GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
#1 CHINESE SCIENTISTS LEAVE USA FOR CHINA
NIKKEI ASIA
#2 CHINESE WOMEN SPEAK OUT ON MENSTRUATION
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
#3 IKEA EXPANDS IN CHINA
FINANCIAL TIMES
#4 CHINA SURGES IN MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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#1 CHINESE SCIENTISTS LEAVE US FOR CHINA
NIKKEI ASIA
“Since the launch of the US “China Initiative” in 2018 the number of ethnic Chinese scientists leaving the US has increased by 75%. The initiative launched by the US Department of Justice has investigated thousands of scientists suspected to be hiding Chinese connections but was then later scrapped in 2022.
However, the probe had already caused far-reaching damage, devastating academic careers and disrupting lives. Many have chosen to switch from top US universities to take up opportunities in China. Recently one of the most influential scientists in the US, nanotech pioneer Wang Zhonglin decided to take up a role in Beijing.
These high-profile switches have been a boost for China in its race for global talent.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
This is called scoring an “Own Goal”. You take an initiative with the intention that it will assist you but the outcome is negative not positive.
In pursuit of its policy of De-Risking from China, the US came down hard on Chinese scientists believed to be concealing their China connections. The US security network went into action believing that they would make the US safe from Chinese eyes and ears by pressurising immigrants believed to be concealing their Chinese nationality. It was “Reds Under the Beds”. It was a throwback to the McCarthyism of the early 1950’s. Chinese who were the objects of this intrusive and aggressive programme decided to leave the US and the US is the loser not China – who has benefitted by the return to China of talented and qualified STEM graduates.
De-Risking comes at a cost to the US. Nikkei Asia says the US policy has boosted China’s aim of keeping its own talent and enabling a greater contribution to China’s 2049 goal of creating a Prosperous Society.
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#2 CHINESE WOMEN SPEAK OUT ON MENSTRUATION
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“One night, Caicai suddenly had her period. It was late and all the shops near her home had closed, so she had to order sanitary pads through a courier service. When the courier, a man, called her from a shop, he sounded embarrassed as he whispered, “Hello beautiful, did you want … that thing?” Caicai whispered back, “Yes, I want that thing.”
They went on to discuss the different brands and functions of sanitary products in the same hush-hush manner, as if they were buying narcotics on the black market.
After the courier made the purchase on her behalf, he called again, reporting a mini crisis: the shop had run out of black plastic bags for him to discreetly carry the feminine hygiene products in.
Comedian Caicai recently performed this skit during an online stand-up comedy show in China, as the studio audience roared with laughter. After her set went viral, she drew praise from hundreds of women, who said they resonated with her experience. Chinese women are fed up with period shaming, with having to call it another name, hide sanitary pads from men, or feel bad if menstrual blood stains their clothes.
“Menstruation is not our fault, nor should it make anyone feel ashamed,” read one Weibo comment on Caicai’s performance. “It’s one of the most normal physiological phenomena of human beings. Why should we be as silent as thieves about menstruation, and use code words for menstruation and sanitary towels? Girls have to silently endure menstrual pain every month and bear the extra expenses of menstruation, including sanitary towels and painkillers. If we are really striving for equality, please seriously consider menstruation.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
This provides a revealing glimpse of the growing role of women in Chinese society.
Firstly, the story comes a from a Chinese Stand-Up Comedienne – an entertainer that is female not male.
Secondly, the story focuses on menstruation – hitherto a taboo subject usually discussed in whispers and hushed voices.
Thirdly, the studio audience according to the South China Morning Post “roared with laughter.
Fourthly, the female entertainer was reported on Weibo and attracted public comment.
Women in China are gaining more attention for women related issues including judgments in Chinese courts in favour of deserted wives where departing husbands have been tracked by the authorities and brought to court and ordered to pay alimony and maintenance. The wind is blowing in the right direction but China needs more – in particular female representation on the Standing Committee of the Politburo
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#3 IKEA EXPANDS IN CHINA
FINANCIAL TIMES
“Ikea says confidence returning in China after $1bn investment Ingka Centres opens retail and commercial centre in Shanghai amid economic slowdown Ingka Centres, the real estate division of Ikea’s parent company Ingka Group, spent Rmb8bn ($1bn) on Livat Shanghai, a retail and commercial centre that took five years to complete and opened on Thursday.
The launch comes during a difficult period for the world’s second-largest economy, where authorities this week launched a wave of stimulus measures to counteract a property slowdown and broader lack of consumer confidence. “For us there is no doubt about the confidence in the China market, and I believe we have the proof points to show that,” said Cindy Andersen, managing director at Ingka Centres, in an interview.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
Media comment on China focuses on national and international political issues – for example; Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Belt and Road Initiative and the BRICS Global South political move by Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. Western readers are often uninformed about events in China which reveal developments of long term significance.
IKEA is just such a move and informs Westerners wanting more information about the life style of Chinese living in China. The IKEA initiative tells foreigners looking at China from a distance about the progress of China in progressing from “a moderately prosperous society to a prosperous society” – the goal set by the Party to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the PRC in 2049. The words of INGKA’s Managing Director tell the reader much about the path that China is on – “For us there is no doubt about the confidence in the China market, and I believe we have the proof points to show that,” said Cindy Andersen, managing director at Ingka Centres.”
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#4 CHINA SURGES IN MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“China is rapidly narrowing the gap with the United States in medical research publications, a trend fuelled by both government policies and the development of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a top scientific publisher.
Marie Souliere, head of editorial ethics and quality assurance at Frontiers, one of the biggest academic publishers in the world, said she had seen China’s overall research output slowly overtake that of the US, and the lead was most striking in the field of medicine.
“China overtook the US in share of medicine-related articles in 2019, with 22 per cent of our published content in those fields, versus 19 per cent for the US. Since then, the China share has grown, and maintains around 40 per cent,” Souliere said in an interview with the Post this month.
“At Frontiers alone, 15,158 medicine articles by Chinese researchers were published in 2023, almost eight times more than … in 2019.”
“China’s rise in cancer research, particularly in oncology and immunology, gained momentum around 2010, fuelled by significant policy changes and investments in innovation,” Souliere said.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
Marie Souliere is head of editorial ethics and quality assurance at Frontiers, one of the biggest academic publishers in the world. She sees China at close quarters and has witnessed the gradual overtaking of China’s overall research output over that of the US. She confirms that the lead was most striking in the field of medicine.
The Western media is full of gloomy news about China – property losses, exhausted workers, a struggling economy and more. Some is true but much is wishful thinking. The West does not want China to succeed and deceives itself with its constant diet of bad news, setbacks and lowered living standards. Does that mean that everything in China is a big plus, a positive? No. China experiences considerable growing pains as it seeks to achieve the status of a “prosperous society”.
It has achieved much and its people have benefitted from the leadership of a Party that has managed to lift one billion people out of poverty – a big achievement. And its progress, specifically mentioned by Mme Souliere in the field of medically-related articles in 2019 especially on oncology and immunology, underlines is as relevant as the decision of IKEA to make a significant commitment to China’s retail and commercial future in Shanghai.
GRAHAM PERRY
