Magic Prague

Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib shrugs off Chinese hysteria as he signs twinning agreement with Taipei

By Matthew Day
Mayor of Prague Zdenek Hrib, left, and Taipei city mayor Ko Wen-je singed a partnership agreement between the two cities.

The Czech capital Prague branded China "unreliable" and a “bully” as it scorned the economic might of Beijing to sign a partnership agreement with Taipei in a move seen as evidence of a cooling of attitudes in Europe towards the lure of Chinese investment.
Zdenek Hrib, the city’s mayor, signed the agreement increasing co-operation with the Taiwanese capital on Monday knowing that it could deepen Chinese anger with Prague.
The rift began when the Czech capital challenged a clause in an existing partnership agreement with Beijing requiring it to accept the “one-China” policy, which claims Taiwan as Chinese territory.
The challenge prompted Beijing to tear up the partnership agreement and to cancel planned tours of China by Czech orchestras.
“I think that all people should be aware that China is not a reliable business partner because it cancelled already arranged tours and cancelled contracts already signed just to bully the Prague orchestras,” Mr Hrib told The Telegraph.
“The Chinese reaction has been hysterical.
“Partners should treat each other with respect but we had a partner that did not do that,” he added. “For example, they stopped responding to us. Why should you have a partner that won’t even speak to you?”
In 2018, some 620,000 Chinese flocked to the city but Mr Hrib said any drop in the number of tourists from China “would not be much of a loss” to the city.
The dispute reflects growing question marks in Europe over the merits of Chinese involvement in local economies.
In Montenegro the economy is struggling to service the debt of a massive Chinese loan to build a motorway that forms part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Even Milos Zeman, the Czech president, who unsettled many of fellow citizens with his ardour for China, appears to be losing his enthusiasm for the country.
Last week he said he would not attend a summit in China of the heads of Asian and Eastern European states, saying that China “did not fulfil its promise” when it came to investment.
“There is a change in the way people perceive China,” said Mr Hrib.
“There were a lot of promises made about investment and the economic benefits from the ties between the Czech Republic and China, but after a few years it was quite obvious that these promises have not been fulfilled and that only a fraction of the investments took place.
"And those investments that did took place were not real investments, just acquisitions. Nothing that created job opportunities or knowledge transfer.”

In the Spirit of Václav Havel

Prague city council moves to axe partnership with Beijing
By Jan Lopatka

Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib tweeted this image of himself on March 9, 2019, raising the Tibetan flag at the Czech capital’s town hall.

PRAGUE -- Prague city council voted on Monday to cancel a partnership agreement with Beijing after it failed to remove an article requiring it commit to the “one China” principle, which refers to China’s stance that Taiwan and it both belong to one China.
The city’s leadership, elected last year, says it is non-standard for city-to-city partnerships such as the one signed by the previous administration in 2016, to include diplomatic matters that are up to national governments.
“Unfortunately, the Chinese side did not respect our opinion that we do not want the political article, so the negotiations did not lead anywhere,” council member Hana Kordova Marvanova.
“For us this is also a gesture that we do not want to declare subservient attitude to the authoritarian regime in China.”
The decision must still be approved by the city assembly, where parties backing the executive council have a majority.
The spat between Prague and Beijing, which has been rumbling throughout the year, has soured ties between the two countries, which have in recent years tried to build a stronger political and business relationship.
Chinese authorities have already canceled tours of several Czech musical groups to China that had some link to Prague.
The Czech ties to China have been pushed mainly by Milos Zeman, who has frequently visited China and backed investments by Czech lender Home Credit there, as well as Chinese telecoms firm Huawei’s business in the Czech Republic.
New agency CTK reported Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said foreign policy was determined by the government and it maintained its position on China, although it respected the council’s decision. 

The Czech government adheres to the one China principle.
The Chinese Embassy in Prague said last month that the cause of the clashes was on the Czech side. It said Prague city hall had “very negative” effects in affairs related to China’s "sovereignty", and this undermined the atmosphere in bilateral relations.
The embassy did not immediately answer a request for comment on Monday.
Czech-Chinese relations have already been dented by a warning last year by the Czech cyber-security watchdog against risks of using equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE in critical infrastructure.
Expectations of billions of dollars worth of Chinese investments in the country have also not materialized.

