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Minggu, 19 September 2021

Xi Jinping's celebrity crackdown no match for Universal Studios in China - The Straits Times

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - As President Xi Jinping's government looks to tame China's celebrities, the popularity of a new Universal Studios theme park in Beijing shows Hollywood's enduring soft power among the nation's 1.4 billion people.

Tickets for the grand opening on Monday (Sept 20), priced at 638 yuan (S$133), sold out within 30 minutes of going online last week - as did rooms costing as much as 20,000 yuan at the resort's two hotels, according to state-run media.

Fliggy, an online travel site operated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, last week apologised for overselling the 500 yuan Universal Express Pass that lets visitor skip lines.

The surging demand underscores the challenge Mr Xi faces in dampening the appetite for celebrities among the general public, as the Communist Party looks to curtail foreign influences and promote the concept of "common prosperity".

A commentary published widely in state-run media last month warned against "fan culture" and "worshiping Western culture". Earlier this month the National Radio and Television Administration - China's broadcast regulator - ordered television companies and internet platforms to ban film stars with "incorrect politics", cap salaries and do away with idol worship.

One of China's most popular film stars, Zhao Wei, was blacklisted from China's internet while another actress was ordered to pay 299 million yuan in overdue taxes, late fees and fines last month.

The popularity of the Universal Studios theme park shows resistance to the Communist Party's tightening of cultural standards after decades of allowing Western influences, according to Adam Ni, co-editor of China Neican, a newsletter on Chinese public policy issues.

"As powerful as the party is, it will have to contend with countless everyday decisions by the Chinese, which would together make up the moral fabric of the People's Republic," he said.

In the lead-up to the park's public opening, dozens of Chinese celebrities - including "Crouching Tiger" actress Zhang Ziyi and supermodel Liu Wen - visited attractions related to "Jurassic Park", "Transformers" and "Harry Potter". Photos of other guests dressed in Hogwarts cloaks, and posing with "Minions" and "Megatron" characters, became trending topics on China's Twitter-like Weibo.

"Universal Beijing Resort is popular with the Chinese because there is part of the global culture that the Chinese thirst for," Mr Ni added.

"Beijing is trying to reinforce this dichotomy between 'Chinese' and 'foreign,' but there is still much admiration and curiosity for foreign cultures in China. So the public attitude towards Western culture is two-faced."

The project, which is expected to attract 30 million visitors a year, is a joint venture between the state-owned Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co. and Comcast NBCUniversal. It has been in the works since 2001.

China's newly appointed ambassador to the US last week compared one of the attraction's roller coasters to bumpy diplomatic ties between Washington and Beijing.

"After all tumbling and shakes, the roller coaster came to a soft landing in the end," Mr Qin Gang, who visited the park before moving to the US in July, wrote on his official Twitter account, signalling a note of optimism.

That positive spin was shared by state-run newspaper Global Times, which last week said the popularity displayed China's "cultural confidence".

But there were other signs the attraction would face challenges from the government.

Beijing party chief Cai Qi on Thursday urged the US side to add more "Chinese elements" to the park in a video call with Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast Corp, according to a report by the state-run Beijing Daily. Universal Beijing Resort didn't respond to a question on how it would deal with China's requests.

Harrison Wang, a 39-year-old Beijing resident who works in film industry, heaped praise on the theme park after he attended the soft launch.

"People are here for the famed scenes and characters of these well-liked movies, as well as the world-class entertaining experience," he said. "As the country's borders are closed now, it offers a taste of the authentic Western culture."

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2021-09-19 22:15:57Z
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Covid-19: 1009 new locally transmitted cases; clusters found at Toa Payoh Market & Food Centre, 2 nursing homes and a preschool - TODAYonline

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2021-09-19 16:44:44Z
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Biden asks for early talks with Macron amid submarine row - CNA

PARIS: US President Joe Biden has requested early talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, France said on Sunday (Sep 19), in an apparent effort to mend fences after a row over a submarines contract sparked rare tensions between the allies.

The announcement came after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected French accusations that Canberra had lied about plans to cancel the contract to buy French submarines, saying he had raised concerns over the deal "some months ago".

Australia's decision to tear up the French deal in favour of American nuclear-powered vessels sparked outrage in Paris, with Macron recalling France's ambassadors to Canberra and Washington in an unprecedented move.

