Taiwan independence' a dead-end, sabotages peace, China promotes peace while US embraces wars

Taiwan independence’ means war, and the red line drawn by the Chinese mainland is clear

'Taiwan independence' a dead-end, sabotages peace in Straits.

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DPP wins presidency but loses majority in Legislature

https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202401140002

Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

China promotes peace while US embraces wars

Thailand and China will waive visa requirements for each other's citizens from March, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced on Tuesday. It will be a win-win situation for both the Chinese people and the Thai people.

China and Thailand are very friendly toward each other. In terms of culture and the way of doing business, China and Thailand have a lot in common. Against the backdrop, the visa-free policy will promote economic and trade engagement between China and Thailand in many ways.

In December, China and Singapore announced a mutual 30-day visa-free policy. China and Malaysia also have similar mutual visa-free policy. Although the visa waiver schemes with Singapore and Malaysia are not permanent, I hope that Singapore, Malaysia, and other ASEAN countries can also follow Thailand's example. The better such a visa exemption arrangement will be, the better it will be for the recipient countries in terms of boosting their tourist industry.

Traditionally, China has deep and friendly relations with most ASEAN members. Such exchanges of friendship and goodwill are based on hundreds, even thousands, of years. This kind of communication will continue in various forms. As of July 2023, the cumulative bilateral investment between China and ASEAN countries had exceeded $380 billion, with over 6,500 direct investment enterprises established in ASEAN. China has maintained its position as ASEAN's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, and the two sides have been each other's top trading partner for three consecutive years.

Tourism could become a catalyst for China and ASEAN countries to expand cooperation and promote integration. Visa waiver programs will promote China and Southeast Asia to be better integrated. There is still a lot of potential for development between China and ASEAN, for example, in environmental cooperation and energy cooperation, and in particular, in cooperation in science and technology.

China-ASEAN cooperation will set a good example for many other countries. We will also be in a better position to promote peace, stability and prosperity throughout the world.

What happens between China and ASEAN serves as a stark contrast to the situation in Europe and the Middle East. The Israel-Palestine conflict and the Russia-Ukraine conflict are still going on. It is truly a tragedy to see war rage in other parts of the world. However, in Asia, we have managed to do our best to promote peace and stability and avoid using war as an instrument to solve any bilateral disputes.

The current momentum between China and ASEAN is something that the US will hardly learn. From the financial support given to Ukraine by the US as well as the US' stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all the decisions taken by the US are merely based on its own interests.

Actually, most Americans are friendly, and they love peace rather than war. In that sense, I do think people from China, the US, and many other countries in the world can jointly make an effort to make sure that war is not being embraced by any country.

This task is very challenging. A slight carelessness could rock the boat and divert our attention from peaceful engagement and cooperation with each other to confrontation, rivalry, or another version of the Cold War.

China will continue to play a very important role in the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations. That means China will have a lot of things to do to promote peace and stability. And this visa-free policy between China and Thailand starting in March this year will be a good start for 2024.

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From switchblade to scalpel: School ‘gangster’ is a neurosurgeon thanks to teacher, a lesson in Kindness begets Kindness

 

Kindness nurtures brilliance: Dr Parthiban visiting Lioe at the retirement home he pays for. With him are his son Laxmirayan and mother Sampuranam Ponalagu, 70.

PETALING JAYA: From a mischievous child in his early years and then a gangster in secondary school, nobody would have imagined that Parthiban Navoo would someday be performing brain surgery and saving lives.

With his poor grades, his school teachers had given up on him and often remarked that he would fail “even as a labourer.”

But an act of kindness and compassion by his favourite teacher at a Chinese vernacular school was all it took to motivate and transform the unruly child to the renowned neurosurgeon he is today.

Dr Parthiban, 56, and his three siblings grew up in a shophouse in Sungai Lalang, Kedah, a small village surrounded by estates and populated predominantly by Chinese-Malaysians, about 10km from Sungai Petani.

His parents ran a small sundry shop in the village which he describes as a “cowboy town,” and struggled to make ends meet with meagre earnings from the business.

Dr Parthiban said there were days his family had to settle for just a single meal.

Most days, it was just black coffee for breakfast before he took a five-minute walk to his school SJK Chung Hwa, which he attended from Year One until Form Five.

He had very few friends and showed little interest in his studies, often failing all subjects in every exam.