Megacities: A guide to China's most impressive urban centers

By Maggie Hiufu Wong

With a population of 1.3 billion people and rising, China unsurprisingly boasts the world's highest number of megacities.
So what qualifies as a megacity? 

Most commonly, it's defined as an urban agglomeration of 10 million or more inhabitants.
That's the equivalent of the population of Sweden.
According to the United Nations' data booklet, China has six of the world's 33 megacities. 

The China Statistic Yearbook, however, indicates that there are at least 10 cities with more than 10 million permanent residents.
It's worth noting that population data is tricky to produce in China. 

One reason is the sustained wave of migrant workers moving from rural to urban areas. 

Millions make the switch every year, often without securing the proper household registration, or "hukou."
(Populations listed in this article are the most recent figures released by each provincial government.)
These cities are often some of the country's biggest tourist destinations, too.
"Being a megacity means more business and population, which will certainly increase the exposure of the city in international media," Mimi Li, an associate professor in China Tourism at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, tells CNN Travel.
"Cities with long history such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou benefit from positive brand image and a wealth of cultural attractions. A newly developed vibrant city may bring in business travelers, with Shenzhen as a good example.
"Now that the tourism industry has been seen as a strategic pillar in the national economy of China, we foresee a closer relationship between city development and tourism development," says Li.
Li highlights Hangzhou and Chengdu as up-and-coming tourism hotspots in China.
"Hangzhou would mainly benefit from, in addition to the cultural resources, its vibrant business environment and innovative atmosphere," says Li.
"Chengdu has been long perceived as a leisure city by Chinese domestic tourists. In addition, Chengdu benefits from its vast tourism resources."
Indeed, there's so much more to these cities than just high populations.
Covering everything from exciting tourism developments and financial prowess to geographical grandness, CNN Travel looks beyond the figures to highlight 14 humongous cities -- including China's big six listed by the UN -- that boggle the mind and spark wanderlust among fans of urban spaces.

1. Chongqing

Dubbed an engineering marvel, the highly anticipated Raffles City Chongqing project is nearly complete.

Population: 30.75 million
Area: 82,300 square kilometers
With a staggering population of over 30 million people, Chongqing -- spanning 82,300 square kilometers in China's mid-western region -- is the country's biggest city by far.
To put that into perspective, Canada has a population of 36 million and Austria comprises an area of 83,879 square kilometers.
A municipality with nine urban districts, Chongqing is referred to by some as the world's most populous city -- depending on whether you count Tokyo as Greater Tokyo Area (around 38 million people) or Tokyo Metropolis only (13 million people).
Bear in mind, others scoff at claims that this city is as big as the government claims given the outer limits of Chongqing are filled with farming and mining communities that feel more like villages than urban centers.
Nonetheless, the city is starting to appeal to travelers, too. 

Chongqing was named the world's fastest-growing tourism city according to the World Travel and Tourism Council in 2017.
Chongqing is known for its tongue-numbing chili pepper hotpot -- there are about 30,000 hotpot restaurants in the city -- and a recently renovated Yangtze River Cableway across the river.
A number of large-scale tourism projects are planned for the next few years in Chongqing including a Six Flags theme park.

2. Shanghai
Shanghai might not be China's biggest city, but it's certainly its richest.

Population: 24.18 million
Area: 6,340 square kilometers
While Shanghai's size and population -- 6,340 square kilometers and more than 24 million people (making it the second most populous city in China) -- are already impressive, nothing trumps its financial prowess.
With a GDP of more than RMB 3 trillion (or US$448 billion), Shanghai is the richest city in China.
Its residents are also the country's biggest spenders, with the city amassing RMB 1.1 trillion (US$164.1 billion) total retail sales on consumer goods in 2017.
The Port of Shanghai has been the busiest container port in the world since 2010 -- handling more than 40 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) a year.
In comparison, Singapore, ranked second, handled about seven million fewer TEUs in 2017.
Shanghai is as famous for its futuristic skyscrapers -- the movie "Her" was partly shot in Shanghai -- as its glamorous historical architecture in The Bund and Yuyuan Garden.

