Apple, once called a “symbol of U.S.-China cooperation,” is expected to suffer great damage in the “high-tech war” between the two countries. “Apple is the king of the tech industry, but it is only a piece of game in the economic war between the world’s two major powers,” he said. “The market value has been hit hard by increasing signs that businesses in China are threatened.”Recently, the Chinese government banned central government officials and employees of state-run companies from using foreign-branded smartphones for business purposes. This seems to be due to concerns that sensitive information from the Chinese government could leak to other countries through overseas smartphones. Currently, iPhone is the only foreign smartphone that has secured a meaningful market share in China. For this reason, this measure is actually understood as an iPhone ban.China’s ban on Apple is symbolic. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there were about 56.3 million workers working for state-owned institutions as of 2021. For Apple, which sells the world’s most expensive smartphones, it is painful for Chinese officials to leave the market.
In addition, public figures and ‘celebs’ who are attracting attention in China will also hesitate to use iPhones in the future. Those who always have to pay close attention to the intentions of the Beijing leadership have no choice but to follow the silent order to “not use iPhone” even if they are not public officials. For this reason, Bank of America predicted, “This measure could eliminate up to 10 million out of annual iPhone sales (about 50 million units) in China.”Huawei, which is considered Apple’s competitor in China, is gaining huge popularity by releasing the 5th generation (5G) smartphone “Mate 60 Pro” despite all-round U.S. Some interpret the move as the Chinese government’s “push Huawei.” Apple, which will unveil the iPhone 15 series on the 12th, may feel pressured. Apple’s stock price has fallen about 7% since the report of the iPhone ban, with its market capitalization losing about USD 200 billion (about KRW 268 trillion).
China is the largest manufacturing base for Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone, designed by the U.S. and manufactured by China, seems to have paradoxically degenerated into a “long-term horse on the chessboard” in the U.S.-China economic war. WSJ analyzed, “If Apple cannot avoid bullets between the U.S. and China, which company will avoid them?” and “If Apple does not survive the U.S.-China war, no company will survive.”

JENNIFER KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

It is estimated that about 8.6 million people, or people born in the 1960s.In Korea, these generations usually start working in their 20s and work for about 30 years. This generation should take care of their parents and take responsibility for their children as they have learned from their responsibilities and obligations.So it’s not easy.Regardless, more than 10% of them have no problem supporting this life with the assets they have received from their parents leisurely or accumulated so far. However, the majority of the population, about 7-80 percent, are still on a daily allowance, looking for work or working daily. Instead of your health or leisure, you should eventually make money.Currently, the Korean economy does not look very smooth.Therefore, both business and work conditions make quality of life difficult. “The last generation to support parents, the first generation to not be supported by children.” Current cultural programs dealing with the life of those born in the 60s who cannot retire with the burden of “double support” on their shoulders are touching generations. Those born in the 60s felt homogeneous in their lives, and the generation of their children expressed gratitude and sorry for their parents’ generation.

A video titled “The old age of a person born in the 60s who has to continue working for his family even after retiring from a large company” has been uploaded and has recorded 890,000 views so far on the 30th. The video was considered a surge in YouTube popularity, especially among middle-aged people, and seems to have been watched by many people through Kakao Talk.The video focused on the reality that people born in their 60s, who account for the highest percentage of Korea’s total population, are still unable to give up their economic activities through both the boom and bust periods of Korea. The production team explained that they entered the labor market when the Korean economy took off in the mid- to late 1980s, contributed to economic development and worked hard for democratization, and in the 1990s, they also experienced the IMF financial crisis. He introduced that he suffered from double hardships in middle age by taking care of parents and children’s education, but he has just lived silently with the strength of enduring hunger. “Born in the 60s is a generation that has to support the previous generation privately and take care of their old age,” he said. He said, “The responsibility for double support lies with those born in the 60s, but society is not paying attention to that part.”Netizens who watched the video showed various reactions by generation. Those born in their 60s said, “The children are all grown up, but they cannot retire because there are 80 adults in the countryside.” “I am an ordinary head of the family who takes care of an old mother in her 90s and raises a son in her 20s. I don’t know how to do it, so I just live hard. “Life is not easy,” he said. The generation of children said, “Even if I say not to give it to my child like that, I am always sorry to my parents who help my child whenever he or she is having a hard time.” “I should call my parents who work hard not to harm my child.” “It breaks my heart. “I want you to buy it for yourself now,” he said.Statistics show the hard lives of the elderly, including those born in the 60s. As the number of elderly people who have to earn their own living expenses for economic reasons increased, the number of elderly people aged 60 or older who work doubled in 10 years. According to the National Statistics Portal of the National Statistical Office in March, the number of employed people aged 60 or older recorded 5.772 million in February. The number increased by 413,000 from a year ago. This is the largest ever since 1999, when related statistics began to be compiled as of February.