“It was in the 1970s and I got enrolled in the school as it was the closest to home. My parents could not afford to give me any tuckshop money and during recess, I was the only ethnic Indian student in the school and would spend my time alone sitting on a guava tree in my school compound,” said Dr Parthiban, who is a neurologist at a private hospital.

The spark for change came in Year Three, when his class teacher Lioe Sie Luan saw his potential.

Lioe, whom Dr Parthiban fondly refers to as “Low Ser” (teacher in Chinese), asked him what he was doing up a tree every day during recess.

After Dr Parthiban told her about his plight, she led him to the teacher’s room.

“She took out a tiffin carrier from her bag and served me some mee hoon she had packed from home.

“She told me that I no longer had to go hungry as she would bring food for me every day.

“There were stares from the other teachers, but Low Ser told me to ignore them.

“ She gave me words of encouragement and made me feel special, as if I was some top student in school when I was a complete failure and all my marks were in the red,” he added.

The 50-something teacher also gave Dr Parthiban a Chinese name.

“She said with the right name, I would succeed and go very far in life. Hence, she named me Mah Der Ven, which means as energetic as a horse, knowledgeable, and wise,” he said.

However, Lioe retired two years later and Dr Parthiban was back to his old ways, even joining a street gang upon entering secondary school.

“I was notorious and beyond control. I got into confrontations with other gangs and was arrested several times by the police, ending up for days in the lock-up.

“However, because I was underaged, I was let off all the time,” he said.

His turning point was in Form Three when he was reprimanded by his teachers for his dismal grades, and was told that he couldn’t even make it as a kacang putih (nut snack) seller.

“On that day, I remembered Low Ser’s advice, and started focusing on my studies day and night. I decided it was time to turn over a new leaf. When I scored straight As for my SRP and SPM exams, there was no turning back.

“I went on to pursue Form Six in another school in Sungai Petani, and emerged top student for the STPM,” he said, adding that his results enabled him to obtain a seat for medicine in Universiti Malaya.

He managed to locate his former teacher and stayed in contact with Lioe until she was placed in a nursing home in Sungai Petani after her husband passed away.

“She lost her house to her in-laws after her husband died. Both her children, a son and daughter, migrated overseas and never returned to Malaysia.

“She ended up in a low-cost nursing home with poor living conditions as she could not afford a better one,” said the surgeon who has a 17-year-old son.

Dr Parthiban, who by then was a doctor in public service, promptly returned to Sungai Petani and visited Lioe at the nursing home before moving her to a more conducive retirement home, footing the extra costs for the improved care until today.

“She is 90 years old now. Every time I visit her, she keeps telling me that she’s a burden to me. To me, it is nothing compared to what she did for me. I am where I am today because of my dear Low Ser.

“It is the least I can do for a great person who changed my life. She showered me with love and compassion.

“Her kind act gave me hope that there was someone out there who believed in me. This spurred me to change and give up my wayward ways.”

by CHARLES RAMENDRAN, The Star

How to decolonise minds and why it’s crucial

 

No one has total sovereignty when a few platforms can use AI to obtain full data of how individuals and even nations are thinking or behaving. — Reuters

Decolonisation means different things for different peoples, depending on their own colonial or near-colonial history.

To be treated as equals to the West, the Global South must decolonise its minds.

What does the Decline of the West mean? After Ukraine and Gaza, the line between the West and the Rest (what is today called the Global South) has been drawn clearer and clearer.

In Ukraine, the West expected the Rest to support its principled stance in fighting for national sovereignty, freedom to choose and against aggression from neighbours. they were surprised that the Rest did not fall in line, with many abstaining from taking sides.

In abandoning diplomacy and balance in favour of weaponising everything, the collective West (America, Europe, Japan and Australasia) is increasingly isolating itself from the Rest, divided into the East (strangely grouped as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea) and the Global South, comprising countries that refuse to be aligned either to the East or the West.

Today’s modernity is clearly associated with the West, which has set the scientific, educational and cultural standards since the 15th century, when Portuguese and Spanish explorers opened up the Americas, Africa and Asian maritime trade routes.

Colonisation became a land and power grab by Europeans against the Rest, with the use of superior military firepower, energy and industrial and financial technology. this power grab continued to the 20th century, with Belgium taking Congo as late as 1908, the Philippines by the United States in 1906, while the Italians tried to colonise parts of Ethiopia in the 1930s.

When the United States took over the global hegemon mantle from the British empire after the end of the Second World War, many former colonies bought the neoliberal ideology that free trade and markets, democracy, rule of law and equality would be a universal creed for all nations and cultures.