3. Beijing
Population: 21.71 million
Area: 16,808 square kilometers
Being the political, historical and cultural heart of China, Beijing is unsurprisingly one of the country's biggest cities.
Serving as the ancient capital in various dynasties, Beijing has been an influential epicenter of China for the past 3,000 years.
It's home to seven UNESCO World Heritage sites -- the most in China, including the Forbidden City, which welcomed 17 million visitors in 2018.
The number easily rivals the number of international tourists for entire countries.
About 21 million people call Beijing home, making it the third most populous city in China.

4. Chengdu
Population: 16.33 million
Area: 12,132 square kilometers
The hometown of pandas and spicy hotpots (its biggest hotpot rival Chongqing will probably object), Chengdu is one of the biggest rising stars in China.
Chengdu has a sizable human population of more than 16 million, but its most popular residents have to be its furry black-and-white residents.
Being home to the world's biggest panda nursery, Chengdu successfully bred 42 of the 45 surviving panda babies in 2018.
Chengdu received 210 million visitors and raked in RMB 303.8 billion ($45 billion) in tourism revenue in 2017, contributing to 34% of Sichuan province's entire income.

5. Harbin
Population: 16.33 million
Area: 12,132 square kilometers
Harbin is a unique Chinese megacity thanks to its supersized winter infrastructure and Russia-influenced architecture (it's just a short distance to the border).
In addition to hosting the world's biggest Ice and Snow Festival, Harbin boasts the world's largest indoor ski park, which is inside the Wanda Harbin Mall (including six ski slopes up to 500 meters long).
Dubbed the Ice City, Harbin endures severe long winters, with temperatures as low as -38°C and a snow season that can last up to half a year.
To warm up the residents, the city also has the world's largest water park -- the 300,000-square-meter (twice the size of the Forbidden City) Poseidon Beach Water World -- with a tropical indoor beach temperature of 30C.

6. Guangzhou
Guangzhou has been a major trading port since the 6th century.

Population: 14.49 million
Area: 7,434 square kilometers
Unlike its Canton-rival Shenzhen, Gangzhou's success story dates back hundreds of years.
A major trading port along the historical maritime Silk Roads as early as the sixth century, Guangzhou is one of the richest cities in China for centuries.
In 2017, it contributed to RMB 2 trillion GDP (or US$297 billion) to the country -- just behind Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
For tourists, major highlights include the Guangdong Science Center -- the world's largest.
Spanning 450,000 square meters with eight themed exhibition areas, Guangdong Science Center is the Disneyland for STEM-addicted parents and kids.

7. Tianjin
Population: 15.57 million
Area: 11,760 square kilometers
One of the only four municipality-level cities in China, the humble historic seaside city of Tianjin has long been overshadowed by its neighboring capital city Beijing, its glamorous southern counterpart Shanghai and even rapidly rising star Chongqing.
But that doesn't make it less attractive to Chinese citizens.
Tianjin has attracted a population of over 15 million people and a GDP of about RMB1.8 trillion per year.
In recent years, Tianjin has been working to build its tourism and high-tech industries by building a Binhai New Area, where a stunning futuristic seaside library is located.
A high-speed railway route has been built to connect Tianjin to Beijing, shortening the commute to only 30 minutes.

8. Shenzhen

A China Mobile survey carried out in 2017 estimated that around 25 million people live in Shenzhen.

Population: 11.9 million
Area: 2,050 square kilometers
Transforming from a rural village to one of the world's biggest metropolises in just three decades, Shenzhen is an urban Cinderella tale -- and its fairy godfather is China's former leader, Deng Xiaoping.
Being appointed the country's first "special economic zone" by Deng in 1980, Shenzhen hasn't stopped thriving ever since.
Among the 143 buildings completed around the globe in 2018, about 10% of them were built in Shenzhen.
It also has the world's fourth tallest building, the Ping An Finance Centre.
While the official figure claims Shenzhen has around 12 million residents, a China Mobile 2017 survey found that around 25 million people treat Shenzhen as home.
Visiting is easy -- it's just over the border from Hong Kong connected by multiple trains and buses -- including a new bullet train. (Though bear in mind you'll likely need a visa.)

