’s first operational “tactical nuclear attack submarine” into waters that divide the Koreas and Japan. “These submarines will be equipped with a vast array of nuclear delivery vehicles of varying power and will be poised to launch preemptive and retaliatory strikes at any time underwater,” Kim said, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency Friday. The North Korean leader, who…
Huawei Phone Kicks off Debate About US Chip Restrictions
WASHINGTON — It started with an image of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on her China trip last month, reportedly taken on what the Chinese tech giant Huawei is touting as a breakthrough 5G mobile phone. Within days, fake ad campaigns on Chinese social media were depicting Raimondo as a Huawei brand ambassador promoting the phone. The tongue-in-cheek doctored photos made such a splash that they appeared on the social media accounts of state media CCTV, giving them a degree of official approval. VOA contacted the U.S. Department of Commerce…
North Korea Says It Has Launched a Nuclear Attack Submarine
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korea has launched its first operational “tactical nuclear attack submarine” and assigned it to the fleet that patrols the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, state media said Friday. Submarine No. 841 — named Hero Kim Kun Ok after a North Korean historical figure — will be one of the main “underwater offensive means of the naval force” of North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un said at the launch ceremony Wednesday. Analysts said the vessel appears to be a modified Soviet-era Romeo-class submarine, which…
Competition over the South China Sea explained in 30 seconds
The South China Sea is one of the most strategically and economically important waterways in the world. In 2016 more than 21% of global trade was estimated by UN bodies to have transited through it, and it contains extensive oil and gas reserves. But it is highly contested. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have claims over areas within the 3.5m sq km area, many of which overlap. Brunei is the only party that does not lay claim over any disputed islands, but it does say part…
Chinese study finds food delivery apps could drastically cut plastic waste by ‘nudging’ users to skip cutlery
The researchers looked at a random sample of 200,000 active Ele.me users and compared those in pilot cities with customers in seven control cities who did not receive this “nudge” – a behavioural science concept that refers to framing a set of choices in a way that influences decisions and can include making the desired outcome the default option. The study found that in cities where users received the nudge, the frequency of cutlery-free orders increased by 648 per cent. In the control cities “the share remained relatively unchanged”, according…
As US struggles for China deals, California finds common ground with EV, pollution provincial climate pacts
“This is not just about two regions. This is about China and the US needing to work together, but [finding it hard] due to the geopolitical challenges.” To help achieve a stated nationwide goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060, former United Nations economic affairs undersecretary general Sha Zukang – now an honorary dean at Fudan University – advocated at a Beijing trade show in September that China should “accelerate” environmental standards for the “high-energy consumption and high-emission service sectors”. Advertisement China and the US have been at odds since…
South Korean film industry rocked by box office fraud allegations
Receive free South Korean business & finance updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest South Korean business & finance news every morning. Police investigations, “ghost screenings” and political intrigue — it has all the ingredients of the darkly original films that South Korea is famous for. But the drama in Seoul is centred on the film industry itself, and allegations that the box office performance of hundreds of films has been inflated. The anti-corruption unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has in recent…
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell to visit China in October to finalise agenda for summit
The European Union’s top diplomat will visit Beijing in mid-October to finalise an agenda for the EU-China summit, likely to take place in November. Josep Borrell’s planned trip has been postponed twice, first due to a positive Covid-19 diagnosis, then after the disappearance of ex-foreign minister Qin Gang. He is now expected to travel sometime during the week beginning October 9 for a series of meetings in China, according to people familiar with the plan. The centrepiece of the Spaniard’s trip will be the annual strategic dialogue with his counterpart,…