Coronavirus scare forces cancellation of Mobile World Congress in Spain

Current Affairs
Coordinators of the world's greatest versatile innovation reasonable are reassessing over stresses over the viral episode from China. GSMA said Wednesday that the current year's release of Mobile World Congress will never again be held as arranged in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb 24-27.
John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA, said "worldwide concern in regards to the coronavirus episode, travel concern and different conditions, make it unthinkable for the GSMA to hold the occasion." The choice comes after many tech organizations and remote transporters dropped out, with the most recent cancelations by Nokia, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Britain's BT on Wednesday. Other huge names that have just dropped out incorporate Ericsson, Nokia, Sony, Amazon, Intel and LG. The organizations refered to worries for the security of staff and guests.
Coordinators had looked to hold out against developing strain to drop Mobile World Congress, a yearly tech party that had been required to draw in excess of 100,000 guests from around 200 nations, including 5,000 to 6,000 from China.
The GSMA, the remote exchange body that arranges the reasonable, had said it was observing the infection circumstance intently, incorporating meeting normally with worldwide and Spanish wellbeing specialists and its accomplices to guarantee the prosperity of participants.

Nokia said Wednesday it had chosen to pull back from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain "after a full appraisal of the dangers identified with a quick moving circumstance." The organization said "the wellbeing and prosperity of workers was an essential center" and that dropping its association was a "judicious choice." Phone organization Vodafone said it was dropping out "after cautious thought" while Britain's BT said dropping was "the most mindful choice."...READ MORE

Senior Chinese diplomat set for first visit to South Korea in 5 years

International News
A high-ranking Chinese diplomat is visiting Seoul this week for the first time in five years as the two countries seek to improve ties amid a spat over a US anti-missile system in South Korea.
The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, is set to arrive on Wednesday for a two-day stay, during which he will meet his counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, and President Moon Jae-in, Seoul officials said.
South Korea sees China as instrumental in reviving stalled denuclearisation talks between the United States and North Korea, a longtime ally of Beijing.
Wang's visit will be his first since a dispute erupted over the installation of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea, though he and Kang have talked on other occasions.
The United States and South Korea, meanwhile, have been locked in an increasingly public disagreement over how much Seoul should pay for hosting some 28,500 US troops.South Korea's foreign ministry said Wang's visit would be a chance to bolster relations "for new development," with bilateral and regional issues on the agenda.
Both sides are expected to primarily discuss Moon's planned attendance at a trilateral summit in China with Japan, and a possible visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to South Korea next year.
Missile tensions

The United States suggested setting up the THAAD system to address North Korea's missile threats, and a total of six interceptor batteries were installed at the southeastern air base of Seongju by 2017.Beijing angrily denounced the move, saying the system's powerful radar could penetrate into Chinese territory and was part of a...Read More

Hong Kong police seal off university, protesters set main entrance ablaze

International News
Pro-democracy demonstrators holed up in a Hong Kong university campus set the main entrance ablaze Monday to prevent surrounding police moving in, after officers warned they may use live rounds if confronted by deadly weapons.
The police warning, which came after one officer was struck by an arrow, marked a further escalation of the near six-month crisis engulfing the city.
China has repeatedly warned that it will not tolerate dissent, and there are growing concerns that Beijing could intervene directly to end the spiralling unrest.
Several loud blasts were heard around dawn on Monday before a wall of fire lit up an entrance to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), AFP reporters said, as what appeared to be a police attempt to enter the campus was repelled by protesters determined to hold their ground.
Police said they had fired three live rounds in the early hours of Monday at a protest site near the university but that no one appeared to have been hit.
Intense clashes throughout Sunday, which saw a police officer hit in the leg by an arrow and protesters meet police tear gas with volleys of petrol bombs, rolled overnight across the Kowloon district, as a call went out to defend the besieged campus.
There, protesters had hunkered down under umbrellas from occasional fire from police water cannon and hurled Molotov cocktails at an armoured vehicle, leaving it ablaze on a flyover near the campus.