That naïve belief ended when inequality within the West itself widened, even as the gap with the Rest narrowed.

Neoliberal idealism shattered as the West’s middle class began to turn towards protectionism, industrial policy and in the case of Israel, military occupation and subjugation of Palestinian rights.

The Palestinian-american father of post-colonial studies, Edward Said said, “Part of the main plan of imperialism is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order the past.

“What’s more truly frightening is the defacement, the mutilation and ultimately, the eradication of history in order to create an order that is favourable to the United States.”

Mental colonisation, which is the ultimate aim of imperialism, is reached when the colonised, slave or vassal believe that the imperial power is superior to his or her own culture. Mental slavery is more frightening than physical slavery.

But as rock-star Homo Sapiens historian Yuval Noah Harari said, artificial intelligence (AI) is all about mental colonisation, when the private or state-run platform knows more about you than you yourself and influences your likes, dislikes, and future.

Decolonisation means different things for different peoples, depending on their own colonial or near-colonial history.

For indigenous people like the Maoris in New Zealand, it means remembering the cruel past of taking their lands and rights and at a minimum restoring their dignity in today’s laws.

In former colonies like India and South Africa, the British “Raj” mentality is being replaced by homegrown narratives in which the country seeks “strategic autonomy” in foreign affairs and greater sovereignty (some call it nationalism) in owning data and developing control or regulation over generative AI.

No one has total sovereignty when a few platforms can use AI to obtain full data of how individuals and even nations are thinking or behaving.

We are in a cusp of uncharted mental territory where no man has gone before.

The self-order of free markets is being replaced by an unpredictable non-order arising from competition by new state-market bureaucracies that are neither fully elected nor humanly designed.

The new order may even be machine or AI generated. Where is the justice when Ai-generated algorithms can order the execution by missile strike or drone of someone branded a terrorist outside legal jurisdiction?

Who will enforce natural justice when the system systematically dehumanises humanity by treating individuals as digits to be manipulated, controlled or deleted?

In an entangled over-crowded planet, the system is inherently unstable when we resolve differences through conflict and war, because history has shown that war begets more war.

Humanity survived through cooperation and peace. the neocon presents the case for preparing for war to maintain peace, but since war can only be destructive, we must prepare always for the postwar peace.

If there is a fundamental difference between the West and the Rest, it is that the theory-biased, principles-based West often forgets history and context, opting for fundamental “principles” of inalienable rights to guide action.

Russian historians remember that it was the Western Europeans (Napoleonic France and Nazi Germany) that invaded Russia twice in the last two centuries. the Israeli expansion of territory in Palestine over time is there for all to see.

In population terms, the West is in the minority of one plus billion in an eight billion world, owns more than half of global wealth and income, but on a per-capita basis, consumes more than its fair share of planetary resources.

For the majority Global South to consume like the average Westerner is a suicidal path because the world will run out of planetary resources.

The paradox of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is that the Global South must find its own paths and intellectual paradigms in a diverse search for sustainable living and meaning.

Decolonisation of the mind therefore requires the courage to reject the unsustainable, but also to find new pathways that are more holistic and democratically legitimate than the old. In short, decolonisation is a journey waiting to unfold.

The Spanish poet Antonio Machado, in his famous poem, “Caminante no hay camino – traveller, there is no road”, made the important point that the road is made by walking. In the post-western world, the Global South must walk their own paths in search for a more peaceful and sustainable future.

 -  Andrew Sheng andrew Sheng writes on global issues from an asian prospective. the views expressed here are the writer’s own.

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Hua Chunying 华春莹

@SpokespersonCHN

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FM Wang Yi in Cairo: Taiwan has never been a country, nor will it ever be! “Taiwan independence” has never been realized, nor will it ever be! Whoever that pushes for “Taiwan independence” would be splitting Chinese territory&would surely be judged harshly by history&law. (1/2)

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CES offers glimpse of how Chinese tech goes global

 

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CES offers glimpse of how Chinese tech goes global

 

A view of the west hall of Las Vegas Convention Center in the US on January 8, 2024 Photo: VCG

The biggest driving force behind China's The biggest driving force behind China's progress in chip industry comes from the US blockade

Even as geopolitical tension remains a risk factor that global industry chains can hardly ignore, Chinese tech companies are making a comeback at this week's 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the US, a reminder that Chinese manufacturing's technological innovation will continue to march toward global markets.

