Comment by Riaz Haq on January 11, 2019 at 9:28am

How #China could dominate #science and #technology . In 2013-18, more #research publications came from China than from any other country in 23 of the 30 busiest fields. China accounted for 11% of the most influential papers in 2014-16. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/01/12/how-china-could-domina... via @TheEconomist

There is no doubting Mr Xi’s determination. Modern science depends on money, institutions and oodles of brainpower. Partly because its government can marshal all three, China is hurtling up the rankings of scientific achievement, as our investigations show (see article). It has spent many billions of dollars on machines to detect dark matter and neutrinos, and on institutes galore that delve into everything from genomics and quantum communications to renewable energy and advanced materials. An analysis of 17.2m papers in 2013-18, by Nikkei, a Japanese publisher, and Elsevier, a scientific publisher, found that more came from China than from any other country in 23 of the 30 busiest fields, such as sodium-ion batteries and neuron-activation analysis. The quality of American research has remained higher, but China has been catching up, accounting for 11% of the most influential papers in 2014-16.

Such is the pressure on Chinese scientists to make breakthroughs that some put ends before means. Last year He Jiankui, an academic from Shenzhen, edited the genomes of embryos without proper regard for their post-partum welfare—or that of any children they might go on to have. Chinese artificial-intelligence (ai) researchers are thought to train their algorithms on data harvested from Chinese citizens with little oversight. In 2007 China tested a space-weapon on one of its weather satellites, littering orbits with lethal space debris. Intellectual-property theft is rampant.

The looming prospect of a dominant, rule-breaking, high-tech China alarms Western politicians, and not just because of the new weaponry it will develop. Authoritarian governments have a history of using science to oppress their own people. China already deploys ai techniques like facial recognition to monitor its population in real time. The outside world might find a China dabbling in genetic enhancement, autonomous ais or

geoengineering extremely frightening.

These fears are justified. A scientific superpower wrapped up in a one-party dictatorship is indeed intimidating. But the effects of China’s growing scientific clout do not all point one way.

For a start, Chinese science is about much more than weapons and oppression. From better batteries and new treatments for disease to fundamental discoveries about, say, dark matter, the world has much to gain from China’s efforts.

Moreover, it is unclear whether Mr Xi is right. If Chinese research really is to lead the field, then science may end up changing China in ways he is not expecting.

Mr Xi talks of science and technology as a national project. However, in most scientific research, chauvinism is a handicap. Expertise, good ideas and creativity do not respect national frontiers. Research takes place in teams, which may involve dozens of scientists. Published papers get you only so far: conferences and face-to-face encounters are essential to grasp the subtleties of what everyone else is up to. There is competition, to be sure; military and commercial research must remain secret. But pure science thrives on collaboration and exchange.

This gives Chinese scientists an incentive to observe international rules—because that is what will win its researchers access to the best conferences, laboratories and journals, and because unethical science diminishes China’s soft power. Mr He’s gene-editing may well be remembered not just for his ethical breach, but also for the furious condemnation he received from his Chinese colleagues and the threat of punishment from the authorities. The satellite destruction in 2007 caused outrage in China. It has not been repeated.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 11, 2019 at 9:46am

Pak Army shall ensure security of CPEC at all costs, Gen Bajwa tells President Xi Jinping

https://www.dawn.com/news/1433887

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Bajwa, on special invitation, called on the President of China Xi Jinping in China on Wednesday to discuss the region's security and the challenges it is faced with, the military's media wing said.

The Chinese president acknowledged that Pakistan has been a "time-tested iron friend" to China and the Pakistan Army has had a role in this lasting relationship, according to a statement released on Twitter by Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor.

The Chinese president promised that his country would continue to work with Pakistan and support it as a strategic partner.

He said that those who oppose the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) "shall never succeed as this is an initiative of peace and development not only for China but for [the] region and beyond".

Gen Bajwa said that Pakistan "understands the importance of peace and has [made a] lot of sacrifices for achieving it".

"BRI with CPEC as its flagship is destined to succeed despite all odds and the Pakistan Army shall ensure security of CPEC at all costs," the Gen Bajwa assured the Chinese president.

The army chief added that "we need to stay strong to thwart designs of all inimical forces challenging our resolve and we greatly value [the] Chinese support in this regard".

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 15, 2019 at 7:27am

Hike shows why super apps don’t work in India the way they do in China


https://qz.com/india/1522956/why-kavin-mittals-hike-could-not-be-ch...