But French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Sunday that there would be a telephone conversation between Biden and Macron "in the coming days" at the request of the US president.

Macron will ask the US president for "clarification" after the announcement of a US-Australian-British defence pact that prompted Canberra's cancellation of the huge contract for diesel-electric French vessels.

"We want explanations," Attal said. The US had to answer for "what looks a lot like a major breach of trust".

Morrison meanwhile insisted that he and his ministers had made no secret of their issues with the French vessels.

"I think they would have had every reason to know that we had deep and grave concerns," he told reporters in Sydney. "We made very clear that we would be making a decision based on our strategic national interest."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had on Saturday used distinctly undiplomatic language towards Australia, the US and Britain which is also part of a new three-way security pact announced Wednesday that led to the rupture.

"There has been lying, duplicity, a major breach of trust and contempt," Le Drian told France 2 television.

The recall of the ambassadors for the first time in the history of relations with the countries was "to show how unhappy we are and that there is a serious crisis between us".

The French contract to supply conventional submarines to Australia was worth A$50 billion (US$36.5 billion, €31 billion) when signed in 2016.

Morrison said he understood France's disappointment, but added: "I don't regret the decision to put Australia's national interest first. Never will."

Defence Minister Peter Dutton also insisted Canberra had been "upfront, open and honest" with Paris about its concerns over the deal - a claim quickly rejected by French Defence Minister Florence Parly.

"His statement is inaccurate," she said during a visit to Niger. "We were never informed of Australia's intentions".

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2021-09-19 12:15:00Z
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Led by the nose: Meet the UAE's COVID-19 sniffer dogs - CNA

DUBAI: Police in Dubai have built up a special unit of 38 sniffer dogs that can detect COVID-19 from human sweat samples with 92 per cent accuracy, the supervisor of the training programme told Reuters.

Dubai Police trained the cohort, which includes German Shepherds, Labradors, Cocker Spaniels and Border Collies, to recognise the scent of COVID-19 using samples of sweat from people with confirmed infections, collected by holding a swab in an armpit for a few minutes.

"A very small amount of that is then put into a jar - it has the scent of the patient - then we put the sample out for the dog to sniff ... When he gives us a sign, we give him a treat," said First Lieutenant Nasser al-Falasi of Dubai Police, supervisor of the programme at the K9 training centre in Dubai's Awir region.

In the centre's large training hall, police handlers walk the dogs along a row of metal boxes, of which only one contains a positive sample. The dogs sniff the samples and within seconds sit down to signal that they have found something.

Police trainer Fatima al-Jasmi, who is on the COVID-19 detection team, guides an excited-looking black and white Border Collie through the exercises, getting it right every time.

"The training was a bit of a challenge, learning a new skill at an international standard, and then training the dog in that," she said.

Airports in the United Arab Emirates were one the first in the world to trial canine COVID-19 detection in 2020. The dogs are no longer used in UAE's airports, but they are ready to be deployed wherever required.

A study of dogs ability to detect COVID-19 infections carried out by the UAE's Higher Colleges of Technology and Abu Dhabi's Federal Customs Authority published in June in Communications Biology, part of the British scientific journal Nature, concluded with a 98.2 per cent detection success rate.

The study used sweat samples and PCR tests from 3,290 people to compare the dogs detection abilities.

The 92 per cent detection rate Falasi referred to came from a study under the UAE's Ministry of Interior in the first half of 2020, as reported by state news agency WAM.

Several other countries, including Finland, the United States and France have been running their own dog training and trials of canine detection of COVID-19.

Falasi said the dogs currently carry out around 30 to 40 tests a day. Bolt, a black and tan Belgian Malinois, was the first COVID-19 detection dog that he trained.

"He goes on assignments often. He has maybe done more than 1,000 COVID-19 tests," Falasi said proudly.

Dubai has received requests from around the world to share knowledge about how to train dogs to sniff out COVID-19, Dubai Police's Major Salah Khalifa al-Mazroui said.

Dubai Police also has dogs trained to sniff out drugs and explosives, skills put to use as the emirate of Dubai prepares to open the Dubai Expo2020 world fair exhibition site next month.

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2021-09-19 12:07:36Z
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Singapore Pools Toa Payoh outlet shuts after employee tests positive for Covid-19 - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - A Singapore Pools branch in Toa Payoh has been closed until further notice, after an employee there tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday (Sept 17).