Police declared the campus a "riot" scene -- rioting is punishable by up to 10 years in jail -- and blocked exits as spokesman Louis Lau issued a stark warning in a Facebook live broadcast."I hereby warn rioters not to use petrol bombs, arrows, cars or any deadly weapons to attack police officers," he said....READ MORE

India's last-minute demands for concessions might jeopardise RCEP deal

Technology
India keeps making last-minute requests after it agreed to terms for the world’s largest regional trade agreement, potentially preventing Asian leaders from announcing a breakthrough on the 16-nation pact during a summit in Bangkok next week, people familiar with the situation said.
In recent days, India angered other negotiators by making additional requests on the China-backed pact covering half the world’s population, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Leaders of the countries had planned to announce a preliminary deal on Nov 4 when leaders gather for meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, they said.
Chief negotiators are still confident they can reach a broad agreement on the deal, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), during a planned meeting on Thursday in Bangkok, the people said. Any announcement would pave the way for nations to finalize the details on the legal framework in the coming months.
A breakthrough after seven years of talks would mark a win for trade liberalization in an era of rising tariffs and resurgent nationalism. The deal would also further integrate Asia’s economies with China at a time when US President Donald Trump is seeking to convince the region to shun Chinese infrastructure loans and 5G technology.

India, which has raised some tariffs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has long been the main holdout on an RCEP deal due to strong domestic opposition over fears the country would be flooded with cheap Chinese goods.India DemandsModi, who is fresh off a landslide re-election win in May, agreed to move ahead with the deal after receiving personal assurances from Chinese President Xi Jinping in an informal seaside meeting earlier this month, an Indian official said...READ MORE

World leaders come up short at UN summit as millions demand climate action

International News

Millions of people in 170 countries took to the streets to protest. World leaders lined up at the United Nations to pledge action. A 16-year-old girl, close to tears, shamed them for robbing her of a future.
The pressure to act on climate change is mounting. Titans of global business and politics gathered in New York this week for a series of events, including the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, to acknowledge that more must be done -- but fell short of saying exactly what will be done.
“Time is running out in the court of public opinion, because time is running out to address climate change,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told heads of state and business chiefs at the Global Business Forum on Wednesday. “It’s right for them to hold our feet to the fire.”
The stakes have indeed never been higher. Temperatures have already risen 1 degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the 1880s. The world must limit that warming to no more than 2 degrees above Industrial Revolution levels, the UN has warned, to avoid the most catastrophic of droughts, floods, mass migrations and conflicts. “You can just feel the groundswell of popular sentiment, that the urgency of this is elevated,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive David Solomon said during the forum.
When asked whether there’s enough information out there to determine his own bank’s exposure to climate change, Solomon said, “We’re working on it. The answer is we’re working on it.” It was a response that underscored both the heightened awareness among leaders that they will be held responsible for global warming and the work that still lays ahead of them.

 The meetings were still “far too much a chance for people to beat their chests and say they’re making change,” said Brad Cornell, a business professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. “But who is making real change?”....Read More

'Prepared to die': Hong Kong protesters embrace hard-core tactics

International News

In 2014, a protester named Chloe camped out on city streets, chanted slogans and planted “seeds of hope,” part of a 79-day occupation of major roads. The protesters’ demands for greater democracy were ignored.
This summer, the civil servant, who is in her 20s, has zip tied metal barriers together to block roads and dug bricks out of sidewalks to throw at police. Her primary role is to be “arrest support”—ready to hire lawyers for detained protesters and help their families with an emergency plan.“Some of them are prepared to die for the movement,” said Chloe. “I am also willing to die for it.”
Hong Kong’s protests against the mainland government’s increasing reach are emerging as bigger, more frequent and more violent than previous pro-democracy movements. In a contrast to 2014, when demonstrations were largely led by students, the current action has been embraced by a broader cross-section of Hong Kong society—including civil servants, pop stars, doctors, shopkeepers and people of all ages. And those taking part in more radical acts of civil disobedience are finding wider support.
Hard-core current protesters have largely rejected the strategies of veteran leaders, whose approach is seen to have failed. Actions are mostly organized by anonymous leaders of small groups. In 2014, named student leaders became well known figures.