In China, WeChat—a mash-up of WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, Paypal, Twitter, Uber, Kindle, and more—has become an indispensable part of everyday life for people. The super app provides a long list of services from booking cabs to ordering food delivery to playing games to transferring money, keeping users locked in its ecosystem.

But the creator of India’s popular instant messaging app, Hike, believes this is no China.

Until now, Hike has housed messaging, news updates, digital payments, and cab bookings all under one app-roof. But on Jan. 10, it announced plans to unbundle in 2019.

“In our business the user experience is key and the value isn’t just in the number of users but how engaged they are on our platforms,” said founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal. “Unbundling Hike into multiple apps focused on doing one thing allows us more room in the pixels to deliver much more around one problem.”

Social features like messaging, and content where snackable posts are available, are two segments within the current Hike app that drive high engagement. Users spend upwards of 30 minutes daily in each. Going forward, Hike’s 100 million users will be able to choose between continuing to use the current Hike app or migrating to the specific new apps as they branch off.

Experts think the decision is apt. “India is still in the formative stages when it comes to getting users acquainted to being app-dependent,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. “Super apps are for more evolved users who have already gone through the learning curve. Hence they do way better in Japan and China, where penetration of smartphones and mobile internet is way better.” In fact, WeChat itself tanked in India.

The move comes eight months after Hike, which began as an instant messenger in 2012, admitted to spreading itself too thin. In the first place, the company didn’t have a clear path to monetisation; acquisitions and employees were weighing heavy on its costs. As part of cleaning up its act, Hike shuttered its Bengaluru office and laid off nearly 25% of its 350-strong workforce in May last year.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 16, 2019 at 7:28am

Going cashless in Shanghai
By Jennifer Pak

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/01/15/world/going-cashless-shanghai

It’s been more than six years since the World Trade Organization ruled that foreign credit card companies should be able to operate freely in China, but it still hasn’t happened.

And it might already be too late for Visa, Mastercard and American Express to compete there. Only one in two people in China has a credit card, according to the People's Bank of China. The average American has 2.6 cards.

In major cities like Shanghai, residents can get by with just two mobile payment apps: Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay.

Mobile payment has exploded in China. In 2016, Chinese consumers made about $23 trillion (157.55 trillion yuan) worth of transactions through mobile payment platforms, according to the People's Bank of China. That compares to an estimate of just over $100 billion in the U.S. that same year.

Jennifer Pak, Marketplace China correspondent
Forms of payments used in the last 72 hours: Mostly WeChat Pay, Alipay

Places of purchase: Local vegetable and seafood market, fruit store, DiDi rideshare app, supermarket, e-commerce app Taobao by Alibaba, restaurants, Shanghai utilities

Items: Vegetables, seafood, meat, fruits, baking soda, taxi fares, children’s toy, utility bills, meals at restaurants

Cash use: Once, to pay for Chinese language lessons

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 24, 2019 at 1:32pm

After visit of #China's #Uyghur region by diplomats of 12 large #Muslim population nations incl. #India, here's #Pakistan diplomat Mumtaz Zahra Baloch: "During this visit, I did not find any instance of forced labour or cultural and religious repression" https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/no-cultural-r...

A senior Pakistani diplomat on Thursday put up a staunch defence of the controversial education camps in China's volatile Xinjiang province where thousands of Uyghur Muslims have been reportedly detained, saying there is no forced labour or cultural and religious repression in the region.

China recently took diplomats from 12 countries with large Muslim populations, including India and Pakistan, to its Xinjiang province where tens of thousands of members of the minority Uyghur Muslims have been interned in education camps.


"During this visit, I did not find any instance of forced labour or cultural and religious repression," Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the Charge d'affaires, Pakistan's Embassy in China, told the state-run Global Times on Thursday.

"The imams we met at the mosques and the students and teachers at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute told us that they enjoy freedom in practicing Islam and that the Chinese government extends support for maintenance of mosques all over Xinjiang," said 
Baloch, who visited Xinjiang as part of delegation of diplomats.

"Similarly, I did not see any sign of cultural repression. The Uyghur culture as demonstrated by their language, music and dance is very much part of the life of the people of Xinjiang," she said.

Asked about the security situation in Xinjiang, which has been "beset by terrorism", Baloch said, "we learned that the recent measures have resulted in improvement of the security situation in Xinjiang and there have been no incidents of terrorism in recent months." 

"The counter-terrorism measures being taken are multidimensional and do not simply focus on law enforcement aspects. Education, poverty alleviation and development are key to the counter-terrorism strategy of the Chinese government," she said.