The number of employed people aged 60 or older was only 1,856,000 in February 2003, 20 years ago, but increased to 2,734,000 in February 2013, and rose to 5.7 million in February this year, 2.1 times higher than 10 years ago. As the baby boomers born between 1955 and 1963 entered their 60s, the elderly population itself increased rapidly.It is also characterized by an increase in the number of elderly people who have found jobs to earn living expenses. The employment rate, which shows the number of employed people compared to the actual population, has also increased. In February, the employment rate for those aged 60 or older was 42.8%, the highest as of February since statistics were compiled. The employment rate for those aged 60 or older has increased by 0.8 percentage points in 10 years from February 2003 (32.0 percent) to February 2013 (32.8 percent), but has risen sharply by 10 percentage points to 42.8 percent in the past decade.It is sad that one generation has once played the central role of Korea, but now he is in a position to take responsibility for his children and parents, giving up his life and even his old age, and just remain an icon of sacrifice

EJ SONG

US ASIA JOURNAL

An unmanned taxi (robot taxi) service that runs 24 hours a day without a driver has been launched in San Francisco.However, there are concerns that this robot taxi could become a 24-hour love hotel. The San Francisco Standard published an article interviewing four users who had sex at a robot taxi.The media claimed that sexual intercourse is taking place in RoboTaxi, but no one mentions it.
A passenger named Alex said he had sex three times in a robot taxi. “I think I’m a trailblazer,” he said. “It’s fun to realize that it’s a place where you can do this in the United States.”A passenger named Meghan said, “It’s not ideal, but we were in a public place and it was more fun and interesting because the act was prohibited.”
This proves that concerns that “robotaxi can be used as a place for sex” have come to reality over the years.In 2019, a video of a couple having sex in a Tesla moving through an autopilot, an autonomous driving device, spread.

At the time, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter, “There were more ways to use autopilot than we imagined,” adding, “I should have known this would happen.”In a report published in the journal “The Annals of Tourism Research” in 2018, there was also a saying that hotels used on an hourly basis are likely to be replaced by autonomous vehicles.Currently, in San Francisco, GM’s self-driving car Cruise and Google’s Waymo have been licensed to operate 24 hours a day since the 10th.
Cruise operates 300 vehicles at night and 100 vehicles during the day, while Waymo operates 250 vehicles.Cruise and Waymo vehicles have cameras and microphones not only outside but also inside. These devices are used for passenger safety and support. In the case of microphones, it is known that they are activated only during passenger support calls.In the meantime, the media explained that sex in an unmanned taxi may be in violation of the usage regulations.”In order for users to use the service, they must sign a rule that they will not engage in illegal or inappropriate behavior,” Cruz said. “Sex in the vehicle can be an ‘inappropriate behavior’.”

KS CHOI

US ASIA JOURNAL

According to AP on the 10th, Paqui, a manufacturer of One-Pip, asked a retailer to stop selling its products on the 8th.
“It says on the label that people who can’t eat spicy food or children shouldn’t eat snacks,” Pacqui said in a statement on its official website the previous day. “But we decided to work with retailers to take them off the shelves.”According to the news agency, the product package contains warnings such as “This challenge targets adults, not people who are sensitive to spicy food or have underlying diseases,” and “eat snacks and don’t drink any drinks for as long as possible and post them on social media to see people’s reactions.”Earlier, according to the Daily Mail in the UK, Harris Willova (14) from Worcester, Massachusetts, died after complaining of abdominal pain after participating in the One-Tap Challenge on the 3rd.