 The shift in attitude means Hong Kong’s resistance has become the biggest open rebellion against China’s ruling Communist Party since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.“There’s a feeling among many that there’s no other option, that some physical confrontation is the only way for the regime to listen to the voices of Hong Kongers,” said Jeffrey Ngo, chief researcher at pro-democracy group Demosisto. Mr. Ngo said he doesn’t use violence himself in the current protests, but understands why some have resorted to it....Read More

Trump hits China with more tariffs, says Xi moving too slow on trade

International News

US President Donald Trump said he plans to impose a 10 per cent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports from September 1 and could raise tariffs further if China's President Xi Jinping fails to move more quickly to strike a trade deal.
The announcement on Thursday extends Trump's trade tariffs to nearly all China's imports into the United States and marks an abrupt end to a temporary truce in a trade war that has disrupted global supply chains and roiled financial markets.
"I think President Xi ... wants to make a deal, but frankly, he's not going fast enough," Trump said.
Trump made the announcement in a series of Twitter posts after his top trade negotiators briefed him on a lack of progress in US-China talks in Shanghai this week.
Trump later said if trade negotiations fail to progress he could raise tariffs further - even beyond the 25 per cent levy he has already imposed on $250 billion of imports from China.
The news hit US financial markets hard.
Oil prices plummeted 7 per cent, with Brent crude registering the biggest daily percentage drop since February 2016. The benchmark S&P 500, which had been in solidly positive territory on Thursday afternoon, closed down 0.9 per cent. Benchmark US Treasury yields also fell.

 Retail associations predicted a spike in consumer prices. Target Corp tumbled 4.2 per cent, Macy's Inc fell 6 per cent and Nordstrom Inc was down 6.2 per cent.Asked about the impact on financial markets, Trump told reporters: "I'm not concerned about that at all."...Read More

How a heavy hand of censorship is stifling China's lucrative movie industry

International News

As trade tariffs and tweets by President Donald Trump hammer some of China’s biggest companies, the country’s movie business is taking a hit -- from its own government.
Tougher government censorship has blocked potential hits and compelled filmmakers to stick with safe formulas that aren’t winning audiences, while a tax evasion crackdown has made some investors reluctant to back films, crimping output even further.
In the year after Chinese President Xi Jinping put the Communist Party’s propaganda office in charge of regulating films, China’s box-office totals are headed for their first annual decline in at least a decade. Further hurting the industry, potential summer hits that might have come to the rescue have been cancelled, with no explanation.
The chill has spread to some of China’s most globally recognized filmmakers, bankable names that cinema operators have relied on for hits.
In February, director Zhang Yimou’s “One Second” was withdrawn from the Berlin Film Festival and has since been subject to a series of government-ordered re-cuts, the Hollywood Reporter reported last month. Three of Zhang’s films were nominated for Academy Awards. He won top honors in Berlin for “Red Sorghum” and directed China box-office hits including “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers.”

 Another prospective summer winner, Guan Hu’s “The Eight Hundred,” was withdrawn before a planned July 5 premiere. The film was anticipated to be a crowd-pleaser and a critical success that could help restore momentum for local fare.“‘The Eight Hundred’ was going to be a big film,” said T J Green, chief executive officer of Apex International Cinemas, which builds and runs cinemas through a strategic alliance with the state-owned China Film Group.

China 'won't allow' G20 discussion on Hong Kong during Xi-Trump meet

Company News
China said Monday it will not allow discussion on Hong Kong at the G20 this week even as US President Donald Trump plans to raise the city's mass protests during his meeting with President Xi Jinping.
The semi-autonomous city has been shaken by huge demonstrations this month as throngs have demanded the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.
Trump has weighed in on Hong Kong's worst political unrest since its handover from Britain to China in 1997, saying he understood the reason for the protests and hoped demonstrators can "work it out with China".
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later said Trump would discuss Hong Kong with Xi at the Group of 20 summit, which is taking place in Osaka, Japan on Friday and Saturday.
But Chinese assistant foreign minister Zhang Jun said the G20 is a forum to focus on global economic issues.
Xi and Trump have agreed to hold bilateral talks focusing on the US-China trade war during the summit.
"I can tell you with certainty that the G20 will not discuss the Hong Kong issue and we will not allow the G20 to discuss the Hong Kong issue," Zhang said at a press briefing previewing Xi's G20 attendance.

 "Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs and no foreign country has the right to intervene," he said, recalling that the city is a special administrative region of China.

