August 18, 2023 (Friday) Three-Minute News Breakfast

1) The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting on August 17 to study and deploy work on flood prevention, flood control, disaster relief, and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. Xi Jinping presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech.

2) The new coronavirus variant EG.5 is prevalent in Foshan and other places. Experts say that ordinary people will be infected 1-3 times a year.

3) [Rule of Law] The Supreme People's Court: The crime of provoking trouble has recently shown a tendency to be over-applied, and appeals cases should be handled cautiously. Focusing on online food safety, procuratorial organs nationwide have handled more than 5,800 cases in the past three years. Public security organs have severely cracked down on food and drug crimes in accordance with the law, with more than 6,100 cases solved since April. SASAC statement: Unlawful elements are impersonating SASAC and central enterprise leaders to carry out fraud, and legal responsibility will be pursued. He Ping, Party Secretary of the Second People's Hospital of Henan Province, is under investigation. Sun Yikun, vice president of China Merchants Bank Financial Technology Co., Ltd., is under investigation. Evergrande Real Estate has been investigated by the CSRC for suspected violations of information disclosure regulations. Beijing sentences the first case of carbon emission quota trading. A Chinese Academy of Sciences doctor was defrauded to Myanmar for a year, working 18 hours a day! Girlfriend: He thought he was going to be a translator. On August 17, a man in Zaoyang City, Hubei Province, injured several people with a knife and was taken into control by the police. Police in Pingyao Ancient City, Shanxi Province, beat and insulted a female receptionist at a hotel after drinking alcohol. Police: Administrative detention for 5 days and dismissal.

4) Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: China's manufacturing industry robot density has reached 392 units per 10,000 workers, and service and special robots have achieved large-scale application in logistics, medical care, construction and other fields; China's installed capacity of industrial robots accounts for more than 50% of the global total.

5) The waterway of the Yinjiejihuai Project is open to navigation! China's second major north-south waterway is in trial operation.

The newly built Changsha-Jingdezhen-Huangshan High-speed Railway officially joins the national "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network.

7) Zhou Kunxun, political commissar of the Shulan Municipal People's Armed Forces Department, was posthumously awarded the title of outstanding Communist Party member, posthumously awarded first-class merit, and approved as a martyr. On August 17, Zhou Kunxun was buried in his hometown, Henan Martyrs Cemetery, and his wife cried until she almost fainted.

9) [Hong Kong and Macao] Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee held a luncheon with EU officials in Hong Kong to help EU companies develop in Hong Kong and enter the mainland. The Hong Kong International ESG (Carbon Neutrality Action) Alliance was established to help the industry achieve high-quality development. HKEX's revenue in the first half of 2023 exceeded HK$10.5 billion, the second highest in history.

10) [Taiwan] The 2023 Cross-Strait Relations Seminar, themed "Cross-Strait Relations and National Revival," opened on August 17 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Taiwan media: An explosion and fire broke out in a laboratory at National Taiwan University's Department of Chemical Engineering, injuring two students who were sent to hospital.

1) Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with political figures from Sri Lanka, Laos, Nepal, and Vietnam in Kunming. On August 17, local time, Belarusian President Lukashenko met with Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu in Minsk. Ministry of Commerce: China demands that the US immediately cancel the steel and aluminum 232 measures that violate WTO rules. Foreign Ministry spokesperson: Urges Japan once again to deal with nuclear-contaminated water in a responsible manner. A Chinese female tourist went missing while traveling in Tajikistan, and the incident occurred in a notoriously dangerous area. The Chinese Embassy in Tajikistan reminds Chinese citizens to pay attention to travel safety in Tajikistan.

2) China calls for resolving the Lachin Corridor issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan through dialogue and consultation. The Chinese representative called on all parties concerned in the Yemen issue to continue to promote dialogue and negotiations. The European Central Bank held a meeting to study distributed ledger technology for interbank settlement and explore conducting digital euro experiments.

3) US Secretary of State Blinken spoke with detained US "spy" Paul Whelan. US media: US mainstream media exaggerates to create a negative image of China; pushing for decoupling from Chinese scientific research may harm US development. Three major US airlines announced that they will more than double their flights to China. The Hawaii wildfire has killed 110 people, and escaping tourists said it was like passing the epicenter of a nuclear explosion. Hawaii disaster victims receive $700 in aid per household, netizens: Compared with aid to Ukraine, it is an insult. New York City bans TikTok, government agencies to remove it within 30 days. US Congressman: San Francisco's crime situation is seriously out of control, government employees are forced to work remotely. New US school curriculum standards whitewash the history of slavery, deepening students' anti-African consciousness. US media: Trump's lawyer is negotiating the details of surrender with local prosecutors; Trump may be imprisoned in Fulton County Jail, where multiple inmate deaths have occurred. The Musk Foundation donated tens of millions of dollars to support population and fertility research, having repeatedly warned of the risk of "population collapse".

4) Sweden provides another SEK 3.4 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Lithuania closes two border crossings with Belarus.

The Wagner Group registered as an "educational organization" in Belarus and announced that it only conducts educational activities. Some gold jewelry from the British Museum's collection was stolen, and the staff responsible for the collection has been dismissed. Wildfires rage in Canada's Northwest Territories, and 20,000 residents of Yellowknife are ordered to evacuate.

5) Japanese media: The US, Japan, and South Korea will open a hotline to "respond to important situations." Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, was investigated as a suspect in a real estate corruption case. South Korea discovered nearly 400 "murder announcements," and 19 people who posted them have been arrested.

6) "Tomatoes also need a vacation," Burger King India removes tomatoes from its menu to cope with inflation. The death toll from heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, India, has risen to 71. A landslide in a mining area in northern Myanmar has killed 33 people, with 3 still missing.

7) War imminent? ECOWAS says it is ready for military intervention in Niger coup. The death toll from clashes in the Libyan capital has risen to 50.

1) Central Bank: Mortgage interest rates are at a historical low, and the dynamic adjustment of first-home mortgage interest rates continues to be implemented, and the "Financial 16 Measures" are extended. The National Development and Reform Commission and other departments have introduced measures to promote the recycling of decommissioned wind power and photovoltaic equipment. The State Administration for Market Regulation recently issued an opinion: Strengthen intellectual property rights enforcement in the Internet field.

2) Some banks have successively adjusted the online transaction limits for personal accounts, with some banks reducing the daily limit to less than 5,000 yuan.

3) 25 pharmaceutical companies have terminated their IPOs this year, and sales expenses have become a key focus of inquiries.

4) In the first half of the year, China ranked first globally in the three major shipbuilding indicators, with the Chinese shipbuilding industry continuing to lead the way.

5) As of the end of July, the total assets under management of private equity funds reached 20.82 trillion yuan.

1) The Central Propaganda Department and the National Health Commission jointly released the advanced deeds of the "Most Beautiful Doctors" in 2023.

2) The release of the young Li Xiao character model in the movie "The Volunteer Army" sparked controversy among netizens, and the film production company issued an apology statement: it is related to the character's growth background. The Luoyang Sui and Tang Dynasties History Society demanded that the producers of the movie "Chang'an Three Miles" apologize: it does not conform to historical facts, and a lawyer's letter has been sent.

3) The 7th Beijing International Tibetan Studies Symposium concluded in Beijing, with 320 scholars from China and abroad exploring new paths for the development of Tibetan studies.

4) The Majia Yuan Car and Carriage Museum in Zhangjiacuan, Gansu Province: recreating the "luxury cars" of the Warring States period Xirong people.

A new plant species, Sedum yangjifeng, was discovered in Jiangxi.

6) World Athletics strengthens gender identification standards, and the results of two Chinese female track and field athletes have been removed.

7) Manchester City defeated Sevilla in a penalty shootout to win their first UEFA Super Cup.

1) The 2023 Shanghai Rowing Open will be held from September 16 to 17, with international rowing teams from Cambridge, Oxford, and other places coming to Shanghai to compete.

2) Shandong issued a document to fully implement the paid leave system and promote holiday consumption.

3) Qiangang Bathing Beach in Guangxi: A tourist was suspected of being bitten by an unknown fish, and water activities were suspended. A tornado occurred in Chaozhou, Guangdong, causing damage to some company factories. A multi-vehicle collision and explosion occurred at kilometer 546+100 meters of National Highway 110 in Inner Mongolia, resulting in 2 deaths and 5 injuries.

4) The "Heart-to-Heart Jingzang Line" tourist train departed again on September 9. The mother of a Yunnan woman suspected of being abducted to northern Myanmar spoke out for the first time: she has contacted her, but is not sure if she is in China, and is still searching.

5) Moderate to heavy rain is expected in parts of eastern North China and northeastern China, and scattered heavy rain in parts of the Yangtze River Delta and southern China. From 8 pm on August 17 to 8 pm on August 18, moderate to heavy rain is expected in parts of central and western Heilongjiang, northwestern Jilin, eastern Beijing, Tianjin, central and southern and northeastern Hebei, northwestern Shandong, northern Henan, central and northern western Sichuan Plateau, western and southern Sichuan, northeastern and western Yunnan, southeastern Zhejiang, eastern Fujian, central and northern Guangxi, and Guangdong.