The exact cause of death is not yet known, but Willova’s mother claimed her son died of complications from spicy snacks. In response, local media reported that Pacqui stopped selling it as a memorial, saying, “I feel deep sadness and express my condolences to my family.”Dr. Peter Tsai of Brigham Women’s Hospital said, “Eating snacks containing high concentrations of capsaicin can lead to death. Eating a lot can cause arrhythmia or irreversible heart damage.”Massachusetts authorities also warned students and parents of the dangers of the One-Pip Challenge.”Parents should talk about this with their children and stop them from participating in the challenge,” Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early saidThe snack, officially called “Pacqui Chips,” uses reaper peppers and naga viper peppers, known as the world’s hottest peppers, as ingredients. In particular, the “Scoville Index,” which shows the degree of spiciness, reaches 2.2 million. Cheongyang red pepper in Korea is between 4,000 and 10,000.The One-Pip Challenge is an event that lasts without drinking any drinks for a certain period of time after eating this Pacqui chips.

JENNIFER KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

The press conference held on September 7 at Johnny & Associates, a Japanese entertainment company, shocked the industry and the public. In this interview JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES PRESIDENT JULIE K. For the first time, FUJISHIMA has admitted to sexual harassment charges, acknowledging its responsibility and announcing that it will step down from all positions. This was a formal acknowledgment of the sexual harassment issue by the former president in the history of Johnny & Associates.Previously, he was not aware of Johnny H. Kitagawa’s alleged annoyance and was not aware of it at all, but admitted at the press conference that he was aware of it for the first time, saying, “I want to take responsibility as a nephew because it’s a problem caused by my uncle.”Noriyuki Higashiyama, who was newly appointed as the new president of Johnny & Associates at the press conference, was also an entertainer of a group that gained popularity not only in Japan but also in Asia in the past as a group called Shonen-tai, whose founder Johnny H. Kitagawa debuted as an entertainer. As such a celebrity entertainment company, the former president’s recognition shocked not only Japan but also the people and media who liked and were interested in J-Pop.

In addition, the founder of JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES held two Guinness world records, but this incident deleted all records other than the person who produced the most concerts.According to Reuters, JOHNNY & ASOCIATES has been introduced as an entertainment company with a significant presence in Japanese culture, producing popular J-POP artists from all over East Asia, such as SMAP and arasi. However, former President Johnny H. Kitagawa’s report of sexual harassment shocked Japan.Higashiyama, the new president, commented on the issue of changing the company’s name. “The name Johnny’s is of course the name of the founder, but I think the most important thing is the energy and pride that the actors have built up. “From now on, everyone should work hard as one to the extent that they can dispel such an image,” he said. However, the issue of changing the company’s name is still controversial among victims and talent, for example, Yuichi Nakamaru of KAT-TUN said on a television program on the 10th. “Objectively, I think changing the company name is definitely a valid decision. It was Johnny’s WEST’s Junta Nakama who made this comment. In the meantime, I’ve said that the name Johnny’s will bring back bad memories quickly, and the general public knows it’s strange to keep using the name Johnny’s name. So I also think we should change the name of the company, and I’m also determined to lose the name of Johnny’s WEST.” Large companies’ responses to JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES, the entertainment giant that has had a huge impact in the advertising industry over the past half century, are divided. Currently, NISSAN Motor Corporation has officially announced that it will not enter into a new advertising contract with JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES’ talent. In addition, it was announced that Takuya Kimura’s advertising contract will be judged again when the contract period expires. Suntory Holdings Limited has announced that it will expire its existing contract and not enter into a new contract if the victims’ explanations of remedies and preventive measures are not sufficient from JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES.

These measures can be seen as taking into account the current situation of JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES. McDonald’s Japan has announced that it will not renew its advertising contract using JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES’ talent after the contract expires. In this regard, Kao decided to quickly stop advertising using Johnny’s talent because the sexual harassment issue was judged to be contrary to Kao’s human rights policy, and announced that JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES would decide on additional measures after checking how to reform and prevent recurrence. However, we will not consider lifting the talent contract with JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES at the moment, and we will make further judgments after confirming how JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES progresses in its reform and recurrence prevention efforts in the future. In addition, the decision is drawing keen attention in Japan as kao currently maintains contracts with four teams, including Kento Nakajima of the “Sexy Zone.” If there are various opinions in Japan, fans who are currently responding positively to the press conference said that this recognition could change the dark side of the entertainment industry in the future, but on the negative side, JOHNNY & ASSOCIATES should be eliminated. The reason is that the image named Johnny’s has already been negatively recognized worldwide, so no change can occur. There are many positive aspects of the press conference in Japan, but a big part of the negative thoughts is that the name is not changed. On the victim’s side, it is unpleasant that the perpetrator’s name continues to be used, and the victim does not accept it and says he will continue to use it with other reasons, and secondly, critics are concerned about changing the label used by Johnny’s talents. Many fans and officials pointed out that there could be no damage, but they would have to make a big decision to reduce it.