Xinjiang's regional government invited diplomatic envoys as well as representatives from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Kuwait following reports about detention of thousands of Uygur and other Muslims in massive education camps.

The UN's Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last year said that it was alarmed by "numerous reports of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities" being detained in Xinjiang region and called for their immediate release.

Estimates about them "range from tens of thousands to upwards of a million," it had said.

China defended the camps, saying they are re-education camps aimed at de-radicalising sections of the Uyghur population from extremism and separatism.

China has been carrying out massive crackdown on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Xinjiang province, where Uyghurs who formed majority in the region were restive over the increasing settlements of Han community.

Pakistan and several other Muslim countries faced criticism about their silence over China's crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang.

China has about 20 million Muslims who are mostly Uyghurs, an ethnic group of Turkic origin, and Hui Muslims, who are of the Chinese ethnic origin. While Uyghurs lived in Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Hui Muslims resided in Ningxia province.

Baloch said the delegation was given full and open access to the three centres that they visited in Kashgar and Hotan.

"The training program includes teaching of national common language (Chinese), law and constitution and vocational skills. The students also participate in recreational activities like sports, music and dance. We witnessed several skill classes being offered in these centres," she said.

"During the visits to these centres, we had the opportunity to interact with both the management and the students. We observed the students to be in good physical health. The living facilities are fairly modern and comfortable with separate dormitories for men and women. They are being served halal food," she said.

She said the Uyghur language is being used in official establishments, airports, subway stations, police stations or hotels.

"Even the copies of the Koran that we saw in the mosques and the Islamic centre were translated into the Uyghur language. The most visible sign of protection of Uyghur culture by the government is the government-run bilingual kindergarten schools where children learn Putonghua as well as Uyghur language and culture from a very young age," she said.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 8, 2019 at 7:14am

#China's #Huawei takes #5G fight to #India and #Pakistan. India, Pakistan and #Sri Lanka are all aiming for the commercial deployment of 5G services in the second half of 2020, with #Bangladesh more likely to launch its 5G network in 2021. #technology https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/5G-networks/Huawei-takes-5G-fight...


"Go digital, not political, is a choice that serves the interests of all stakeholders," a spokesman for Huawei Southeast Asia, which includes the Indian subcontinent, told Nikkei Asian Review. "We will try our best to complete the trial for customers, and work together with industry partners to push forward the 5G ecosystem."

India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are all aiming for the commercial deployment of 5G services in the second half of next year, with Bangladesh more likely to launch its 5G network in 2021.

Home to one quarter of the world's population, with mobile internet penetration forecast to rise to around 61% by 2025, the region is a potential gold mine for 5G equipment makers such as Huawei which last week reported soaring revenues of $105 billion for 2018.

Still, U.S. pressure on allied countries to bar Huawei from its 5G networks has begun to affect the the company. It's carrier business declined 1.3 percent last year, and this week Britain's IHS Markit said Huawei had fallen behind Sweden's Ericsson as the world's largest telecom equipment maker.

"In India, the policy ambiguity surrounding Huawei's participation in 5G trials, is casting a shadow over operator readiness," Prabhu Ram, head of industry intelligence at Cyber Media Research, told Nikkei. "The government is expected to examine all security related issues before allowing Huawei to take part in 5G trials in India."

---

Close links between Beijing and Islamabad are also expected to boost Huawei's 5G ambitions in Pakistan, which has already benefited from investment worth tens of billions of dollars under China's flagship Belt and Road Initiative.

"Huawei have already established a strong presence in the Pakistani market," a senior Pakistan Telecommunications Authority official told Nikkei. "This should give them an edge."

According to Huawei, 5G will bring industry opportunities worth $1.2 trillion to South Asia and Southeast Asia over the next five years.

"The number of 5G subscribers will top 80 million, Internet traffic will grow by 5 times in total, more than 20 smart cities are on the way, and wireless, digital and intelligent equipment will improve social productivity by 4-8% on average,'' Huawei told Nikkei.

Shrugging off U.S. accusations that it spies on behalf of China, Huawei urged countries across the region to cooperate with equipment vendors who had showed true local commitment.

"In the past decades, Huawei has carried out extensive and intensive cooperation with governments and operators, and we keep bringing innovative, leading, secure and reliable products to all countries and help them build the most advanced and secure connection services," Huawei said.

One difficulty for many telecom providers across South Asia will be keeping prices low enough to ensure adequate consumer take-up rates.

