Current Events

[Randy W]

The headline is misleading. They are accused of offering "advice" through an unlicensed app.

 

From the Global Times

 

Stock analysts from Taiwan detained in Shanghai on suspicion of fraud: report

They all work at a Shanghai-based stock analysis app named Thousand & Billion whose software product aicaopan (love trading) is accused of causing investors losses via recommending stocks that would rise by the 10 percent daily limit. The firm is not certified to sell the products, media reported.

A notice posted on the homepage of the app on Tuesday said that its analysis and recommendation video programs were suspended due to a system failure, and the company will issue a notice as soon as the system is fixed. The same notice was posted on its Sina Weibo account on Wednesday.

Besides the alleged illegal recommendation and manipulation of shares, another possible reason for the detention is that some of the analysts were not licensed to provide stock market analysis in the Chinese mainland, an industry insider who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday.

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/2364316003887246

Sixth Tone

13 mins ·

Quote

The first KFC to open in Shanghai at the Tung Feng Hotel in 1989; the first cases of Coca-Cola to ever arrive in Beijing and Guangzhou in 1979; the first Chinese tour group visiting the U.S. in 2008 — a three-day exhibition featuring historic photos marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. opened in Houston, Texas on July 17. (Sponsored content)

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[amberjack1234]

Lee's father bought her one of those Cokes and she said it almost strangled her to death.

[Randy W]

from China Daily on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/chinadaily/posts/10157466864896291

THIS is why you see VERY few old cars in China - they were licensed for only 12 years, after which they require 'recycling'. Now that limit is 15 years, and is also renewable.

China Daily

6 hrs ·

Quote

China recycled 1.07 million scrapped vehicles in the first half of this year, up 22.8 percent year on year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

China has been encouraging recycling of scrapped motor vehicles to promote a circular economy. Such vehicles are usually sold to remanufacturing companies.

The country recycled around 2 million scrapped vehicles last year, including 1.67 million cars and 321,000 motorcycles.

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1081705228689278

South China Morning Post

 

Quote

Deadly Typhoon Lekima ravages eastern China

 

Eastern China was battered by Typhoon Lekima over the weekend, killing more than 30 people and destroying buildings in its path.

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[amberjack1234]

Disasterous. I can honestly say that I know what they are experiencing. I am still cleaning up debris from Florence. Just got the roof replaced on mom's ole house yesterday. 11 Months.

[Randy W]

from the Global Times on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/globaltimesnews/posts/2498335946913957

Global Times

·

Quote

The death toll has risen to 10 while 27 remained missing after heavy downpours and mudslides battered a county in southwest China's Sichuan Province. http://bit.ly/2Pk1t7s

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

COSTCO comes to China - from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/vb.355665009819/1365331450296259/?type=2&theater

South China Morning Post

· 4 hrs ·

 

Quote

Chaos at China's first Costco
China's first Costco was the scene of chaos on its opening day as crowds of aggressive shoppers fought each other over discounted goods.

<

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

RAIN slip and slide - from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/vb.355665009819/256428055240220/?type=2&theater

South China Morning Post

· 1 hr ·

 

Quote

Rainwater crashes down in mall in China
This is the shocking moment a ceiling collapsed in a mall in China, and rainwater crashing through had such force it sent a woman sliding several feet away.

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Greg.D.]

To be fair, the Costco video looked almost identical to a Walmart Black Friday event (minus the widebodies).

[Randy W]

 

in the NY Times - also other sites, if you're out of free articles. When consumers start shunning a meat, then what's left unsold becomes fairly dicey, so even if you're not worried about how the disease affects consumption, you need to be concerned about the quality of what's on the shelves.

 

 

A Vicious, Untreatable Killer Leaves China Guessing

African swine fever, which harms pigs but not humans, has swept across the country, the world’s largest pork producer. And the government knows about only some of the cases.

 

 

In the current crisis, the distrust is being felt not just by farmers and industry specialists, but by consumers as well. Some Chinese shoppers, skeptical of assurances that the disease does not harm human health, are starting to shun pork.

