The Woman at the Center of Rumors Surrounding the Disappearance of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang: Fu Xiaotian's Controversial Birthday Wishes, Garden Donations, and Internal Turmoil at Phoenix TV
The U.S. and China Are Restarting Climate Talks; Canadian Politicians Who Criticize China Become Its Targets; China's new wave of 'live commerce' relying less on influencers
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Exclusive: The Woman at the Center of Rumors Surrounding the Disappearance of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang: Fu Xiaotian's Controversial Birthday Wishes, Garden Donations, and Internal Turmoil at Phoenix TV
2023-07-15
On the evening of March 19, 2023, Beijing time, Fu Xiaotian posted a lengthy article on her personal Weibo, sending birthday wishes: "Many happy returns!" This greeting does not mean "wishing you many returns" (TO HAVE many happy returns), but rather expresses the beautiful wish of "having this very day year after year, and this very moment year after year" (Many happy returns TO THIS VERY DAY). In the span of a hundred years of life, most people are approaching or have passed the halfway mark. We should overlook the so-called gains and rewards and understand that true happiness lies in health, inner peace, and overflowing joy. Therefore, truly caring for someone is not expecting them to soar in their career and stand alone at the pinnacle of success, but hoping they can maintain physical and mental freedom and comfort, possess bright eyes filled with love, reunite with family, and witness the beauty of sunrise and sunset together. So, once again, I wish you "Many happy returns!"
According to public information, the current Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang, was born on March 19, 1966.
In addition, a screenshot purported to be from Fu Xiaotian's Weibo has been circulating online, showing her wishing her newborn son's father a "Happy Birthday" on the evening of March 18 (morning of March 19 in Beijing time). However, this post is not currently displayed on Fu Xiaotian's Weibo, and it is uncertain whether it has been deleted or hidden.
Regarding the name "Eer-Kin," some people refer to it as a name of Turkish origin.
Based on Fu Xiaotian's visible Weibo content in the past year and a half, her timeline of activities is as follows:
February 14, 2022: In Los Angeles.
Around March 20, 2022: Conducting interviews in Washington and airing the program within two or three days.
June 2022: Returning to China for quarantine (later flying back to Los Angeles).
March 4, 2023: Her son, Eer-Kin, was born 100 days ago (indicating Eer-Kin's birthday to be November 24, 2022).
As of July 14, 2023, rumors about Fu Xiaotian have not been confirmed. Some people's attention has shifted to objective facts and objects, such as the Xiaotian Garden at Churchill College, Cambridge.
Regarding why Churchill College at the University of Cambridge built a garden for Fu Xiaotian when she was only 33 years old, official information indicates that Fu Xiaotian graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2008. Churchill College began constructing the garden for her in 2016, and it was completed in 2019. This progress was indeed quite fast. An official press release stated that the garden was built with Fu Xiaotian's donation, but the question is, as a news anchor, where did she obtain the funds for donation? Do I have any friends familiar with this topic and aware of the qualifications and amount required to donate a garden to the University of Cambridge?
In the year before the opening of the Xiaotian Garden, in 2018, Churchill College designed and built the Xu Zhimo Garden to commemorate Xu Zhimo. It was the first Chinese-style garden built on the campus of the University of Cambridge, incorporating the concepts of Chinese Taoism and Buddhism. The central part of the garden is made of black and white pebbles arranged in a yin-yang pattern, and a pathway is inscribed with verses from Xu Zhimo's poem "Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again" in both Chinese and English, passing through the "yin" and "yang" sections. King's College had inscribed Xu Zhimo's verses on a marble monument in 2008 and expanded the Xu Zhimo Garden around the monument.
Regarding rumors about Fu Xiaotian, as of July 14, 2023, they have not been confirmed. However, some netizens have questioned the content she shared on Weibo, including doubts about traveling on a private plane, as such expenses seem inconsistent with her income as a news anchor at Phoenix TV.
Fu Xiaotian's last Weibo post was made on April 10, and there have been no updates since then. Currently, we can only try to piece together possible answers based on past reports.
Regarding Fu Xiaotian's background, according to an interview she gave in 2015, she was born in the 1980s in a revolutionary family in Beibei, Chongqing. Her great-grandparents and grandparents were all veterans of the Red Army who settled in Chongqing after moving south with the army.
When asked if she felt a contrast as a woman engaged in long-term work in economics, news, and politics, Fu Xiaotian replied that as a Gemini, she has a natural curiosity and unwillingness to wait, which drives her to take the initiative and pursue facts that people don't understand. Only by entering this industry can she witness news history up close and obtain firsthand information. She also pays attention to fashion like most women, but it is only a part of her life, like a seasoning, unable to cultivate her taste or be the field she seeks to conquer. Fu Xiaotian also stated that her ideal is to be a journalist, so the profession and identity she identifies with the most is a reporter.