"Attractive tariffs for 5G users will be the key to encouraging a large number of customers" Mohammad Suhail, head of the Karachi based Topline Securities Investors' Advisory.

Charges for data services in Pakistan were higher than in many other developing world economies countries, Suhail said, with equipment outlays and the high prices for 5G spectrum expected to add to cost pressures.

Mahtab Uddin, chief executive of Bangladesh's second largest mobile network operator Robi Axiata, which uses Huawei equipment for its services, said his company was struggling to make a profit and he has urged the government to consider cutting taxes and keeping spectrum prices low.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 14, 2019 at 10:25am

#China is top destination for foreign #education for #Pakistan with 28,023 students. #Pakistan ranks third after #SouthKorea with 50,600 and #Thailand with 28,608 students in #China. #India ranks 4th with 23,198, and #UnitedStates 5th with 20,996. https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/457905-china-becomes-top-destinat...

A total of 492,185 international students from 196 countries and regions studied in China, last year, up 0.62 percent on the previous year.

The number of students pursuing academic education increased by 6.86 percent year-on-year to 258,122, accounting for 52.44 percent of the total.

Students studying for master’s and doctoral degrees increased by 12.28 percent to 85,062. Most international students in China have been self-funded, accounting for 87.19 percent of the total.

The official data shows that China has become the top education destination for Pakistani students as out of all of them enrolled in Chinese universities, around 7,034 are studying on scholarships.

The number of Pakistani students has risen in China mainly because of a series of preferential policies offered by the Chinese government after the launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a pilot project of Belt and Road Initiative.

Currently, 6,156 Pakistani students are studying in Ph.D., 3,600 in Masters, 11,100 in Bachelors and 3,000 in Short Term Exchange Programs across China.

Pakistani students are studying Chinese language, engineering, medical, computer science and various other fields.

Various scholarships are provided by the Chinese government to lure international students over – most notably, students from the Belt and Road Initiative participating countries and regions have been facilitated to obtain scholarships under the Chinese Government Scholarship – Silk Road Program.

Pakistani students also enthusiastically participate in cultural activities organized different universities across China.

They set up booths decorated with traditional Pakistani stuff and beautiful posters depicting different social and cultural activities and historical places in Pakistan.

Pakistani students also represent the country in the music, essay writing, and photography competitions to be organized under the Belt and Road Initiative in China.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 29, 2019 at 7:45am

China Focus: China, Pakistan cooperate to cultivate technical talents

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/29/c_138099444.htm

After the conclusion of the First Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing in 2017, a delegation of Pakistan's largest province Punjab headed to Tianjin and signed an agreement with the coastal municipality to cooperate on vocational education.

In July 2018, Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College and Punjab's Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority co-founded the Pakistan Luban Workshop in Punjab. The workshop offers courses such as new energy vehicles and electromechanical integration technology.

Ali (Arqam, 19) was among the first batch of students recruited by the workshop. "The learning process is so much fun, just like playing toys," he said, adding he was impressed by the advanced training facilities of the workshop.

Apart from the workshop in Pakistan, eight Luban Workshops have been set up in Asia, Africa and Europe since 2016, training more than 4,000 students and about 600 teachers.

"The workshop doesn't teach local students directly but trains local teachers at first. This is a bridge connecting China's vocational education with the world," said Lyu Jingquan, deputy director of Tianjin Municipal Education Commission.

In addition, the Punjab Tianjin University of Technology (PTUT) featuring vocational education was established in 2018, by three Tianjin universities and a vocational education training organization of Punjab. With nearly 500 students, PTUT offers seven specialties including mechanical engineering, automotive engineering, electrical engineering, electric engineering, fashion design and architecture.

"The students show great interest in our courses and are able to quickly acclimate to the new teaching methods," said Zhao Wei, a teacher from Tianjin University of Technology and Education, who's now teaching at PTUT.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION BOOSTS DEVELOPMENT

Of the nearly 200 million people in Pakistan, people aged between 16 and 30 accounts for about 60 percent of the entire population.

"We have a large number of young people, who need to be trained to master a skill, which could help them secure a job," said Muhammad Asif, the academic dean with PTUT.

Asif believed that professional and technical personnel have played an important role in China's economic development and helped China achieve great prosperity. The government of Punjab hopes to promote vocational education, cultivate highly skilled labor force, and increase youth employment, by learning from China's experience.

"Punjab attempts to improve employment through enhancing vocational education, while we also want to foster more talents for both Pakistani and Chinese enterprises along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," said Liu Xin, president of Tianjin University of Technology and Education.

