The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current, August 07, 2023, Page 2, Image 2

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    Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
August 7, 2023
Giant panda gives birth to squirming, squealing
healthy twin girls at South Korean theme park
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A giant panda last month gave birth to squirm-
ing, squealing healthy twin girls at a South Korean theme park. Ai Bao gave
birth to her cubs at the Everland theme park near Seoul, according to the park’s
operator. It released video of the birth and the mother caring for her newborns,
as well as veterinarians examining the tiny cubs. They are the first panda twins
born in South Korea, Samsung C&T Resort Group said. Both Ai Bao and her
newborns are in good health, the resort group said in the statement. Decades of
conservation efforts in the wild and study in captivity saved the panda species
native to China from extinction, increasing its population from fewer than 1,000
at one time to more than 1,800 in the wild and captivity. The life expectancy of a
giant panda in the wild is about 15 years, but in captivity they have lived to be as
old as 38. The South Korean resort group said it will observe the cubs’ health and
growth to determine when to unveil them to the public. Meanwhile, the group
said it will use social media to show off the cubs. Ai Bao and a male panda, Le
Bao, came to the park in 2016 from China on a 15-year lease. In 2020, Ai Bao
gave birth to a female cub named Fu Bao. Ai Bao, Le Bao, and Fu Bao had been
the only pandas in South Korea. Everland’s Panda World, which houses the
three pandas, has received 14 million visitors, according to the resort group.
Zoo says bears are real, denies they’re “humans in disguise”
BEIJING (AP) — A zoo in eastern China is denying suggestions some of its
bears might be people in costumes after photos of the animals standing like
humans circulated online. The sun bears from Malaysia are smaller than other
bears and look different but are the real thing, the Hangzhou Zoo said on its
social media account. “Some people think I stand like a person,” said the posting,
written from the bear’s point of view. “It seems you don’t understand me very
well.” An employee who answered the phone at the zoo declined to talk about the
bears but said visits were being arranged for reporters to see them. Internet
users questioned whether the zoo’s bears were real after photos circulated
showing one standing upright on slender hind legs. “Because of the way they
stand, some people online question whether they are ‘humans in disguise,’” the
Hangzhou Daily newspaper said. Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing
at most 50 inches tall on their hind legs, compared with up to 9 feet for grizzlies
and other species, according to the zoo. Other Chinese zoos have been accused of
trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats, and donkeys
painted to look like zebras.
Heads of Indonesia, China discuss joint projects, politics
BEIJING (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Chinese President
Xi Jinping last month in southwestern China for talks about joint projects that
include Indonesia’s development of a new capital. Indonesian foreign minister
Retno Marsudi said the governments of China and Indonesia signed several
agreements, including to exchange knowledge and experience for the capital
project. Indonesia plans to move its capital from the congested and polluted city
of Jakarta on its main island of Java to Nusantara on Borneo island next year.
During the meeting in Chengdu, the two leaders also discussed investments,
cooperation in areas such as health, research, and technology, and regional
issues, including China’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), according to a statement from Widodo. “The Indo-Pacific is a
strategic area that we must protect as a peaceful and stable area,” said
Indonesia’s president, whose country holds the chairmanship of ASEAN this
year. Widodo was on a three-day visit to China and also met with Chinese
businesspeople to discuss possible investments in Indonesia, especially in the
petrochemical, renewable energy, and health sectors, the statement added.
Indonesia and China are members of the Group of 20 major developed and
emerging economies. China is Indonesia’s largest trade and investment partner.
Indonesia wants a bigger role as a supplier of nickel and other raw materials to
China’s fast-growing electric car brands.