As a platform known for showcasing cutting-edge technology from companies all over the world, exhibits at the CES capture global trends in the consumer electronics industry, which has evolved from personal computers and smartphones to wearables, virtual reality devices, new-energy vehicles, autonomous-driving technology and artificial intelligence over the years.

Chinese tech companies have become important forces at the CES, impressing attendees with innovative products and technological applications. According to the US Consumer Technology Association, the CES 2024 attracted over 4,000 exhibitors from more than 150 countries and regions.

At least 1,100 are from China, more than double the number last year.

Unsurprisingly, the return of Chinese tech companies drew a lot of attention at this year's CES with their new launches and novel products, including the latest AI-integrated apps and devices, smart cars and high-end displays.

Each year, the CES gives the world a glimpse into Chinese tech companies' advances and innovation strength, and the increased number of Chinese exhibitors and their cutting-edge tech products highlight the continuous development of Chinese manufacturing.

Many Chinese exhibits represent the direction of industries where Chinese players hold advantages, such as electric vehicles.

The development shows that despite US sanctions and containment, Chinese manufacturing has still managed to take an important position in global industry chains, with some Chinese manufacturers even able to compete with American peers in some areas.

If anything, US pressure has strengthened the resolve of Chinese companies to seek their own technological and business breakthroughs.

Even companies such as telecommunication giant Huawei, dronemaker DJI and some semiconductor firms that are missing from the CES due to US sanctions haven't slowed their pace in pursuing technological progress and market expansion. For instance, as the world's leading provider of telecommunication technology solutions, Huawei has become a global giant in terms of 5G, cloud computing and other fields, with businesses covering more than 170 countries and regions.

From another perspective, the absence of Huawei and DJI highlights how fiercely China and the US are competing for the future of global markets, and the absence of the world's leading companies also shows that the CES doesn't present the world's leading technologies as objectively and truthfully as it used to, a sign of the waning glow of American manufacturing and the American market.

Meanwhile, it is emerging technological advances that have provided strong support for the transformation and upgrading of Chinese manufacturing, which has become increasingly competitive in the global market. With outstanding advantages of technological innovation, more and more Chinese tech companies have seen new development opportunities and accelerated their expansion in the global markets.

Moreover, the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing in the global markets lies not only in technology innovation, but also in the efficiency of industry and supply chains. For a long time, China's complete and mature industry chain has provided stable production capacity and supply capacity for Chinese manufacturing, helping lower production costs and improving products' competitiveness.

Chinese technology companies still face many challenges as they seek to expand their reach in global markets. Chinese manufacturing is at a crucial juncture of seeking breakthroughs in technological innovation and also international economic and technological cooperation.

Due to the uncertainties of the global political and economic environment and the rise in trade protectionism in the US and Europe, Chinese manufacturing is bound to face tough challenges when it comes to going global and consolidating its position in the global industry chain. Chinese companies need to be fully prepared for what's to come and have a firm determination to resist external pressure.

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Business trumps politics for Chinese firms at CES

Making a comeback: People visiting an exhibit during the gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas. About 500 of the 3,500 exhibitors at the CES are from China, more than last year but still not at pre-Covid numbers. — AFP

Las Vegas: Xiaoyu Fan smiled as she looked around a bustling China Pavilion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Wednesday as gadgets like bladeless fans were displayed and deals were being made.

Hundreds of Chinese companies were at the annual CES gadget extravaganza, shrugging off US-China political trade tensions and focusing on taking care of business.“I believe all the people in each country are very good, the civilisation of each country is very nice, very friendly,” said Fan, who was with the Zhejiang Crossbow Brand Electric Appliance Co from Wuyi, China.

“We don’t care about the governments; that’s not our business” she added, a necklace around her neck spelling out the word “peace.”

About 500 of the 3,500 or so exhibitors at CES are from China, more than last year but still not at pre-Covid numbers, according to the Consumer Technology Association that runs CES.

“The Chinese are back,” association president Gary Shapiro said in the lead-up to the Las Vegas show that ends today.

Chinese titans like TCL and Hisense dazzled CES goers with stunning televisions while less well-known companies showed off robots, drones, electronic bikes, charging cables and much more.

TCL’s partnership with the US National Football League was the main theme at a CES press event, complete with appearances by sports legends.

“They certainly seemed like a red-blooded American company that drinks beer and watches football,” said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart.

Chinese business leaders at CES included Appotronics chief executive Li Yi, whose company specialises in laser display technology used by major companies including car makers BMW and BYD.