Regarding her emotional life and views on love, Fu Xiaotian expressed admiration for the carefree nature of the French. Whether married or not, French women are always seen as symbols of refinement and elegance, independently planning the life they should enjoy. Fu Xiaotian once asked a French colleague about this, who had a daughter around the same age as Fu Xiaotian. When others worried about his daughter's marriage, he surprisedly said, "My daughter is very popular now, why should she get married?" Fu Xiaotian appreciates this independent and self-enjoying attitude. However, after returning to Hong Kong, she cannot identify with women who constantly talk about marriage and men.
Regarding gender relationships, in a previous episode of the talk show "Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing" mentioned earlier, Fu Xiaotian, Ma Jiahui, and Dou Wentao discussed political correctness. Fu Xiaotian said, "I think one of the reasons why I often annoy people is that I genuinely support political correctness." Dou Wentao mentioned, "Chinese people say that it's about fate between individuals. I think in this world, there seem to be many correct principles, but who wants to be bound by these principles? It's better to leave this world. Sometimes, I feel that in certain aspects, like you said, in social occasions or in certain platforms like selecting a president, it seems there is a common denominator, and everyone thinks that if you're like Trump, you have the qualifications of a man, then I would think someone like you shouldn't be president. But we have had similar things in our country, right? It seems that to be a president, you should not have such remarks privately. In other words, the people who adhere to the common denominator think that to be a president, your moral standards should be such that there are some things you cannot say like an ordinary person."
Fu Xiaotian responded, "I don't think it can be said like that. Let me first address what Mr. Jiahui said earlier about that law in a certain state in the United States. I think both men and women will have different reactions from their perspectives. Men might say, 'What's the point of that? What's the point of me playing around then? What's the fun in that?' Right? They might feel annoyed and resistant. But when women see it, it's fine. Because there will definitely be two types of people. One type is your girlfriend, and in certain situations, both you and your girlfriend might have certain written requirements. Would you write them down? That's impossible. But if you don't know where the other person stands? You don't know what they're thinking. Well, okay, let's write it down then, right? But why would you be with those people all the time? Right? There's a saying that you lie on the bed you make. It's your choice. If you want to be with those kinds of people, you're not clear about what they feel about you. You're not clear about how they define the act of getting into bed. If you're with a girl and even take risks for further actions, that's your choice. You have that choice, and of course, there will be further risks, even legal risks. If you don't want to take on such legal risks, then okay, this law comes out, so you write it down."
Furthermore, an informed source revealed that it is well known within Phoenix TV that despite its glamorous appearance, there are various problems internally. Among the presenters, apart from a few who possess professional competence and personal ideals, the majority are filled with people seeking political opportunism and a means to change their own fate. In the early years, Phoenix TV relied on the Beijing Broadcasting Institute (now known as the Communication University of China) as its resource base. The person in charge of the Broadcasting Institute also regarded Phoenix TV as a base for living a corrupt life, obtaining many benefits in life and having complex relationships with many anchors. People from Phoenix TV themselves say that female presenters cannot go on air unless they have sexual relationships with their superiors. Subsequently, some Chinese businessmen also sought Phoenix TV presenters as lovers, partners, or wives without knowing how many hands these presenters had gone through. When the Broadcasting Institute was unable to meet the needs of women confined to mainland China, they used the justification of shaping Phoenix TV as an international Chinese media image and gave priority to recruiting many overseas women from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other places. Some of these women took advantage of this opportunity to find goals in life, shaping themselves as celebrities and high-end ladies, and engaging with politicians, businessmen, and the privileged. Currently, Phoenix TV's influence has declined significantly. Although it is registered in Hong Kong on the surface, it has almost no audience there, cannot establish a foothold in Taiwan, and has limited influence in the overseas Chinese market. It is actually a false export but a true domestic consumption, with even greater fame in mainland China. However, with the rise of the internet and social media, Phoenix TV's status has greatly diminished and become a fallen chicken.
A few years ago, Phoenix North America TV had a collective scandal that was eventually settled through a backstage deal, covering up the scandal.
The U.S. and China Are Restarting Climate Talks: Here’s Where Things Stand
NY Times
John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy for climate change, is set to arrive in Beijing on Sunday to restart climate negotiations with the Chinese government. He is slated to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, and other officials for three days of talks, with the goal of finding ways to work together on climate change despite simmering tensions between the two countries on trade, human rights and other issues. The United States and China are the world’s biggest economies, the world’s biggest investors in renewable energy and, most critically, the world’s biggest fossil fuel polluters. Together they spew about 40 percent of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Analysts agree that the speed with which the two countries slash emissions and help other nations transition to wind, solar and other forms of clean energy will determine whether the planet can avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.