SOPHIA KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s project to expand global economic and military territory, “One Belt, One Road and Maritime Silk Road,” marks its 10th anniversary on the 7th. China is conducting a large-scale public relations campaign by holding a “one-on-one International Cooperation Summit Forum” in Beijing on the 17th of next month to expand one-on-one to the next level. Leaders of more than 30 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, will participate.Three years after China overtook Japan as the world’s second-largest economy in 2010, it declared a one-on-one and challenged “Pax Americana (U.S. hegemony).” It was a surprise announcement six months after President Xi Jinping took office. Over the next 10 years, the number of participating countries increased to 152. According to a report by the Center for Green Financial Development at Fudan University in Shanghai, China’s cumulative investment in One Belt, One Road (as of 2022) amounts to $962 billion.

China’s one-on-one harvest has grown its influence in developing countries such as Central Asia and Africa. It expanded its base by leading the construction of large-scale infrastructure, including the Karot Hydroelectric Power Plant in Pakistan (completed in 2022) and the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka (four stages of construction scheduled to be completed next year).
On the other hand, the shadow of “China Money” is also deepening. A growing number of countries are on the verge of bankruptcy because they cannot afford high interest rates after accepting Chinese investment as a “gift.” China usually applies an annual interest rate of 5% to funds paid in the name of one-on-one, which is about twice that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the U.S. Global Development Center (CGD), 23 of the participating countries in the Belt and Road Initiative are on the verge of bankruptcy due to the burden of repaying high-interest debt to China.There are also warnings that the next decade of One Belt and One Road may lead to military expansion. The U.S. think tank, the Democratic Protection Foundation, said in a report on the 2nd, “China is using one-on-one as the basis for military buildup by lending astronomical funds, building infrastructure, and converting ports into military bases if they fail to pay back their debts.”The Belt and Road Initiative aims to absorb China’s “under the chin” of Latin America across the sea, starting with Southeast Asia and Central Asia, west of China, as well as Africa and Europe as land railways and maritime ports. While the evaluation of China has turned negative among the people of Western countries, including the U.S., where China’s desire for hegemony is embarrassing, more and more people are evaluating China favorably in countries that have benefited from one-on-one. According to a Pew Research survey released in July, only 23% and 15% of countries, including Kenya and Nigeria, said they were “negative” about China. In contrast, 83 percent in the United States and 77 percent in Korea were negative.Some analysts say that the reason why One Belt and One Road was able to pioneer the “gap market” of developing countries is because it dug into the limitations of “Pax Americana.” The large-scale U.S. military presence in East Asia after World War II has drawn criticism, but many say it has led to explosive economic growth by acting as a “shield” to prevent South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan from hostile countries such as North Korea and China. However, there are many countries that have been affected by Pax Americana, such as Latin American countries. In the 1980s, when foreign debt crises hit these regions, the United States forcibly transplanted neoliberal policies using the IMF and the World Bank as leverage. Mexico, Chile, and Argentina suffered severe side effects such as polarization, job insecurity, and energy supply shortages in the process of forced privatization and market opening, weakening their national power. It is said that developing countries, which saw this example, welcomed one-on-one Chinese funds under the slogan of “non-interference in internal affairs.