PM Modi to meet China's Xi Jinping at Bishkek this week: What to expect

Company News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on June 13-14. At the sidelines of the summit, PM Modi will hold bilateral meetings with leaders of Russia and China.
The meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is the one that will be followed very closely, given the common concerns and improving ties between the two nations after the Doklam standoff.This will be the second meeting between the two leaders after the Wuhan Summit in April 2018. Modi and Xi had also met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in December last year.
US trade protectionism likely on agendaChina on Monday said it was hoping that the two leaders would discuss their respective trade frictions with the US and reach a consensus on opposing trade protectionism during their "very important" meeting.Chinese officials hope that India, which is also facing trade frictions with the US especially over termination of its designation as a 'beneficiary developing country' under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), would join the fight against Trump's protectionist policies.
The Trump administration has imposed heavy tariffs on China and has tightened trade restrictions on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.Improving India-China ties,The meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit will be Modi's first meeting with Xi after winning the re-election last month.The India-China ties are on the upswing since the Wuhan summit. The Bishkek meet is likely to step up co-operation between the two countries further.

 The April 27-28 Wuhan summit between Modi and Xi was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day Doklam standoff in 2017, triggered by Chinese troops' attempt to build a road close to the Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan.

Why Narendra Modi should resist the urge to be India's Xi Jinping

Economy News

At the time of his first bid to become India’s prime minister five years ago, Narendra Modi was seen by many in Mumbai as a reformer rising to slay crony capitalism, corruption and policy paralysis. It was the bureaucracy in New Delhi that had misgivings about the then chief minister of Gujarat state, known for his highly centralized style of working.

By now, the political capital has accepted Modi as the boss man. By contrast, the financial capital of Mumbai is anxious about further centralization of power. He’s already being referred to as India’s Xi Jinping. Given the difficulties that have beset China’s private sector under the president’s muscular leadership, that comparison isn’t exactly flattering

Mumbai’s trepidation, based on my recent conversations, arises from not knowing whether Modi will double down on his strongman image and chest-thumping nationalism in his second term, or give India’s institutions the freedom to tackle the economy’s central challenge: a lack of risk capital. In 2014, it was only the balance sheets of the banking system and some large business groups that were toast. Now the problem has spread to smaller companies, shadow banks, and property developers. Even consumers are being singed by debt as income growth in rural areas slows. Private investment turned anemic long ago.

Addressing this challenge will require Modi to acknowledge a simple truth: Countering economic worries with propaganda, jingoism and dubious GDP statistics will have diminishing returns. India’s “mini-Lehman moment,” as I’ve called it since September, is still reverberating. The solution is simple. Let entrenched business families fend for themselves. Don’t give them new contracts or sweetheart deals, or let them hold on to bankrupt firms. That should be done not out of moral compunction but because local businessmen or financiers can’t save the economy. Only North American, European, Australian and East Asian money can.

After Modi’s 2014 election victory, he did make an overture to foreign investors. But his finance minister, Arun Jaitley, didn’t keep the promise of making India’s tax regime more predictable and less adversarial. In the name of protecting mom-and-pop retailers and the sovereignty of Indian consumers’ data, the e-commerce policy now appears to favor tycoon Mukesh Ambani over Amazon.comInc.’s Jeff Bezos. Protectionism has gone up. The Donald Trump administration is far from amused.It’s not too late. Unlike in 2014, institutional structures now exist for large-scale asset monetization.

Does Xi Jinping trust Trump enough to get on a plane and seal trade deal?

International News

Donald Trump regularly touts the strength of his personal relationship with Xi Jinping, talking about the Chinese leader in the sort of warm terms US presidents normally reserve for longstanding allies.
Yet as the world’s two largest economies inch towards a trade agreement designed to define and reorder their economic relationship for years to come, one question looms large: Does Xi trust Trump enough to get on a plane and seal the deal?

Trump and his aides have for weeks been pushing for Xi to agree to a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s club and resort in Palm Beach, Florida, to finalize a deal as soon as this month to end a dispute that has cast a shadow over the global economy. Trump himself has said that it’s only when the two leaders meet that the final details can be ironed out.

Chinese officials, however, have long been wary of putting Xi in a position where he might be embarrassed by an unpredictable Trump or forced into last-minute concessions.

“That is the real conundrum for Xi,’’ said Eswar Prasad, an expert on the Chinese economy at Cornell University who regularly meets with senior officials in Beijing. “The concern about being snookered by Trump at the negotiating table is a real risk for Xi.’’


 China’s worries are flipping the U.S. script on its head. As he claims to be the first American president to stand up to Beijing, his aides have built a possible deal on a foundation of distrust. In their view, a China that has for decades lied and cheated its way to economic success cannot be trusted to live up to any commitments unless a deal has teeth...Read More