To Li, it seemed tension between the United States and China on the trade front was beginning to stabilise, and that the issue was more a battle over high technology than the type of consumer tech packing CES.“For Chinese brands, being in the United States is tough in today’s climate,” Li acknowledged to AFP.

“But there is also an emerging opportunity; components technology companies are starting to see this as a chance to emerge.”

Chinese companies at CES played up innovation, wanting their country to be seen as a technology leader rather than just a place where things can be made cheaply.

“People typically think we are a manufacturing powerhouse, and then people think we are copycats,” Li said of attitudes towards Chinese entrepreneurs.

“There are still probably people doing that, but more companies like us are trying to be innovative; we really don’t want to reinvent the wheel and sell it at a lower price.”

Futurum Group research director Olivier Blanchard saw advanced computer chips used for artificial intelligence (AI) as the heart of trade friction between the United States and China.

That technology is a far cry from what is used in the cornucopia of AI-infused gadgets at CES from pet trackers to smart beds, baby bottles and electric bicycles.

“The whole the United States versus China thing takes a very distant backseat to the dialogue that happens at CES,” Blanchard said.

“Whether you’re from China or from anywhere else, if you have a good product you’re gonna find the market.”

Despite political tensions between the United States and China in regard to AI, national security and Taiwan, it would be unwise to decouple the two economies since they benefit so much from each other, according to Blanchard.

“I love the fact that they keep coming here every year, whether they’re from China or anywhere else, and they keep trying,” Blanchard said.

“It’s this weird churning layer of startups that are all competing to become the next big thing.” — AFP

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First US private lunar lander mission fails

The spacecraft carrying the Peregrine, a commercially built American lunar lander, may be facing a critical failure after its launch Monday. Derrick Pitts, the chief astronomer at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, joins CBS News with details on the spacecraft's apparent fuel leak.

Damaged Peregrine moon lander beams back photo, time running out on power

An historic commercial US mission to the Moon will fail after suffering a critical loss of fuel, organizers admitted Tuesday, ending for the time being America's hopes of placing its first spacecraft on the lunar surface since the Apollo era.

Astrobotic began reporting technical malfunctions, starting with an inability to orient Peregrine's top-mounted solar panel towards the Sun © - / Astrobotic/AFP

Fixed to the top of United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan rocket, Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander blasted off Monday from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, then successfully separated from its launch vehicle.

But a few hours later, Astrobotic began reporting malfunctions, starting with an inability to orient Peregrine's solar panel towards the Sun and keep its battery topped up, owing to a propulsion glitch that also damaged the spacecraft's exterior.

The company said it had "no chance of soft landing" on the Moon.

Peregrine has about 40 hours of fuel remaining and Astrobotic said it planned to operate the spacecraft until it ran out of propellant.

NASA had paid the company more than $100 million to ship scientific hardware to a mid-latitude region of the Moon to answer questions about the surface composition and radiation in the surrounding environment, as it prepares to send astronauts back to Earth's nearest neighbor later this decade.

The United States is turning to the commercial sector to stimulate a broader lunar economy and cut costs, but Astrobotic's failure could increase scrutiny about the strategy.

Astrobotic however said it was continuing to receive valuable data to prepare for its next contracted mission, sending the Griffin lander transporting a NASA rover to the lunar south pole, later this year.

Latest commercial failure

It is the latest private company to have tried and failed to achieve a soft lunar landing.

Israel's Beresheet lander, the first attempt by a non-government entity, was destroyed on impact with the Moon in April 2019, while Japan's private Hakuto mission, operated by iSpace, crashed in April 2023.

For now, the feat has only been accomplished by a handful of national space agencies: the Soviet Union was first, in 1966, followed by the United States, which is still the only country to put people on the Moon.

China has successfully landed three times since 2013, while India was the most recent to achieve the feat on its second attempt, last year.

The next commercial attempt will be by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which is launching in February, bound for the Moon's south pole.

In addition to its scientific instruments, Peregrine is carrying more colorful cargo on behalf of its own private clients. These include a physical Bitcoin and cremated remains and DNA, including those of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, legendary sci-fi author and scientist Arthur C. Clarke and a dog.

The Navajo Nation, America's largest Indigenous tribe, had objected to sending human remains, calling it a desecration of a sacred space. Though they were granted a last-ditch meeting with White House and NASA officials, but their misgivings failed to change matters.

2024 AFP

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