Canadian Politicians Who Criticize China Become Its Targets
NY Times
Evidence of Chinese interference in Canadian politics is mounting. Chinese state interference and its threat to Canadian democracy have become national issues after an extraordinary series of leaks of intelligence reports to The Globe and Mail newspaper by a national security official who said that government officials were not taking the threat seriously enough. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under increasing pressure to call for a public inquiry. China’s former consul general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling, boasted in 2021, according to The Globe, about helping defeat two Conservative lawmakers, including one she described as a “vocal distractor” of the Chinese government: Kenny Chiu. The Chinese Benevolent Association, or C.B.A. — one of Vancouver’s oldest and most influential civic organizations — was a longtime supporter of Taiwan until it turned pro-Beijing in the 1980s. But it has recently become a cheerleader of some of Beijing’s most controversial policies, placing ads in Chinese-language newspapers to support the 2020 imposition of a sweeping national security law that cracked down on basic freedoms in Hong Kong.
China’s June home prices fail to relieve concerns about sluggish market
South China Morning Post
Home prices in mainland China remained lacklustre in June, raising concerns about the post-pandemic recovery of the country's economy. Prices of new homes in first-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, ranged from a 0.4% increase to a 0.3% decrease compared to the previous month. In second-tier cities, prices remained flat, while third-tier cities saw a 0.1% decrease. Declining home prices in large cities have also accelerated in the secondary market, falling 0.7% in June. The weak performance of the property market is expected to have a significant impact on China's overall economy.
China's new wave of 'live commerce' relying less on influencers
Nikkei Asia
Apple has shaken up China's "live commerce" culture by having employees pitch iPhones and other products during its livestreaming event on China's Tmall online marketplace. This is a departure from the usual practice of having influencers sell products directly through livestreams. Live commerce, including live commerce e-commerce, has become deeply entrenched in Chinese social media, with the market valued at $168bn in 2021 and forecast to grow 1.8 times by 2025. However, critics argue that selling products through influencers is not cost-effective for companies due to high product returns and the fees paid to influencers.
Wang Yi urges EU to 'clarify' its position on partnership with China
Reuters
China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, has called on the European Union (EU) to clarify its position on its strategic partnership with Beijing. This comes as EU leaders have expressed a desire to reduce dependence on China, calling the country an "economic competitor" and a "systemic rival". Wang urged the EU to strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation, stating that there is no fundamental conflict of interest between China and the EU. He also called for caution against the politicisation of economic issues and the use of "de-risking" as another term for "decoupling".
How Tsingtao’s fizzing IPO kickstarted 30 years of Chinese offshore listings
South China Morning Post
The Hong Kong stock exchange is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first offshore IPO by a Chinese company. On 21 June 1993, Tsingtao Brewery handed out glasses of beer along with flutes of champagne to celebrate its HKD889m ($114m) initial public offering. The IPO was a success, with the stock price rising 29% on its debut day and investors outbidding the number of available shares by 110 times. Since then, 389 Chinese companies have raised a total of HKD2.08tn in Hong Kong, accounting for two-thirds of the total. If each dividend Tsingtao has paid out since 1993 was reinvested in its stock, the total return would be 42 times, according to Bloomberg. Additionally, HKD5,600 paid in 1993 for one board lot of Tsingtao stock would be worth HKD117,440 now.
China's top diplomat urges stable ties with India as military tensions simmer
Reuters
China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, has called for the stabilization of bilateral ties between China and India as the two countries seek to ease military tensions along their border. Wang emphasized the need for mutual support and cooperation between the two nations, rather than suspicion. India and China share a long and disputed border, and tensions escalated in 2020 following a deadly clash between their troops. Wang urged both countries to work towards a solution acceptable to both sides and not let specific issues define their overall relationship. The two sides have agreed to hold the next round of military talks on border issues soon.
Will Hong Kong developers’ bets on Greater Bay Area backfire?
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong developers are optimistic about the potential of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and are using it as an opportunity to diversify away from Hong Kong, where the market has been struggling. Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest developer, is focusing on transport-oriented development (TOD) models that make full use of mass transit facilities, providing easy access to major cities in the GBA. New World Development has the largest exposure to the GBA, accounting for about 21% of its total assets. Other developers with projects in the GBA include CK Asset Holdings, Henderson Land Development, and Swire Properties.
How South China Sea controversies put Chinese interests in Vietnam at stake
South China Morning Post
Vietnamese authorities have banned the Warner Bros film Barbie for allegedly containing an illustration that depicted China's nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea. Chinese firm IME Entertainment, which is organising a concert in Hanoi later this month, was also found to have included a map showing the nine-dash line on its website. Vietnamese authorities are investigating the issue and there have been calls on social media for a boycott of the concert. Chinese investors have been deterred from investing in Vietnam as a result of China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and its nine-dash line claim.
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