Pakistan hopes to learn from China's experience of vocational education development to stimulate the development of the CPEC, according to Syed Javed Hassan, Chairman of Pakistan National Vocational and Technical Training Commission.

After over five years of construction, CPEC has yielded fruitful achievements, creating more than 75,000 jobs for Pakistan.

Aside from vocational education cooperation, China and Pakistan have a wider range of cooperation in education.

Statistics showed around 2,500 students from Pakistan went to study in China in 2017, and the number of Pakistani students in China stands at 22,000 as of May 2019.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 17, 2019 at 7:42pm

28,000 #Pakistanis studying in #China. 6,156 Pakistani #students in Phd, 3,600 in Masters, 11,100 in Bachelors and 3,000 in Short Term Exchange Programs. They's studying Chinese language, #engineering, #medicine, #computer science and other fields. #CPEC https://tribune.com.pk/story/1950783/1-28000-pakistanis-studying-ch...

Pakistan ranks third in the number of international students currently studying in China with 28,023 students, according to a statement issued by China’s Ministry of Education.

South Korea ranked first with 50,600 students, followed by Thailand with 28,608, India with 23,198, and the United States with 20,996.

A total of 492,185 international students from 196 countries studied in China, last year, up 0.62 per cent from the previous year. The number of students pursuing academic education increased by 6.86 per cent year-on-year to 258,122, accounting for 52.44 per cent of the total.

Students studying for master’s and doctoral degrees increased by 12.28 per cent to 85,062. Most international students in China have been self-funded, accounting for 87.19 per cent of the total.

The official data shows that China has become the top education destination for Pakistani students as out of all of them enrolled in Chinese universities, around 7,034 are studying on scholarships.

The number of Pakistani students has risen in China mainly because of a series of preferential policies offered by the Chinese government after the launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a pilot project of Belt and Road Initiative.

Currently, 6,156 Pakistani students are studying in Phd, 3,600 in Masters, 11,100 in Bachelors and 3,000 in Short Term Exchange Programs across China. Pakistani students are also studying Chinese language, engineering, medical, computer science and various other fields.

Various scholarships are provided by the Chinese government to lure international students over – most notably, students from the Belt and Road Initiative participating countries and regions have been facilitated to obtain scholarships under the Chinese Government Scholarship – Silk Road Program. Pakistani students also enthusiastically participate in cultural activities organised different universities across China.

They set up booths decorated with traditional Pakistani items and posters depicting different social and cultural activities and historical places in Pakistan.

Pakistani students also represent the country in the music, essay writing, and photography competitions to be organised under the Belt and Road Initiative in China.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 31, 2019 at 6:08pm

#Pakistani students shine at #Beijing Institute of Technology #China. Among distinguished international students from #Russia, #Poland, #Germany, #France, #Kazakhstan, #Egypt and #African countries, 85% of the top award winners are from #Pakistan. http://a.msn.com/0F/en-xl/BBYlsRv?ocid=st

BEIJING: A number of Pakistani students at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), a major research university under the supervision of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, were awarded “best student of the year” for their performance during current academic year.

Out of total distinguished international students from Russia, Poland, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Egypt and African countries who won the award, 85 per cent belonged to Pakistan, according to a data released by the institute.

Manzoor Sutlan, a student of Armament Science and Technology Department, excelled in the research on molecular dynamics simulation, co-crystallization to decrease, sensitivity of explosive materials.

Similarly, Syed Anees Haider Zaidi of Management Science and Engineering was awarded excellent student award for research in green supply chain.

Raja Hamid Dhanyak carried out research in electronic science and technology and Syed Zaheer from Mathematics department of the university conducted research in geometry and were declared excellent students.

Two students Zahoor Ahmed and Shujah-ur-Rehman from School of Management Economics excelled in carrying out research in environmental sustainability, energy economic and accounting respective.


Zeeshan Masood, a student of School of Automation and Ali Muhammad Rawahid, a student of aerospace engineering excellently performed during their research in control science and engineering and electric propulsion respectively.

Ubaid Khan, Qasim Umer and Adnan Tahir, students of school of optics and photonic, computer science and life sciences respective were selected or the excellent award for research in optical engineering, machine learning, software maintenance and bioinformatics and neurobiology.

More than 2,500 international students from 137 countries are currently enrolled at the university.
The largest student population is from Pakistan, South Korea, Russia, Poland, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Thailand.

Every year, the university nominates some students for excellent students of the year on the basis of their performance.

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