9. Wuhan

Thanks to its central location, Wuhan is one of the biggest transportation hubs in China.

Population: 10.89 million
Area: 8,494 square kilometers
Another megacity in China (with a population of just over 10 million people), Wuhan is the biggest city in the country's central region.
Thanks to its location, Wuhan is one of the biggest transportation hubs in China and its busiest connecting railway hub.
It's home to two humongous lakes -- the 47.6-square-kilometer Tangxun Lake (largest lake enclosed by a city in Asia) and the 33-square-kilometer East Lake.
Wuhan is one of the fastest growing/youngest second-tier cities in China.
It's been luring young graduates to stay in the city with a generous housing policy, offering young talent a 20% discount on rent or purchase of a flat.

10. Shijiazhuang
Population: 10.87 million
Area: 15,849 square kilometers
A relatively unfamiliar name on China's megacity list, Shijiazhuang is the provincial capital city of Hebei.
With about 10 million people living in Shijiazhuang now, it's difficult to imagine that in the early 20th century, Shijiazhuang was an unassuming village of a few hundred people.
It grew rapidly in the last 70 years when railroads were constructed in the area, making it an important transportation hub in the province.
It was designated the provincial capital in 1968.
The city is famous for its rich natural resources and neighboring scenery -- Shijiazhuang sits between the towering Taihang Mountains and the North China Plain.

11. Suzhou
Population: 10.68 million
Area: 8,488 square kilometers
In addition to having a population of between 9-10 million people and one of the highest GDP values in China, Suzhou has plenty of unbeatable attractions, too.
Located 100 kilometers west of Shanghai, Suzhou features some of the most exquisite ancient Chinese gardens in the country.
It's also one of the most historical cities in China, with a history that can be traced back to 2,500 years ago.
Suzhou also has the tallest planned skyscraper in China. 

Towering over the city at 729 meters, once complete it will be second in height, only surpassed by the 828-meter Khalifa Tower in Dubai.
Named Suzhou Zhongnan Center, the tower will be a multi-use project housing tourist attractions, a hotel, luxury residences and offices.
It's expected to be completed in 2021.

12. Hangzhou
Population: 9.8 million
Area: 16,847 square kilometers
According to Hurun Research Institute in 2019, a new unicorn company (a start-up with a company value of over $1 billion) is born about every four days in China, making the country the second largest breeding ground for unicorns in the world (The largest is still the United States).
With 18 unicorn companies, Hangzhou is the third biggest unicorn city by volume -- just after Beijing and Shanghai.
Hangzhou is also home to Alibaba, the e-commerce and tech giant, some of the most beautiful cityscapes, one of the best unknown Chinese cuisines.
West Lake, in the heart of the city, is one of the most romantic lakes in China and also the stage of an impressive Zhang Yimou-directed outdoor show Impression West Lake.
It's also known for producing some of the best silk and tea leaves in China.

13. Dongguan
One fifth of the world's mobile phones are made in Dongguan.

Population: 8.26 million
Area: 2,465 square kilometers
Dubbed the factory of the world, Dongguan has been flourishing thanks to its manufacturing industry.
To cite a few figures, over 70% of the world's computer motherboards, 75% of the world's toys, 20% of the world's smartphones and 10% of the world's shoes are made here.
The world's biggest shopping mall, New South China Mall -- once called a "ghost mall" for its high vacancy rate -- is also in Dongguan. 

The five-million-square feet mall (twice the size of Mall of America, the biggest shopping center in the United States) is now buzzing with activities.
The shopping mall has a giant Egyptian sphinx, a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and an indoor roller coaster.

14. Hulunbuir

Hulunbuir's Matryoshka Hotel claims to have the world's biggest matryoshka doll.