Volkswagen takes steps to boost China business
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen (VW) saw after-tax earnings fall
by 20% in the first half of the year, to 8.5 billion euros ($9.45 billion), as the auto-
maker tries to engineer a rebound in China. The decline from the same period last
year was due in part to a 2.5 billion euro non-cash loss on raw materials hedging
in financial markets. Companies use such market strategies to offset risk and
insure themselves against rapid changes in the prices of raw materials. VW said
operating earnings, excluding the hedging effect, rose 13% to 13.9 billion. The
company said its business in Western Europe was strong, given an order book of
1.65 million vehicles, including 200,000 battery-only electric cars, “demon-
strating stable customer demand.” VW reaffirmed its financial outlook for the
year and said it was taking steps to strengthen its business in China, where it has
seen sales decline in the face of stronger local competition. Sales revenue
increased 18.2% as the company stemmed some of its losses in China, where sales
were down 1.2%. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company has announced
partnerships between its Volkswagen brand and local electric carmaker Xpeng
as well as the expansion of cooperation between its Audi luxury brand and local
partners FAW and SAIC. The partnerships are aimed at developing new models
for promising markets in China, the world’s largest car market. While affirming
its earnings outlook for the year, the company lowered its outlook for deliveries
between 9 million and 9.5 million vehicles, from 9.5 million earlier. The company
sold 4.4 million cars during the first six months of the year, up 13% on strong
performance outside China. Non-China sales rose 21%.
BE WATER, MY FRIEND. Fans gather in Hong Kong on July 20, 2023 in front of the statue of martial artist Bruce
Lee to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death. The anniversary of Lee’s death drew fans to exhibitions in Hong
Kong about his life and career. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Fans of martial arts legend
Bruce Lee fondly remember his life
philosophy 50 years after his death
By Kanis Leung
The Associated Press
ONG KONG — Fans of late martial
arts legend Bruce Lee, who broke
negative stereotypes around Asian
men in films, gathered in Hong Kong to
commemorate their idol’s death half a century
ago, remembering his legacy and his life
philosophy on persistence.
Lee, who was born in San Francisco but
raised in the Asian financial hub, was famous
for his martial arts talent and his fight against
racist portrayals of Asians on big and small
screens in the 1960s and ’70s. He died at the
height of his fame due to an allergic reaction to
painkillers when he was 32 years old.
The 50th anniversary of Lee’s death drew
fans to exhibitions in Hong Kong about his life
and career. They also laid flowers at his statue
at the Avenue of Stars, a tourist attraction
modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on
the Kowloon shore of Victoria Harbor.
A government-run museum organized a
camp for students to learn about Lee’s legacy
by introducing them to Jeet Kune Do, the
martial arts style that Lee invented and
practiced. The museum also screened his
films.
Many of Lee’s supporters said his
philosophy inspired them since they were
young, even though many only learned about
him and his works after his death.
Sophie Uekawa, a translator, said she was
initially attracted to Lee’s muscular body and
smooth moves on TV. But she was later
impressed by his words, including about how
unhappy circumstances eventually pass.
H
When Uekawa was bullied by schoolmates in
secondary school, Lee’s quotes helped her
endure feelings of helplessness.
“It can be said that he is my savior,” Uekawa
said.
Lee began his career as a child actor in the
1940s and started learning Chinese kung fu
when he was 13. He moved back to the U.S. in
1959 and studied philosophy at the University
of Washington.
The superstar fought hard against racist
stereotypes in the U.S. entertainment
industry where Asian men were often
portrayed as servants, unskilled workers, or
evil geniuses in Hollywood.
Lee eventually went back to Hong Kong and
made hits like The Big Boss and Fist of Fury.
His last film, Enter the Dragon, was released
six days after his death and became his most
popular movie. He was one of the first Asian
actors to attain Hollywood megastardom and
fanned a kung fu craze that swept the world.
W Wong, the chairperson of a Bruce Lee fan
club in Hong Kong, was touched to see fans
from different countries including Britain and
Korea gathering at Lee’s statue to pay tribute
to him.
But Wong said demographics of the club
established nearly three decades ago are
changing as members grow older and that it
has only one member in his 20s.
“We face problems in passing on our work,”
Wong said, although the group still has some
600 members.
An instructor at a martial arts institute in
Hong Kong’s Jordan district said more than
half of the studio’s Jeet Kune Do students
Continued on page 4
The Asian Reporter is published on
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108.95
4133.2
7.1738
2.1882
7.8097
82.673
15113
42306
141.87
19077
4.553
132.35
284.64
3.584
55.68
94.975
3.7488
1.3382
1302.2
321.1
31.636
34.61
23740