African swine fever, for which no treatment or vaccine exists, has spread to every Chinese province and region, and has also jumped the border into Cambodia, Mongolia and Vietnam. Analysts at the Dutch bank Rabobank, which lends heavily to the global agriculture industry, have predicted that China will produce 150 million to 200 million fewer pigs this year because of deaths from infection or culling. That would be a hefty chunk of the 700 million pigs slaughtered in China in 2018.

The Chinese economy, already slowing, is starting to feel the effects. Higher pork prices helped push inflation to a five-month high in March. The nation’s stock of live pigs has fallen by a fifth from a year ago. The government, anticipating shortfalls, has bought frozen pork to build up its strategic reserve. Hog futures in the United States have rallied as traders bet that China will buy more American meat.

China has introduced new hygiene requirements, imposed quarantines and restricted the transporting of swine. But such measures will be of limited use if the authorities have an incomplete picture of the problem — or if they have more a complete picture that they do not make public.

 

 

 

 

An update - pork prices here seem to be up by as much as 50%

 

from the SCMP

 

China tapping national pork reserves will not satisfy shortage of the culturally symbolic meat, analysts warn

• Use of national reserves shows how deeply crisis has shaken China, where pork is crucial part of the diet and symbol of well-being
• The nation is in the grip of an African swine fever epidemic that could wipe out half its pig population by the end of the year, analysts warn

 

China has begun to tap its national pork reserves, a sign of Beijing’s urgency to curb widespread discontent over the sharp spike in pork prices, but analysts warn that stocks are nowhere near big enough to keep the popular meat on dinner tables across the country.

 

. . .

 

The central government announced at the end of August that it would start to release frozen pork reserves into the market, but local governments started acting earlier. . . .

China’s entire frozen pork reserves amount to roughly 990,000 tonnes, according to Lei Yi, an analyst at China Merchant Securities. “The impact is really limited, compared to the supply gap of over 10 million tonnes,” he said.

And the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. China’s pig population is forecast to drop by around 50 per cent this year, according to a quarterly report of Rabobank released in July.

 

. . .

 

Trade war tariffs of up to 72 per cent on US frozen pork imports have effectively cut American farmers out of the Chinese market, meaning buyers in China have had to look to pig farmers in new markets like Argentina and Portugal to try and fill the gap.

However, even with American supply, there would not be enough pork in the world to satisfy China’s demand. The US Department of Agriculture estimated that total worldwide pork exports in the first 10 months of this year will be 8.8 million tonnes.

 

[Randy W]

Watch the Scissor Fingers! They may reveal your fingerprints! from the SCMP

 

China’s scissor-hand selfie-takers warned of cybersecurity threat

• Powerful zoom functions can reveal fingerprint details which may be copied by criminals

A cybersecurity awareness campaign in China has prompted a warning about criminals harvesting fingerprint information from a popular pose in pictures uploaded to the internet. Photo: Shutterstock

 

According to a report by online news portal Thepaper.cn, Zhang’s advice was that scissor-hand pictures taken closer than three metres (10 feet) could be vulnerable and should not be published on the internet.

“A scissor-hand picture taken within 1.5 metres (four feet 11 inches) can be used to restore 100 per cent of people’s fingerprints, while pictures taken about 1.5-3 metres away can turn out 50 per cent of the fingerprints,” he said.

Based on the information extracted from the pictures, criminals could make models of the prints which could then be used to register at fingerprint-based identity recognition checks, such as door access and payment systems, Zhang said.

 

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/355665009819/posts/10157611309639820/

The collapse is being blamed on "an overweight truck".

Quote

This is the terrifying moment an overpass collapsed suddenly onto moving traffic in China. Three cars were trapped.

 

More on Chinese society here: http://sc.mp/chinasociety

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the NY Times

 

China Detains 2 Americans Amid Growing Scrutiny of Foreigners

Two Americans who ran an English-language teaching company are being held on charges of organizing illegal border crossings, a Chinese government spokesman said.