“African countries with a lot of dictatorship and corruption have also actively joined the Belt and Road Initiative for similar reasons. There are 37 countries (out of 55 countries) participating in Africa’s Belt and Road Initiative. China’s first overseas military base was built in Djibouti, East Africa (2017). The New York Times said, “As of 2021, China’s overseas loans account for 60% of the IMF,” adding, “China is encroaching on the U.S. ‘Lender of Last Resort’ status in the international community.”Ten years of light and shadow are mixed one-on-one. Saudi Arabia, which has benefited from technological cooperation and not relying on direct funding from China, is considered a representative beneficiary. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Brazil, which are relatively large in size, have also become one-on-one winners by attracting more than $1 billion (about 1.32 trillion won) in large-scale infrastructure construction projects from China.Zambia, on the other hand, borrowed $6.6 billion from China’s state-owned banks and failed to pay it back, leading to state bankruptcy in 2020. Sri Lanka forcibly handed over 80% of its stake in Hambantota port to China in 2017 after failing to pay back its debts. Djibouti’s external debt, which China included as a base for its entry into Africa, was 50% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, in the early days of its investment, soaring to 85% two years later, putting it on the verge of bankruptcy. Seventy percent were owed to China. In July, U.S. President Joe Biden criticized One Belt, One Road as a “debt and take away business.”Amid mixed light and shade on the one-on-one road, the Chinese leadership plans to take the one-on-one road to the next level on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on the 1st, “We are ready to seek the construction of a high-quality one-on-one road at a new starting point.” China’s next goal is to wield international influence gained through one-on-one for its own interests. It is expected to raise its voice in the international community as a spokesman for developing countries (U.S. Diplomat) and secure military bases and supply bases in each country (U.S. Laboratory Democracy Protection Foundation) and confront the U.S. by establishing a new transportation network and supply chain.
China’s external expansion policy first presented by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a lecture at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University on September 7, 2013. The plan is to pioneer a new land and sea Silk Road in the 21st century that connects Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and Europe, which is west of China. With “China Money” at the forefront, it is fighting against the U.S.-centered global order by laying infrastructure and securing de facto military bases and supply bases in developing countries beyond the reach of the U.S.

EJ SONG

US ASIA JOURNAL

SAM KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

The Chinese government will control exports of drone-related equipment from September. It is interpreted as a move conscious of the recent intensifying drone attack between Russia and Ukraine, and it is also analyzed that the Chinese government has taken one more regulatory step in the process of intensifying high-tech competition between the U.S. and China. According to Reuters, China’s Defense Ministry said it would start controlling exports of drone engines, lasers, communication equipment, and anti-drone systems from September 1, saying it was “to protect national security and interests.” The control measures apply not only to military drones but also to some consumer civilian drones. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense explained, “This is to prevent civilian drones from exporting for military purposes.”
There is room for interpretation that the Chinese government’s move is conscious of the recent “drone attack” between Russia and Ukraine. A Chinese government official told Reuters anonymously that “China has launched extensive drone control to fulfill its global security initiative and reveal its status as a “major responsible country” to maintain world peace.”

Earlier in April, China’s commerce ministry criticized the U.S. and Western media for spreading “groundless accusations” that they are exporting drones to the Ukrainian battlefield. In addition, this measure is analyzed as a process of spreading competition for high-tech technologies between the U.S. and China over semiconductor chips. China, which has been subject to high-tech semiconductor export control by the U.S., will immediately implement export restrictions on gallium and germanium, which are key materials for semiconductors and solar panels, from the 1st of next month. Companies seeking to export gallium and germanium must obtain permission from the State Council through China’s Commerce Department.In the meantime, the addition of drone export controls is expected to have a direct impact on the U.S. drone market. According to data released by the U.S. Congress, 50% of drones sold in the U.S. domestic market are Chinese company DJI products, Reuters said. “DJI is also the most commonly used drone in public institutions.”

EJ SONG

US ASIA JOURNAL

According to China’s Cheil Industries and others, Huawei introduced an industrial business AI model version 3.0 that can be used in various industries such as finance, administration, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals at the “Huawei Developer Conference 2023” held in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China on the 7th.
According to Huawei Cloud, Pangu 3.0 has up to 100 billion parameter functions. It allows various customers to train AI models according to their needs. Pangu 3.0 provides more personalization functions and safety to users compared to Chat GPT and Bing, which are AI models in the United States. It provides solutions optimized for the Chinese language environment by enhancing its performance in the field of Chinese natural language processing (NLP). Zhang Pingan, Huawei’s executive director and Huawei’s cloud CEO, said Pangu 3.0 will “reorganize thousands of industries.”Baidu and Alibaba have entered the Chinese version of Chat GPT market, but Huawei has cited examples in some areas, emphasizing that unlike them, it is an optimized model for industrial business markets.A typical field is weather forecasting models. Huawei explained that Pangu Weather is the first AI prediction model that shows higher precision than traditional numerical weather forecasting methods. He stressed that using this model can improve the prediction speed by 10,000 times, reducing the global weather forecast time to just a few seconds. On the 5th, the international academic journal “Nature” also published a paper on Huawei’s plate weather.According to Huawei, four to five hours of simulation was needed to predict the trajectory of the typhoon over the next 10 days in a high-performance cluster of 3,000 servers in the past, which Pangu Weather claimed could be processed in 10 seconds on a single graphics processing unit (GPU) of a single server.The plate mining model increased the operational stability of underground coal mines.

