Eat Just has made the world's first commercial sale of cultured chicken to 1880 in Singapore and it will be on the menu beginning this weekend.
Pressure is mounting on Sherman Kwek, heir to Singapore’s biggest family fortune, as he seeks to salvage the troubled property investment at the centre of an ambitious expansion into China.
China is expected to send more resources to troops stationed in remote border areas, including those engaged in the current stand-off with India in the Himalayas, following an overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army’s rules on how officers are treated.A commentary published on Sunday by PLA Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s military, said the new regulations were aimed at maintaining officers’ “basic living benefits” and establishing a better management system for career development.President Xi Jinping, who also chairs the all-powerful Central Military Commission, introduced the “Provisional Regulations on the Movement of Active Military Officers” on the first day of this year, along with a series of related rules covering areas such as selection, training and promotion.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.Military observers said the reforms might help eliminate long-standing problems that meant officers stationed in certain areas, such as the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, were given more favourable treatment and better equipment compared with those in remote parts of the country.“There are some unfair traditions and discriminatory legacies left over from political struggles in previous decades,” Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Tong said, referring to the different treatment officials and officers in the Central, Eastern and Southeast military areas had received.For example, some officers with close connections with top leaders get promoted more quickly than their peers stationed in the remote and tough areas in the Himalayas, Wong added.“Indeed, before the outbreak of the months-long border stand-off between China and India, weapon systems deployed to the 77th Army Group in the Western Theatre Command were inferior to those given to the 72nd Army Group in the Eastern Theatre Command, which is responsible for Taiwan Strait security,” Wong said.“It’s just because the Huzhou-based 72nd Army Group in Zhejiang province has close links with Xi, while many officials in the 77th Army Groups were promoted by Xi’s political enemies Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.” China’s big military ship building spree to guard its aircraft carriersGuo and Xu, both former vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission, became the most senior military officials brought down by Xi’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.Guo received a life sentence in 2016, while Xu died in custody in 2015 while under investigation.Weapons in the Western Theatre Command have been upgraded as tensions with India rose following a deadly clash between the two sides in the Galwan Valley in June. Both sides have also increased the number of troops stationed along their disputed frontier after the incident, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead and caused an unknown number of PLA casualties.Besides replacing the J-7 fighters in the region with more advanced J-16s, other advanced weapons – including J-20 stealth fighters, H-20 helicopters, drones and rockets – have undergone high-altitude tests, suggesting they have been earmarked for the Western Theatre Command.Recent footage aired by the state broadcaster China Central Television also showed that troops in the Tibetan military region had been equipped with the latest camouflage uniforms known as the “Starry Sky” pattern.The PLA commentary said the new regulations were designed to build a system that guaranteed hardworking and responsible officers on the front line were treated fairly to ensure the army could attract and retain high-quality troops.“Under the new provisional regulations that directly link with officers’ promotion and treatment, assessment standards will more focus on combat-forces and troops stationed in tough and remote border areas,” the commentary wrote. Xi Jinping orders China’s military to be ready for war ‘at any second’A military source close to the PLA said the military, which now numbers around two million troops, has been fighting a brain drain for more than four decades.“The implementation of the new regulations is a good effort, because political loyalty tests, personal background and connections are still the most important elements for military officers to get promotion, not just their talents,” said the source, who requested anonymity.The source also stressed that the Communist Party’s rule that the “party commands the gun” still applied, adding: “That’s why the CMC needs to introduce more than 10 relevant rules and specific implementation details for the new regulations.”More from South China Morning Post: * China pulls 10,000 troops from India border, source says * High altitudes send soldiers off course in China-India border region: experts * China and India dig in at Himalayan border, with an eye on Washington * India returns Chinese soldier who strayed across disputed border * China-India border dispute: PLA ‘has built frontline observation post’This article Chinese border troops likely to benefit from new rules to end unfair treatment first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
The government is monitoring the COVID-19 situation carefully and considering if more measures are necessary, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong.
A 67-year-old former statutory board director was on Monday (18 January) jailed for six weeks for molesting a subordinate.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returned to scoring form with a double as Arsenal's rise up the Premier League table continued with a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle on Monday.
MOH has confirmed the detection of 30 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore as of noon on Sunday (17 January).
