CiCM 1st-2nd June

NEWS IN CHINA

Chinese Defense Minister Addresses Shangri-La Dialogue on China’s Approach to Global Security: Speaking on 2^nd June, at the 21^st Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun discussed China’s strategy for international security. He encouraged finding common ground and constructing agreement by leveraging “Asian wisdom” while putting differences aside. Dong emphasized China's dedication to shared security, mutual respect, transparency, inclusivity, and the defense of its fundamental interests. He highlighted that China values peace and harmony and noted the recent overall stability in the South China Sea. However, he urged each nation to identify its own interests and return to the path of communication and cooperation. Senior defense officials from the US, Canada, Thailand, Japan, Australia, France, Cambodia, and New Zealand were also met by Dong during the occasion. Additionally, he had discussions with the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy as well as the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Chinese Scientists Have Developed Low-Power Brain-Like Chips: A research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Automation created a unique neural morphology system-level chip dubbed Speck that mimics the structure of the human brain in cooperation with other units. This chip demonstrated the inherent benefits of neural morphological computing in combining complex brain functions. Li Guoqi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Automation, highlighted the potential of developing a new intelligent computing system inspired by the human brain's low power consumption. As the competition for computing power intensifies and energy consumption rises, leveraging the brain's ability to focus its limited resources on significant stimuli becomes crucial. This research introduces the concept of "neural morphological dynamic computing," which mimics the brain's attention mechanism to prioritize important stimuli.
National Political Advisors Urged to Contribute Wisdom to China’s Economic Work, and Reform Efforts: Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, has called on national political advisors to provide recommendations on the nation's economic activities in alignment with CPC Central Committee decisions. He made these remarks on May 31st during the 14th CPPCC National Committee's Chairperson's Council meeting in Beijing. In his speech, Wang invited CPPCC National Committee members to contribute their recommendations and reach consensus on several key issues. These include implementing macro policies effectively, fostering new productive forces tailored to local conditions, deepening reforms, expanding openness, promoting low-carbon and green development, and enhancing people's well-being. Additionally, Wang urged political advisors to conduct extensive studies on core and prospective reform issues to ensure the steady progress of comprehensive reforms.
China’s Electronics Manufacturing Sector Expands on Strong Production, and Exports: China's electronics manufacturing industry had a strong start to the year, mostly attributable to a steady increase in output and resurgent domestic and foreign demand. From January to April, the combined earnings of the industry's leading corporations increased by 75.8% year over year to a total of 144.2 billion yuan (about 20.3 billion - US dollars), as reported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The cumulative operational revenue of these companies over the same period was 4.67 trillion yuan, representing an increase of 7.9 per cent on an annual basis. The government ascribed the strong growth to the industry's strong performance on both the supply and demand sides. According to customs figures, China shipped 44.01 million computers in the first four months of this year, reflecting a 9.6% increase compared to the previous year. Additionally, 241 million mobile phones were exported during the same period, representing a 4.6% rise. In this industry, "major companies" are defined as those with an annual primary business income of at least 20 million yuan.
Xi’s Letter Inspires Young ‘Ambassadors’ to Learn Chinese, and Foster China-UAE Exchanges: Recently, 40 children from the "Hundred Schools Project" wrote to President Xi in Mandarin, expressing their love and desire to serve as a bridge between China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). President Xi responded, praising them as mini-ambassadors for China-UAE relations. These students attend the Hamdan Bin Zayed School and the Yas School, two Chinese language education demonstration schools in the UAE. Upon receiving Xi's reply, Du Qiangwei, a Chinese teacher at Hamdan Bin Zayed School, congratulated each student who had written a letter. From May 29th to 31st, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan made a state visit to China at President Xi's invitation. During their meeting, Xi emphasized the UAE as a significant strategic partner and highlighted the steady improvement of China-UAE relations, serving as a positive model for future China-Arab relations.
China’s Chang’e-6 Lands on Moon’s Far Side to Collect Samples: The China National Space Administration (CNSA) declared that China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft made landfall on the moon's far side on the morning of 2^nd June and would gather samples from this seldom-explored region for the first time in human history. An orbiter, a returner, a lander, and an ascender make up Chang'e-6. It has experienced several phases since its launch on May 3 of this year, including lunar circling, near-moon braking, Earth-moon transfer, and landing descent. According to the CNSA, on May 30, the lander-ascender combination split out from the orbiter-returner combination. The Chang'e-6 mission aims to collect and return samples from the moon's far side. To minimize Earth-moon interactions, the development team has enhanced the sampling process with intelligent features, allowing Chang'e-6 to execute commands and make decisions autonomously, saving time and improving efficiency. The mission also carried a cube satellite from Pakistan, which was placed atop the orbiter. On May 8th, the satellite separated from the orbiter to conduct exploratory tasks, such as taking pictures of the moon. China sent Pakistan the satellite data on May 10th.
Chinese Province Looking to ‘Flying Taxis’ to Give Tourist Industry Wings: As part of a national initiative to foster innovation in the developing sector and provide much-needed impetus to its economy, a province in China is purchasing "flying taxis" and providing subsidies for drone development. Although Shanxi is now mostly recognized for being a significant coal-mining region in northern China, it is also attempting to diversify away from its industrial-based economy and create new, cutting-edge technologies. A report released by the International Digital GDP Academy in Shenzhen estimates that by 2025, the industry will contribute between 3 trillion yuan and 5 trillion yuan (US$414 billion- 690 billion) to the national GDP. The Civil Aviation Administration of China granted EHang an airworthiness "type certificate" in October for its completely autonomous drone, the EH216-S, which can carry two people. The equipment improvement initiative will include recreational drones for amusement, the National Development and Reform Commission announced on 24^th May. In addition, Shanxi is increasing its financial support for the low-altitude economy by paying up to half of the establishment fees for low-altitude flight support services and the airport development needed to make such flights possible.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