It has the advantage of being able to handle 1000 sub-works for the seven major work processes of the coal mine and monitoring the underground situation from the ground.In the railway sector, 67 types of trucks and more than 430 types of failures can be accurately identified. The accuracy is 99.8 per cent. Assuming that an average of 1,000 trains pass through the station every day, 260 train inspectors had to visually check 4 million images every day. Pangu railway models can quickly scan all images and filter 3.8 million defect-free images. It can process 95% of the entire image. Huawei explained that this greatly improves efficiency as train inspectors only need to process the remaining 200,000 images.In addition to these fields, R&D costs can be reduced by 70% when used in the field of drug molecular models. In the case of manufacturing, it helps to increase efficiency and save money. In the past, three hours were needed to make a one-day plan, but with the Pangu model, it is possible to make a three-day plan in just one minute.Pangu 3.0 is also characterized by training and learning through Huawei’s own AI processor “Sungtung (English name Ascend)” and AI computing framework “Sungs” (English name MindSpore) instead of GPUs that are mainly used in the industry. CEO Jang said, “As Chinese companies have to spend high prices and a long time to secure NVIDIA GPUs, it is difficult to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for computing power,” adding, “We hope Huawei will provide an alternative to computing power.”

KS CHOI

US ASIA JOURNAL

Where is the most popular wine bar among the rich in China these days. If you recall the courtyard of a Beijing luxury house, the highest floor of the Office Tower in central Shanghai, you are wrong. This wine bar is in Singapore, not mainland China. It is a wine bar named Circle 33 next to Scottsuro, a six-lane road in central Singapore. It is located in a bungalow with a wide garden decorated with antique Chinese antiques and sculptures such as Jinshihwangneung Byeongmayong, turtle and crane statues. It is a “hot place” that has emerged as the number of rich Chinese immigrants to Singapore has soared. “It’s a place where a rich man who first moved from China to Singapore should visit at least once like a rite of passage,” the media said.

“The members here discuss how to roll hundreds of millions of dollars until dawn, smoking high-end Cuban cigars and drinking Bordeaux wine.” Chinese rich people’s “China Exodus” is becoming steep. This is because he is tired of the zero-corona policy that has lasted for nearly three years, and the sluggish Chinese economy shows no signs of reviving. On top of that, the number of immigrants from abroad is increasing due to fears of unpredictable regulations by the Communist Party, which has proposed “joint wealth.” According to immigration consulting firm Henry & Partners, China was the country where HNWI with more than $1 million in financial assets was withdrawn the most last year. Last year, 10,800 HNWIs left and 13,500 millionaires are expected to leave this year. The main destination for Chinese millionaires leaving the mainland is Singapore. In April, the Financial Times (FT) reported that “Singapore is considered as a ship to weather the storm that will blow on them amid deepening economic and social problems in China.” The number of HNWIs who moved to Singapore last year was 2,900, up about 90% from 2019, with many Chinese. Andrew Amoris, a senior researcher at asset information firm New World Wells, predicted, “Up to 3,500 HNWIs will move to Singapore this year, most of which will be Chinese.” Money is flocking to Singapore due to “wealth immigration” from China. According to the Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS), the number of “family offices,” a family corporation that manages high-value assets, has increased 14 times in three years from 50 in 2018 to 700 in 2021. FT estimated that the number of family offices increased to about 1,500 last year, and said more than half of the increase was due to the wealthy in mainland China. Through the family office, rich Chinese people solve various financial problems such as investment and property transfer, and receive income tax cuts provided by the Singapore government. The minimum asset management of the family office reaches Singapore 20 million dollars (about 19.3 billion won), but it is popular. As a result, assets operating in Singapore increased from S$4.7 trillion in 2021 to S$5.4 trillion last year. “A billion won whiskey party overflows with Maotai in VIP clubs.” Visitors are looking at Audi’s concept car model at the Audi Exhibition Hall installed at the Art Science Museum in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Hotel in March. There is also a wind of change in the commercial district. Hundreds of Chinese applicants flock to local international schools, and high-end Chinese restaurants with Michelin star ratings are fully booked until several months later. The top-end Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars were also sold in Singapore last year, with 87 and 78 units, respectively, led by the wealthy in China. The price of foreign-only membership at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore more than doubled from 2019 to S$880,000 as of last year. “Chinese customers have a party to offer Japanese Yamazaki 55-year-old whiskey worth $800,000 (about 1 billion won) a bottle,” said Pierce Cheng, CEO of Singapore’s investment immigration consulting firm AIMS. “We also bought $61,000 (market price) for them.”