BEIJING — The authorities in southern China have detained two Americans who led an Idaho-based English-language teaching company, the latest sign of the Chinese government’s growing scrutiny of foreigners working and traveling in the country.

The two Americans, Jacob Harlan and Alyssa Petersen, were detained late last month and are being held in Zhenjiang, a town in Jiangsu Province, according to GoFundMe pages set up by friends and relatives.

Mr. Harlan, a father of five, is the owner of China Horizons, a company he founded in 2004 that arranges for Americans to teach English in China, according to the company’s website. Ms. Petersen, who has lived in China periodically for the past eight years, is the director of the company, according to a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for her legal fees.

 

 

[Randy W]

On 9/7/2019 at 1:55 PM, Randy W said:

 

On 4/27/2019 at 1:28 AM, Randy W said:

in the NY Times - also other sites, if you're out of free articles. When consumers start shunning a meat, then what's left unsold becomes fairly dicey, so even if you're not worried about how the disease affects consumption, you need to be concerned about the quality of what's on the shelves.

A Vicious, Untreatable Killer Leaves China Guessing

African swine fever, which harms pigs but not humans, has swept across the country, the world’s largest pork producer. And the government knows about only some of the cases.

Quote

In the current crisis, the distrust is being felt not just by farmers and industry specialists, but by consumers as well. Some Chinese shoppers, skeptical of assurances that the disease does not harm human health, are starting to shun pork.

 

African swine fever, for which no treatment or vaccine exists, has spread to every Chinese province and region, and has also jumped the border into Cambodia, Mongolia and Vietnam. Analysts at the Dutch bank Rabobank, which lends heavily to the global agriculture industry, have predicted that China will produce 150 million to 200 million fewer pigs this year because of deaths from infection or culling. That would be a hefty chunk of the 700 million pigs slaughtered in China in 2018.

 

The Chinese economy, already slowing, is starting to feel the effects. Higher pork prices helped push inflation to a five-month high in March. The nation’s stock of live pigs has fallen by a fifth from a year ago. The government, anticipating shortfalls, has bought frozen pork to build up its strategic reserve. Hog futures in the United States have rallied as traders bet that China will buy more American meat.

 

China has introduced new hygiene requirements, imposed quarantines and restricted the transporting of swine. But such measures will be of limited use if the authorities have an incomplete picture of the problem — or if they have more a complete picture that they do not make public.

 

 

An update - pork prices here seem to be up by as much as 50%

from the SCMP

China tapping national pork reserves will not satisfy shortage of the culturally symbolic meat, analysts warn

• Use of national reserves shows how deeply crisis has shaken China, where pork is crucial part of the diet and symbol of well-being
• The nation is in the grip of an African swine fever epidemic that could wipe out half its pig population by the end of the year, analysts warn

Quote

China has begun to tap its national pork reserves, a sign of Beijing’s urgency to curb widespread discontent over the sharp spike in pork prices, but analysts warn that stocks are nowhere near big enough to keep the popular meat on dinner tables across the country.

. . .

The central government announced at the end of August that it would start to release frozen pork reserves into the market, but local governments started acting earlier. . . .

 

China’s entire frozen pork reserves amount to roughly 990,000 tonnes, according to Lei Yi, an analyst at China Merchant Securities. “The impact is really limited, compared to the supply gap of over 10 million tonnes,” he said.

 

And the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. China’s pig population is forecast to drop by around 50 per cent this year, according to a quarterly report of Rabobank released in July.

. . .

Trade war tariffs of up to 72 per cent on US frozen pork imports have effectively cut American farmers out of the Chinese market, meaning buyers in China have had to look to pig farmers in new markets like Argentina and Portugal to try and fill the gap.

 

However, even with American supply, there would not be enough pork in the world to satisfy China’s demand. The US Department of Agriculture estimated that total worldwide pork exports in the first 10 months of this year will be 8.8 million tonnes.

 

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/1000255603650661/

South China Morning Post

 

Quote

 

The disease won't spread to humans, but African swine fever is set to kill a quarter of the world's pigs.

Read more here: https://sc.mp/2wsx7

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)