Population: 2.5 million
Area: 263,953 square kilometers
Hulunbuir may not have the population to even come close to being named a megacity, but the prefecture-level city in Inner Mongolia is China's largest city by size.
The total jurisdiction area under Hulunbuir measures 263,954 square kilometers -- just slightly smaller than the US state of Texas.
It constitutes about 20% of Inner Mongolia.
The city is basically one gigantic green carpet -- with about 80,000 square kilometers of grasslands and 120,000 square kilometers of woodland.

U.S. Pulls More Casualties Out of Guangzhou and Beijing as Sonic Attacks Persist

At least three have been sent back to the U.S., believed to be the first affected in Beijing
By Te-Ping Chen

The U.S. embassy in Beijing. The three Americans sent home for medical reasons are thought to be the first in the Chinese capital to have been affected by so-called "health" attacks. 

BEIJING—The U.S. has evacuated at least three Americans from Beijing after they reported unusual health symptoms, in the latest evacuations since unexplained "health" incidents first affected U.S. diplomatic personnel stationed in Cuba in 2016.
In a U.S. Embassy meeting on Tuesday, staff were told that the latest people evacuated, as with previous cases, were sent for further medical evaluation to the University of Pennsylvania, a person familiar with the matter said.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing didn’t immediately comment. 

At the embassy meeting, the affected individuals weren’t identified by name, and it wasn’t made clear whether they were diplomatic personnel or family members.
The latest cases are believed to be the first from Beijing. 

At least a dozen Americans have now been evacuated from China, the only other country besides Cuba where the unexplained health incidents are known to have struck U.S. government personnel.
Symptoms include headaches, sleep impairment and various cognitive issues; the State Department has said the cause is unclear and has described the incidents as “health attacks.”
To date, the State Department has reported one case of a U.S. government employee previously based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou who was confirmed to have suffered symptoms consistent with those of U.S. workers stationed in Havana.
The employee was evacuated earlier this spring, and more than half a dozen other evacuations of Americans connected to the Guangzhou consulate have followed for reasons that include unrelated medical issues discovered in the course of medical screenings, the person familiar with the situation said.
More than 280 U.S. diplomatic staff and family members have now undergone medical screenings in China, the person said.

Plagues of China

Dust storm chokes Beijing and northern China
BBC News

Beijing's skyline could barely be made out amid the dust on Thursday morning

A dust storm is choking a large swathe of northern China including the capital, Beijing, in yet another air quality crisis to affect the country.
Official air quality readings have soared well above the recommended World Health Organization (WHO) limit.
Authorities are advising residents to avoid outdoor activity and for children and elderly people to remain indoors.
The dust is blowing in from neighbouring Mongolia and China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Officials have advised that children and the elderly stay indoors

Beijing's environmental agency said that as of 11:00 local time (03:00 GMT), the PM2.5 reading -- which measures pollution in the form of small breathable particles -- was 500 micrograms per cubic metre.
The WHO says the maximum safe level should be 25 micrograms per cubic metre.
Authorities said Beijing would be affected until Thursday evening and visibility would be noticeably low throughout the day. 

Dozens of flights have been delayed or cancelled.

Officials say visibility in Beijing will drop noticeably on Thursday

State media quoted city officials as saying that the dust storm began moving towards Beijing in the late afternoon on Wednesday, and enveloped the city overnight.
The dust storm has also affected, to varying degrees, a vast swathe of northern China stretching from the far west province of Xinjiang to eastern Heilongjiang, with Inner Mongolia experiencing particularly bad conditions.

Beijing environmental authorities issued an advisory saying residents should avoid outdoor activity

Chinese people have, as usual, not hesitated to take to social media to vent their frustration.
"Sandstorm is hitting Beijing. I feel closer to lung cancer," said one commenter on microblogging network Sina Weibo.
Others made comparisons to the capital's infamous smog problem.
"I've got used to smog, time to try something new. If I have to choose one to live in, between sandstorm and smog, I prefer the former," said another Weibo commenter.
China has seen particularly intense air pollution in recent years, especially in winter as many of its northern cities still largely rely on burning coal for heating.
But it is also increasingly affected by dust storms, as its cities expand towards nearby deserts which in turn have been spreading due to climate change.