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) said, “There are many luxurious wine and cocktail bars in Singapore that have to pay high costs, and many VIP clubs and high-end restaurants for Chinese have recently been created.” “Last year’s Shanghai lockdown caused a surge to Singapore.” Obstacles are installed to prevent vehicles and people from coming and going in Shanghai, China, which was completely blocked in May last year due to the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap News Agency The Exodus of the rich in China was a turning point in April-May last year when Shanghai, the center of the Chinese economy, was completely blocked by the Zero Corona policy. At that time, Shanghai citizens suffered from a shortage of food and daily necessities with limited freedom of movement, and the richest people began to consider moving abroad, mainly in Singapore. Some analysts say that businessmen, who had been struggling with President Xi Jinping’s co-prosperity and stifling the company, began to escape in earnest to protect their assets when President Xi’s third consecutive term was confirmed in October last year. A case in point is Baofan, chairman of investment bank China Renaissance, who disappeared in February and was found to be under investigation by Chinese authorities. Before being investigated, Chairman Bao set up a family office in Singapore in December last year and tried to move some of his assets to Singapore, FT reported. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 48.8 last month, below 50 for two consecutive months, and the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 hit an all-time high of 20.8%, fueling the rich’s departure. Accordingly, there is a rumor among the wealthy in China that the amount needed for immigration to Singapore, which was believed to be possible with only 15 million yuan (about 2.4 million dollars) before the blockade of Shanghai, is now close to 100 million yuan (about 18 billion won). SCMP said, “The number of houses for sale in Shanghai surged from 100,000 in mid-March to 200,000 at the end of April, and housing prices fell by more than 10 percent.” “I like Singapore without Western sanctions,” there are many reasons why Chinese rich people prefer Singapore. First of all, there is a large Chinese population. About three-quarters of Singaporeans and permanent residents are Chinese. It is much higher than Malay (13.5%) and Indian (9%). Another great advantage is that Chinese is the official language. It has fewer regulations, such as lower income tax burden than China, and has a high-quality education system. A stable political environment is also attractive. The New York Times said, “Singapore, which restricts individual freedom by Western standards, may be dissatisfied, but for Chinese, it is enough not to arbitrarily change its policy based on the rule of law.”The international situation, including the war in Ukraine, also played a part. China’s wealthy were shocked by Western countries’ economic sanctions against Russia’s wealthy. Rupert Fujiwoff, chairman of Hurun Report, a market research firm that studies Chinese rich people, said, “Chinese rich people are concerned that their assets will not be safe in the United States, Europe, and Australia.” The Singaporean government is also worried about the Chinese real estate sweep.A luxury apartment located on Sentosa Island in Singapore in February. The rich in China buy a lot. For the Singaporean government, the migration of Chinese rich people is not pleasant. This is because they are reluctant to invest in financial products and others, which is not of great help to the Singapore economy. Bloomberg said, “Singapore hedge funds, banks, and private equity funds are worried that they cannot sign large contracts with the wealthy in China.” Instead, rich people in China are keen on investing in real estate. According to the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Administration, Chinese were the foreigners who bought the largest number of apartments (932 units) in Singapore until August last year. At the same time, 25% of 425 luxury houses were purchased in mainland China. As a result, Singapore housing prices rose 11.3% year-on-year in the first quarter. Housing rents also rose 28.2% in the fourth quarter of last year from a year ago, beating New York (18.6%) and London (17.8%). The Singapore government has imposed regulations on soaring housing prices. In April, the property tax rate paid by foreigners when purchasing a house was raised from 30% to 60% of the house price. In March, the minimum amount of investment needed for investment immigration was raised from $2.5 million to $10 million.
Nevertheless, it is expected that the Chinese will continue to travel to Singapore. “The Chinese rich, who have reduced the importance of freedom due to the Shanghai blockade, are trying to transfer assets, but the Chinese government is restricting overseas investment and controlling capital outflow,” he said. “The only option left is immigration, and Singapore, which is free from Western sanctions, is the best.”

JULIE KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL