Myanmar’s middle class shrinks by 50% as 42 million face poverty: UN report (June 27, 2024, Asia News Network)
…due to the complex political situation in Myanmar, the UNDP has adapted its approach to include cash assistance, support for local farmers in the agricultural sector, and efforts to address immediate needs through reconstruction projects.
Thailand to close duty-free shops at international airports (July 7, 2024, The Investor Vafie Magazine)
Duty-free shops in arrivals areas of international airports in Thailand will be closed to encourage more spending by visitors in domestic stores, the Thai cabinet has said.
Half of Singapore’s e-commerce scams now happen on WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram (July 3, 2024, Rest of World)
E-commerce scams — where goods and services advertised online are not delivered after the payment has been made — are the second-most common scams, after job scams, in Singapore, according to the police. Nearly 10,000 such cases were reported last year, twice the number from the previous year. Meta’s platforms — Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram — accounted for nearly half of them, according to the government.
Mohamed Ali Janah: Maldives Business Leader, Presidential Advisor On The Future Of Work (June 26, 2024, Forbes)
The Maldives’ fortunes over the past few decades offer important clues regarding the future of work for countries that want to reverse the "brain drain" and retain their most talented workers domestically. This is a significant issue in the context of the Maldives' labor market transformation.
Cheaper meals are back in China, Japan and U.S. -- for different reasons (July 6, 2024, Nikkei Asia) (Subscription required)
From inflation-weary Americans to out-of-work Chinese, consumers are being served up lower prices by restaurants eager to bring them back.
A trip to Shanghai’s AI mega-conference showed me that China’s developers are still playing catch-up to Silicon Valley (July 14, 2024, Fortune) (Subscription required)
The critical problem is that China’s LLMs are limited to using data within the Great Firewall. As investment bank Goldman Sachs noted late last year, “LLM performance improves with scale—more parameters, more and better training data, more training runs and more computation.” There is simply less information in the isolated Chinese-language internet compared to an open internet with sources in many different languages.
Semiconductor analyst theorizes that China might want to destroy TSMC instead of capturing it — Chinese invasion of Taiwan would destroy supply chains, cripple South Korean chipmakers (July 6, 2024, Yahoo News)
"What if China is not deterred by potentially mined TSMC factories and ASML kill switches? What if the reunification plan is based on eradicating the TSMC factories and the Semiconductor supply chain in Taiwan and beyond?"
China Offers 5-Year Mainland Travel Permit to Non-Chinese Hong Kong and Macao Permanent Residents (July 3, 2024, China Briefing)
China’s National Immigration Administration announced the introduction of a five-year multi-entry travel permit for foreign permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macao, aiming to streamline travel to the Chinese mainland, fostering economic integration and enhancing global connectivity within the Greater Bay Area. Such travel permits can be applied starting from July 10, 2024.
China rocked by cooking oil contamination scandal (July 11, 2024, BBC)
The Chinese government says it will investigate allegations that fuel tankers have been used to transport cooking oil after carrying toxic chemicals without being cleaned properly between loads. The controversy has spread online as social media users express concerns about potential food contamination.
Chinese government bonds are on fire. That’s ringing alarm bells in Beijing (July 3, 2024, CNN)
Money is rushing into Chinese government bonds, sending their prices soaring and yields plunging to record lows as investors hunt for a safer alternative to the country’s ravaged real estate market and volatile stocks.
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Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
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