Stock markets got off to a slow start for the week despite news that the Chinese economy grew 2.3% in 2020 after a sharp contraction early in the year. Shares fell in London and Tokyo on Monday but advanced in Hong Kong, Paris and Shanghai. Most U.S. markets are closed for a national holiday.
China reported 96 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday and 119 asymptomatic cases, of which more than half were linked to a superspreader in the northeast of the country, health authorities said.Jilin province, which borders North Korea, reported 63 of the asymptomatic cases, all but one of them related to a 45-year-old tutor who had been touring the region giving lectures on health, the provincial health commission said on Saturday.The man has now been linked to 102 cases in the province, the Jilin health commission said at a press conference on Sunday.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.Contact tracing revealed that the unnamed man boarded trains in Harbin – the capital of Heilongjiang province – and Changchun, Tonghua and Gongzhuling in Jilin before being identified. He was first thought to be an asymptomatic carrier – which China does not include in its tally of infections – but was later confirmed as a case.The National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday that the recent outbreaks in northeastern China were the result of imported cases and contaminated frozen and chilled foods, though it did not provide any evidence to support its claims.“Since December 2020, epidemic clusters have occurred in Beijing, Sichuan, Liaoning, Hebei and Heilongjiang,” NHC chief Ma Xiaowei said in a statement.“They mainly have the following characteristics: firstly, they are all imported from abroad, caused by travellers from overseas, or contaminated cold-chain imported items.”Ma said also that the latest Covid-19 outbreak, which came after months of China thinking it had the disease under control – was spreading quickest in rural areas, fuelled by large gatherings such as weddings.The number of confirmed cases reported for Saturday was the first under 100 in five days.Since the latest outbreak began, the bulk of the new infections have been in north China’s Hebei province, with almost 700 cases and one death reported there since the start of the year.With its proximity to Beijing and the Lunar New Year – when hundreds of millions of Chinese traditionally travel home for the festivities – just weeks away, the central government has been on high alert, urging people to stay home for the holiday. Explainer | Coronavirus: what’s life like for the 20 million Chinese back in lockdown?The Hebei government said on Saturday that lockdowns in three cities at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak had been extended.In the provincial capital Shijiazhuang and nearby Nangong, the lockdown would remain in place until Tuesday, while in Langfang, the restrictions would continue until Monday, it said.A lockdown covering the rest of Xingtai, which administers Nangong, was lifted on Saturday, as were restrictions in Xinji, a county-level city under Shijiazhuang.Meanwhile, Beijing said on Friday that all people returning to China from overseas should monitor their health for seven days after completing the mandatory 21 days’ quarantine.More from South China Morning Post: * Coronavirus in China: lockdowns extended in three Hebei cities after 90 new cases reported * Chinese local governments ban rural weddings and funerals to halt spread of Covid-19 * Coronavirus: what’s life like for the 20 million Chinese back in lockdown? * Coronavirus in China: Hebei legislature postpones annual session amid surge in casesThis article Coronavirus: China reports 96 new infections, links superspreader to 102 asymptomatic cases first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
Self-exiled former opposition lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung on Sunday dismissed as “irresponsible” an explanation by the boss of HSBC that the bank had “no choice” but to freeze accounts belonging to him and his family at the behest of Hong Kong police.Hui said he received a personal email from HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn last week explaining why the bank froze their credit cards and savings accounts soon after he absconded in December.Hui, who posted a picture of part of the letter on his Facebook page, quoted Quinn as writing that it was wrong for bank staff to say the credit cards were cancelled as a commercial decision as HSBC had only frozen them – an explanation the ex-Democratic Party lawmaker rejected.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.Quinn added the bank was legally obliged to take action after being notified by police.“I can hardly accept the nearly laughable U-turn explanation given by HSBC regarding my credit cards, from ‘a commercial decision to cancel’ to ‘frozen only’ after enormous public criticisms,” Hui said. “This is not so much a mistake made by a frontline staff member … The international bank has put its customer service on the pillar of shame in its political toadyism.”HSBC said it had no comment on the issue.Hui left the city while out on bail awaiting trial on charges tied to the 2019 anti-government protests and his actions in the legislature.He flew to Denmark in late November with the court’s permission, ostensibly to attend climate change meetings, only to announce he had decided to enter self-imposed exile in Britain.Shortly after his arrival there, he said his bank accounts and those of his family members – at HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China – had been frozen. Police freeze bank accounts of fugitive ex-lawmaker Ted Hui’s familyHe later managed to transfer the savings after his family accounts were unfrozen and his personal accounts partially released.On Sunday, Hui rejected the “irresponsible” explanation from Quinn, whom he quoted as saying HSBC was “not able to operate” his bank and credit card accounts and “had no choice” as it was legally obliged to take action following the police notification.Hui accused the bank of failing to provide the legal basis for freezing his and his family’s accounts and to explain why they were “collectively punished”.Citing the Organised and Serious Crime Ordinance, Hui said freezing accounts always started with a bank finding suspicious transactions. He accused HSBC of failing to follow professional due procedures as he had never received any questions from the bank regarding any transactions in his accounts. Ted Hui accuses HSBC of ‘embezzling’ his money by freezing his credit cardsHe also called on politicians in Britain and other countries to weigh in and raise the issue formally for parliamentary discussion and for foreign governments to impose sanctions on the bank.Last month, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu defended police’s move to freeze the bank accounts, which the force alleged were connected to a money-laundering case involving an “absconded Hongkonger” accused of misappropriating money from a crowdfunding campaign.Hui had earlier insisted all the money he raised online for a planned private prosecution of police officers had been saved in his law firm’s bank account.More from South China Morning Post: * Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui ordered to do 240 hours of community service and fined over phone-snatch incident in Hong Kong legislature * Former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui denies being in Denmark to seek political asylum, after he flew to country for meetings on climate changeThis article Self-exiled former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui rejects HSBC explanation it had no choice but to freeze accounts of him and his family first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
China has announced sanctions on US officials and lawmakers in response to similar US action last week over the political crackdown in Hong Kong and Washington’s efforts to forge links with Taiwan.Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday that the United States had “blatantly intervened” in Hong Kong by imposing sanctions on six mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials over the mass arrest of more than 50 pro-democracy politicians and activists in the city.Without naming the targeted individuals, Hua said Beijing would impose reciprocal sanctions on US officials, lawmakers and non-profit staff who were “primarily responsible for the vile actions on Hong Kong” and their family members.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.“The US must immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs and immediately stop using various pretences to interfere in China’s internal affairs, endangering China’s national security,” she said, adding the US was going along a path of “error and danger”.The US State Department said its latest sanctions targeted those linked to Beijing’s sweeping national security law in Hong Kong, including Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole representative to China’s top legislative body, and You Quan, vice-chairman of Beijing’s Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs.Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called on mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials to “immediately release” individuals who had been targeted under the national security law and said that the US would “continue to use all tools at our disposal to hold those responsible to account”.The action followed sanctions in August against Hong Kong officials seen as undermining the city’s autonomy and freedom, including against the city’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who said that as a result, she no longer had a bank account.Hong Kong’s government described the US sanctions as “insane, shameless and despicable” interference in its internal affairs. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office also likened Pompeo to a “laughable praying mantis” over the action.Pompeo had said the US would remove self-imposed restrictions on contact between US diplomats, service members and other officials’ interactions with Taiwan so that the relationship would no longer be “shackled”.Hua said on Monday that Beijing would also impose sanctions on unspecified US officials who had “acted maliciously” on the Taiwan issue.Under outgoing President Donald Trump, the US has strengthened ties with Taiwan, including through arms sales and official visits, despite protests from Beijing that it has sovereignty over the democratic island.In a online meeting on Thursday, US ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft told Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen that the US would always stand with Taiwan.Craft, who was spotted entering the UN General Assembly Hall with a toy Formosan black bear – a species endemic to Taiwan – in her bag, also spoke to Taiwanese students via video link from the United Nations to underline US support for “a role for Taiwan on the global stage”.More from South China Morning Post: * All 53 Hong Kong opposition figures arrested under national security law released, except former lawmaker who failed to surrender BN(O) passport * Hong Kong national security law: 53 former opposition lawmakers, activists arrested; authorities accuse them of plot to ‘overthrow’ government * China hits back at foreign sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals * China sanctions US lawmakers, officials over Hong Kong, Taiwan moves * China says US sanctions have no ‘legal effect’ in Hong Kong or China, but analysts urge cautionThis article China sanctions US lawmakers, officials over Hong Kong, Taiwan moves first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
This series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. This week: Lawyer Ethel Lin.