A spokesman for the betting operator said deep cleaning has been carried out at the outlet at Block 111 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh.

A notice pasted at the branch advised people to visit the outlets at Block 85 and Block 95 in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh instead.

This comes after two Livewire sports betting venues were closed after a Covid-19 patient visited them in June.

The venues - one at China Square in Chinatown and another at the Singapore Pools Building in Rochor - have since been reopened. Livewire sports betting outlets are run by Singapore Pools.

Australia says it was 'upfront' with France over submarine deal as crisis continues - CNA

SYDNEY: Australia defended its scrapping of a deal for French submarines on Sunday (Sep 19), saying the government had raised concerns to Paris for months, as a new deal with the United States and Britain continued to fuel a multinational diplomatic crisis.

"I don't regret the decision to put Australia's national interest first," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Australia ditched the 2016 deal with France's Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines, announcing on Thursday a plan to build at least eight nuclear-powered ones with US and British technology in a trilateral security partnership.

The move infuriated France, a NATO ally of the United States and Britain, prompting it to recall its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra. It also riled China, the major rising power in the Indo-Pacific region.

Morrison said he understood France's disappointment over the cancellation of the order - valued at US$40 billion in 2016 and reckoned to cost much more today - but reiterated that Australia must always take decisions in its best interest.

"This is an issue that had been raised by me directly some months ago and we continued to talk those issues through, including by defence ministers and others," Morrison told a briefing.

The new trilateral deal has put Washington in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with France that analysts say could do lasting damage to the US alliances with France and Europe, also throwing into doubt the united front that US President Joe Biden has been seeking to forge against China's growing power.

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2021-09-19 03:56:07Z
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Australia had 'deep and grave concerns' over French submarines: PM Scott Morrison - The Straits Times

MELBOURNE (AFP, REUTERS) - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday (Sept 19) that the French government would have known Canberra had “deep and grave concerns” about French submarines before the deal was torn up last week.

France is furious at Australia’s decision to withdraw from a multibillion-dollar deal to build French submarines in favour of American nuclear-powered vessels, recalling its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington and accusing its allies of “lying” about their plans.

The deal has put Washington in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with France that analysts say could do lasting damage to the US alliance with France and Europe, throwing into doubt the united front that the Joe Biden administration has been seeking to forge against China's growing power.

Mr Morrison said he understood the French government’s “disappointment” but said he had raised issues with the deal “some months ago”, as had other Australian government ministers.

“I think they would have had every reason to know that we had deep and grave concerns that the capability being delivered by the Attack Class submarine was not going to meet our strategic interests and we made very clear that we would be making a decision based on our strategic national interest,” he told a press conference in Sydney.

Mr Morrison said it would have been “negligent” to proceed with the deal against intelligence and defence advice and that doing so would be counter to Australia’s strategic interests.

“I don’t regret the decision to put Australia’s national interest first. Never will,” he said.

Australia was "upfront, open and honest" with France about its concerns over French submarines, Australia's Defence Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday.

Paris has called the cancellation a stab in the back, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying that relations with the US and Australia were in a "crisis".

But Mr Dutton said on Sunday that Australia had been raising concerns with France over the order - valued at US$40 billion (S$53.9 billion) in 2016 and reckoned to cost much more today - for a couple of years.

"Suggestions that the concerns hadn't been flagged by the Australian government just defy, frankly, what's on the public record and certainly what they've said publicly over a long period of time," Mr Dutton told Sky News.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia had informed France of the deal but acknowledged on Sunday the negotiations had been secret, given the "enormous sensitivities".

Mr Dutton and Mr Birmingham declined to reveal costs of the new pact, although Mr Dutton said "it's not going to be a cheap project".

Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the new security pact with Australia and the US showed Britain's readiness to be "hard-headed" in defending its own interests.

“This is about more than foreign policy in the abstract, but delivering for people across the UK and beyond by partnering with like-minded countries to build coalitions based on shared values and shared interests,” the newly appointed Ms Truss wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

“We will be working closer together to use a wide range of cutting-edge technologies, from nuclear-powered submarines at first and then looking at artificial intelligence and quantum computing. It shows our readiness to be hard-headed in defending our interests and challenging unfair practices and malign acts.”

Ms Truss said it also showed Britain’s commitment to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

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2021-09-19 03:55:34Z
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Minggu, 19 September 2021

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