China Sister Pretends to be Dead Sibling, Works Her Job for 14 Years Before Receiving US$ 55,000 Pension: A mainland court has sanctioned a Chinese lady who worked for many years under the guise of her deceased older sister to collect her retirement pension. After working for 14 years to get pension payments of around 400,000 yuan (US$55,000), the lady was found guilty of pension fraud. After her sister died in a vehicle accident in 1993, the woman, surnamed An, from Wuhai in the Inner Mongolia autonomous area of northern China, covertly took up her sister's job at a nearby factory. Throughout that time, An collected 393,676 yuan in pension benefits. After being called in by the police, An freely admitted to the crime entered a guilty plea and paid back the money. After she made her reparation and confession, the court ultimately sentenced her to three years in jail with a four-year suspension and a fine of 25,000 yuan (US$3,500). Post this verdict, a lot of online discussion was sparked about China’s famous “replacement system”, in which descendants take over the jobs that were led by parents and grandparents. Nonetheless, she has drawn support on social media on the mainland despite her infraction. These reactions include calling An as capable of performing well, more honest than most working officials, and unlucky for being caught.

INDIA WATCH

Exit Polls Predict Ruling Bloc’s Win in India Elections: An article by Xinhua reported that when the seven-phase voting process concluded on Saturday, exit polls published by private survey organizations projected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's The NDTV cited four exit polls that predicted a landslide win for the Modi-led NDA versus the alliance of opposition political parties, INDIA, or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, but cautioned that "exit polls do not always get it right". Up to the filing of this report, more exit surveys conducted by other for-profit survey companies were made public. When the Election Commission of India (ECI) released the official election results on June 4, it would be evident what the actual electoral situation in the nation was.

Prepared By

Diksha Takale

Diksha is currently an undergraduate student at FLAME University, Pune. She is pursuing her degree in BA with a major in Literary and Cultural Studies and minor in Sociology. Writing is a part of her primary focus in building her career and one way to cater to that is by diversifying her academic reach in a field such as international relations. She is an avid reader and writes fiction in her leisure time.