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Chinese troops stationed in the South China Sea are learning battlefield English to avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments during engagements with forces from other countries in the disputed waterway.According to a report by state-owned English-language broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN), the skill is “essential” and “must be picked up”. People’s Liberation Army troops are using gaps in their military training schedule for both concentrated learning and self-study.“In recent years, countries and forces outside China have been provoking troubles and creating tensions in the South China Sea. The naval forces in the Southern Theatre Command are at the forefront of safeguarding rights as well as maintaining regional peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the report said.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. South China Sea: the dispute that could start a military conflictDuring a recent military exercise on an island reef in the Paracel Islands, part of the drill included using English when engaging with “enemy” troops. One soldier was heard in the broadcast to say in English: “You are surrounded. Surrender.”Liu Chuanming, a Chinese commander of a marine police district in the Paracels, said the deployment was at the forefront of China’s military defences in the South China Sea. “We must ensure that our intentions can be accurately conveyed, thus we need to improve our level of English.”The PLA has expelled a number of foreign ships from the South China Sea in the past year. Most recently, a Chinese warship used English to warn off a foreign merchant ship in the area during a PLA combat readiness cruise mission, with the message: “I am warning you again. Leave immediately or we will take further actions.”In December 2020, the PLA deployed naval and aerial forces when destroyer USS John S. McCain approached the Spratly Islands in what the US described as a “freedom of navigation” exercise. A similar incident occurred in August 2020, when the USS Mustin entered China’s claimed territorial waters off the Paracel Islands.Other 2020 encounters include the littoral combat ship USS Montgomery near the Spratly Islands in late January, the destroyer USS McCampbell near the Paracel Islands in March, and the destroyer USS Barry, also near the Paracels in April.The use of English by Chinese forces is not unknown. In October 2018, the destroyer Lanzhou was tracking and monitoring the Kaga, a Japanese helicopter destroyer which was refuelling from an American supply ship in the South China Sea.After the Chinese ship greeted its Japanese counterpart in English by radio, the Kaga is reported to have replied, “Chinese warship 170, Chinese warship 170, this is Japanese warship 184. Over.”The Lanzhou responded with: “Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force 184. This is Chinese warship 170. Good morning. Nice to meet you. Over.”More from South China Morning Post: * ‘South China Sea strategic benefit’ if Beijing builds tunnel to holiday island Hainan * South China Sea: why did the PLA land its massive Y-20 warplane on Fiery Cross Reef? * China-US tensions keep PLA sailors at sea for an extra four months in 2020This article PLA troops in South China Sea learn ‘essential’ battlefield English first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
Stellantis, the car company combining PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler, was launched Monday on the Milan and Paris stock exchanges, giving life to the fourth-largest auto company in the world. Stellantis shares rallied 7.6% in Milan to 13.53 euros ($16.32). CEO Carlos Tavares said during a virtual bell-ringing ceremony that the merger creates 25 billion euros in shareholder value.
Joe Biden's goal of seeing 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine injected within his first 100 days in office is "absolutely" achievable, top US scientist Anthony Fauci said Sunday, days before he is to become the new president's chief advisor on Covid-19.
The vaccination of Singapore’s aviation staff began on 18 January with some 7,000 of them slated to get their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week.
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In countries like the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania and Bulgaria, vaccine skeptics have included former presidents and even some doctors. Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic was among those who said he did not want to be forced to get inoculated.
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China eked out 2.3% economic growth in 2020, likely becoming the only major economy to expand as shops and factories reopened relatively early from a shutdown to fight the coronavirus while the United States, Japan and Europe struggled with rising infections. Growth in the three months ending in December rose to 6.5% over a year earlier as consumers returned to shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas, official data showed Monday. In early 2020, activity contracted by 6.8% in the first quarter as the ruling Communist Party took the then-unprecedented step of shutting down most of its economy to fight the virus.