There were some tour groups at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Thursday despite the bad air quality

Authorities have been attempting to halt this progress by planting more trees, besides other measures to cut pollution such as reforming the coal industry and shutting factories.
Beijing issued its first red alert, the highest level in air pollution alerts, in 2015, and has done so a few more times since.

China dream: Beijing, the city where you can't escape smog

China's capital is notorious for its chronic pollution. Even indoors it's a struggle to find clean air.
By John Sudworth.

A normal day in Beijing
Having already taped most of my windows shut, I have now started on the air conditioning vents. 

The aim is simple -- to close off every access point through which the toxic outside air leaks into our Beijing home.
Even our double-glazing doesn't keep out the smog. 

The most dangerous constituent, particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter -- or PM2.5 as it's known -- finds a way through the tiniest of gaps where the windows close.
So the only solution there is duct tape.
It's like a re-enactment of a 1970s government information film on surviving a nuclear holocaust. 

Only it's not radiation we're trying to keep at bay, but the fallout from fossil fuels.
The most useful device in our armoury is our PM2.5 monitor. 

We have two, one upstairs and one downstairs, which we glance at frequently, and it was their arrival that prompted the frenzy of taping and draught-excluding that continues to this day.
When I first arrived in China, five years ago, there was no way of monitoring the quality of air in our home. 

Like everyone else, we left it to blind faith that our air purifiers were doing the trick. It now transpires they weren't. 

Even now on highly polluted days, we struggle to get our PM2.5 count much below 25 micrograms per cubic meter, the World Health Organization's maximum standard for safe air.
And that's with multiple purifiers running at full tilt, large box-like machines that sit in the corner of every room -- two in some -- the combined noise output of which is akin to living in the engine room of an aircraft carrier.

Shoppers look at air purifiers in Beijing
China's air pollution problem is now so bad that its effects are measured in more than a million premature deaths a year and markedly reduced life expectancy -- an average of more than five years or so -- in the worst-affected regions.
Over the past few weeks, a period of particularly acute and prolonged air pollution, the average air quality in Beijing has been well above 200 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic metre -- many times the maximum safe limit.
During the worst of it, it's been like living under house arrest, our children confined to the small, deafening but breathable indoor space of our home for days on end.
And across China, the smog becomes a dominant topic on social media, with the population tracking the foulness of the air via mobile phone apps.
One group of Beijing mothers, armed with their own PM2.5 counters, have even been roaming the city in search of shopping malls or cafes with filtered air -- and then sharing their discoveries online.
Of course, humanity's dependence on oil and coal long predate China's economic rise. 

But China offers a vision of environmental degradation far in excess of the pea-souper fogs of 1950s London or Manchester.
For much of the past month the cloud of toxic air hanging over this country has extended for thousands of miles, a giant, continent-sized cocktail of soot from coal fired power stations and car exhausts, smothering the lives and filling the lungs of hundreds of millions of people.
While growing awareness means that more of them are now taking action to protect their health, many others are either not fully informed about the danger or don't have the means to do much about it.
A set of new filters for a single air purifier can cost £100 ($120) or more and needs changing every six months or so.
It is, of course, not a problem only of China's making. 

The smartphones, computers, TV screens, jeans and shoes that have been pouring out of its factories over the past few decades are cheap, in part at least, precisely because they're made without environmental safeguards.
The interests of the rich world and an unaccountable Chinese Communist elite have neatly dovetailed. 

The West gets its cheap consumer desirables and China gets rich without the inconvenience of the independent scrutiny, regulation or democratic oversight of other markets.
The true cost is measured by the numbers on my pollution monitors, and it is one being borne disproportionately by ordinary Chinese people.
Following a crackdown on a rare protest against pollution in the central city of Chengdu recently, one blogger dared to speak out in favour of the protesters. 

The police, he suggested, should bear in mind that the elites, whose interests they protect, have sent their families to breathe clean air overseas.
He was promptly detained.

Poetoxic Beijing