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ASIA / PACIFIC January 20, 2020 THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5 Nepal’s main airport cuts the heat amid worries over power By Binaj Gurubacharya The Associated Press ATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal’s aviation authority has asked everyone in the Himalayan nation’s only international airport to cut down on heating this winter to save power so that key equipment can run without disruption. “There has been increased demand for electricity use due to the cold weather which is directly effecting the communi- cation, navigation aids, and surveillance equipment,” the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a notice. It said it was asking “airlines offices, immigration, customs, and shops inside the airport” to stop using heaters and air conditioners. A spokesman for Kathmandu’s Tribhuwan International Airport, Deo Chandra Lal Karna, said the power situation was under control and the request from the aviation authority was a K precautionary measure. Power outages are common in Nepal, though the situation has improved over the past two years as the government has made a priority of supplying electricity. Were there to be disruptions at the AIRPORT ELECTRICITY. Passengers are evacuated during an emergency security drill at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, in this June 28, 2019 file photo. Nepal’s aviation au- thority has asked everyone in the Himalayan nation’s only international airport to cut down on heating this winter to save power so key equipment can run with- out disruption. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File) international airport, it could affect what the government has dubbed “Visit Nepal Year 2020” in anticipation of welcoming 2 million tourists. All the power generated in Nepal comes from hydropower plants on its fast-flowing mountain rivers. Though Nepal has the potential to generate much more power than needed from these rivers, the lack of funds, frequent changes in government, political instability, corruption, and a communist insurgency that lasted a decade have slowed down the building of power plants. About a third of Nepal’s power is imported from neighboring India to make up for the shortfall. Tesla delivers first Chinese-made Model 3 to customers EV INROADS. Tesla vehicles are seen on an as- sembly line at Tesla’s gigafactory in Shanghai. Tesla’s Shanghai factory recently delivered its first cars to customers and chief executive Elon Musk said the electric automaker plans to set up a design center in China to create a model for worldwide sales. (Ding Ting/Xinhua News Agency via AP) By Joe McDonald AP Business Writer EIJING — Tesla’s Shanghai factory delivered its first cars to customers and chief executive Elon Musk said the electric automaker plans to set up a design center in China to create a model for worldwide sales. Musk presided at a ceremony where a half-dozen buyers wearing red Tesla t-shirts drove away new Model 3 sedans. He expressed thanks to earlier customers who he said made Tesla’s expansion in China possible by purchasing imported models from the fledgling brand. Tesla Inc. built the Gigafactory 3, its first outside the United States, following the ruling Communist Party’s 2018 decision to allow full foreign ownership in electric car manufacturing. It is due to produce the Model 3 and a planned SUV, the Model Y. Producing in China insulates Tesla from possible duty increases on imported U.S.-made vehicles from Beijing’s tariff war with Washington. Other foreign automakers including General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG, and Toyota Motor Co. have long had joint venture factories in China. China is the biggest global market for electrics, but Tesla’s manufacturing B launch comes at a time when sales are sagging following the end of government subsidies in mid-2019. Total electric vehicle sales fell almost 45% in November from a year earlier to 95,000. Sales for the first 11 months of 2019 were up 1.3% at just over 1 million vehicles. Musk said Tesla plans to increase investment in China and set up a design center to “create a car for worldwide sale,” but he gave no details. The China-made Model 3 starts at 299,050 yuan ($42,680) following a recent price cut. The company said production began in December and 15 Model 3s were delivered to Tesla employees in Shanghai on December 30. Tesla faces a crowded market flooded with dozens of electric models from rivals including GM, VW, Nissan Motor Co., and China’s BYD Auto and BAIC. They are under pressure to meet government sales targets that shift the cost of promoting the technology to the industry. Automakers that fail to meet their targets can buy credits from rivals that do. That might turn into a windfall for Tesla and other brands that earn a surplus because their whole output is electric. Beijing has yet to set the price of credits. The Shanghai factory makes Tesla the first foreign auto brand with full ownership of its China operation. Other global brands work through partnerships with state-owned auto- makers and share their revenues. Most are expected to remain in such ventures to take advantage of their Chinese partners’ government relationships despite the ruling party’s plans to allow full foreign ownership in the whole auto industry by next year. Tesla reported earlier it delivered a total of 367,500 cars last year. The company surprised investors by reporting a $143 million profit in the quarter ending in September, raising hopes Tesla may be turning to profitability. The company lost $1.1 billion in the first half of the year. Shuttered at home, China exploits social media abroad BEIJING (AP) — China says its diplomats and government officials will fully exploit foreign social-media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that are blocked off to its own citizens. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang likened the government to “diplomatic agencies and diplomats of other countries” in embracing such platforms to provide “better communication with the people outside and to better introduce China’s situation and policies.” Facebook, Twitter, and other social-media platforms have tried for years without success to be allowed into the lucrative Chinese market, where Beijing has helped create politically reliable Become an online reader! Visit <www.asianreporter.com> and click on the “Online Paper (PDF)” link to download our last two issues. analogues such as Weichat and Weibo. Their content is carefully monitored by the companies and by government censors. Despite that, Geng said China is “willing to strengthen communication with the outside world through social media such as Twitter to enhance mutual understanding.” He also insisted that the Chinese internet remained open and said the country has the largest number of users of any nation, adding, “we have always managed the internet in accordance with laws and regulations.” The canny use of social media by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong has further deepened China’s concern over the use of such platforms, prompting further crackdowns on the mainland, including on the use of virtual private networks.
