Monday, December 07, 2020

The Mandalorian - quite good but the music just does not do it for me...

 

We are thoroughly enjoying watching The Mandalorian.

To me, what makes a great Star Wars movie:

  • Great storytelling 
  • Unique, dynamic, and out-worldly visuals
  • Fantastic soundtrack
  • The overall feeling of watching the tales of "A galaxy far, far away..."

Since Lucasfilm's creative director Doug Chiang's led The Mandalorian's visual art department, the environments' design follow the "Star Wars universe" esthetics in continuation of what Macquarie built now over 45 years ago (holy moly!).

Favreau uses them to the best effect; bringing us in a different part of the galaxy far far away every week. 



The compelling, self-contained weekly stories weave their narratives into, and get influenced by, the greater tapestry of the Star Wars "history". This immediately gives a lot of depth and richness to The Mandalorian; that elusive Star Wars umami.

Now, I understand what Favreau wanted to do with the music; post-Empire-fall/Western/Everyone-for-himself vibe. I think it achieved this at the cost of the soundtrack mostly falling outside of the Star Wars musical universe.

“It’s a new medium, a new set of characters — and it has a certain tech-y grittiness, because you’re dealing with a very dystopic setting,” says executive producer Jon Favreau. “The Empire has fallen and chaos is beginning to reign in the galaxy, so the romantic strains of John Williams’ score would not sit well against the imagery that we have.”

“It still has the soul of ‘Star Wars,’” says Göransson."

https://variety.com/2019/artisans/production/star-wars-mandalorian-music-1203402950/

I beg to differ; in Star Wars, the music never plays second fiddle; it is an integral part of the experience and tells the story as much as the images do. With very few exceptions (the theme, as well as the frequent use of the recorder, I do not feel this with The Mandalorian. Sometimes, it is the music itself which feels out-of-place, sometimes it is just the audio mix choices that just push the soundtrack as a barely audible grumble in the background.

The big orchestral sound of Williams is not just a background to the stories of Star Wars, it is the ambient soundtrack of its universe. Göransson's tracks, sometimes detract me for the action that I see onscreen, as if some of the scenes were 'music-bombed', and that's the only thing I could focus on. Some other times, I feel that the background music is just not there to create the required tension a scene calls for.



For my own taste, I would have preferred Göransson's tracks to be the additional touch on top of a more "Star Wars-universe cohesive" orchestral soundtrack. I would have kept the recorders, drop the synths and other non-organic instrumental experiments.

But that's just me. If it works for you as a Star Wars soundtrack, all the better!

Read more »
Posted by at

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Amounts related to arms sales to Taiwan under various U.S presidencies (USD$)

 


Read more »
Posted by at

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Space race, electric cars, hyperloops... we live in amazing times!

Hyperion’s Hydrogen-Powered EV Supercar Has a 1,000-Mile Range—and Can Recharge in 5 Minutes


Hyperion’s first salvo in the battle against combustion is the XP-1 prototype—a futuristic supercar with a claimed 1,016-mile range and the ability to haul to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds. Oh, and the recharge time is less than five minutes. 

Flying U.S navy



Can seaweed help solve the world's plastic crisis?

"After you finish your fries, eat the ketchup packet. When you add your pasta to boiling water, toss the bag into the pot, too.
If these instructions sound confusing to you, it's only because you haven't yet heard of Notpla, a London-based startup company that is designing a seaweed-based replacement for single-use plastic packaging."
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/notpla-seaweed-single-use-plastics/index.html

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launches in French Guiana


“Look farther, delve deeper and measure more precisely, and you’re bound to detect something new and wondrous,” - Kenneth Sembach, director of the telescope institute. 
https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/comparisonWebbVsHubble.html

Startup Tests Rocket Launched by Super-Powerful Slingshot
Space startup SpinLaunch has a wild idea: instead of launching rockets vertically from the ground, why don’t we spin them inside a massive centrifuge and use that built up energy to slingshot them to high altitudes, where they can kick on relatively small rocket engines to cover the final distance into orbit?
https://www.spinlaunch.com/
https://futurism.com/startup-tests-rocket-launched-by-super-powerful-slingshot

Reusability on the horizon for small satellite launch providers
During October 2021’s Small Payload Ride Share Association Symposium, a collection of small satellite launch providers gave updates on current and future projects. These providers range from those preparing for first flights, others in the middle of their test flight program, and still others that have already delivered operational payloads. A common theme was having eyes on reusability as future evolutions for small satellite launch systems.
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/10/reusability-small-launch-providers/

Air Force's X-37B robotic space plane wings past 500 days in Earth orbit



That enigmatic U.S. military X-37B robotic space drone has now chalked up more than 500 days circling the Earth.

The Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-6) is also called USSF-7 for the U.S. Space Force and launched May 17, 2020, on an Atlas V 501 booster.

OTV-6 is the first to use a service module to host experiments. The service module is an attachment to the aft of the vehicle that allows additional experimental payload capability to be carried to orbit.

Reusable spaceplane demonstrator completes 5 test flights in 3 days




Comparing Rocket Sizes



https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Comparing-the-Size-of-The-Worlds-Rockets-Full-Size.html


The Porsche dynasty is taking on Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in space

Bezos and Blue Origin Crew’s Flight to Space

https://youtu.be/tMHhXzpwupU?t=6178


Virgin Galactic Completes First-Ever Spaceflight from New Mexico






Daymak Avvenire




Innovation with "Chinese Characteristics" (a.k.a. I.P theft)
"China’s state rocket company unveils rendering of a Starship look-alike
(...)
The concept is notable not only for its appearance to Starship—the vehicle's exterior is shiny, like the stainless steel structure of Starship, and the first and second stages are similarly seamless—but in its function as well. Although Starship has primarily been promoted as a vehicle to take humans to the Moon and Mars, SpaceX has also developed a point-to-point concept.
(...)
This would not be the first time that the Chinese space program has drawn inspiration from SpaceX. The country tracked SpaceX from the very beginning, particularly with an interest in SpaceX's plans to reuse rocket first stages. During the company's very first launch in 2006, as reported in the book Liftoff, a Chinese spy boat was in the small patch of ocean where the Falcon 1 rocket's first stage was due to reenter.

More recently, in 2019, the Chinese Long March 2C rocket tested "grid fins" like those used by the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket to steer itself through the atmosphere during the reentry process. China intends to develop the Long March 8 rocket to land on a sea platform like the Falcon 9 booster did, and semi-private Chinese firms such as LinkSpace and Galactic Energy appear to be mimicking SpaceX launch technology."

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully completed its historic first flight

"The Ingenuity helicopter has successfully completed its historic flight on Mars and safely landed back on the surface, according to NASA.

The first powered, controlled flight on another planet took place at 3:34 a.m. ET."


Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches and lands rocket New Shepard, as it prepares to launch people


"The mission on Wednesday reached 348,753 feet altitude, Blue Origin said – or about 106 kilometers, above the internationally recognized boundary of space.

NS-15 is expected to represent the second of two “stable configuration” test flights, CNBC reported in January, after the NS-14 mission featured the debut of a new rocket booster and upgraded capsule. While Blue Origin has only said that the first crewed flights will be “soon,” sources told CNBC in January that the company’s leadership hopes to launch its first crew on the NS-16 mission."

The first helicopter on Mars phones home after Perseverance rover landing


"The first helicopter ever sent to another world is doing just fine on Mars after surviving a "seven minutes of terror" landing aboard NASA's Perseverance.

The Ingenuity helicopter, which landed on Mars with Perseverance on Thursday (Feb. 18), is awake and communicating with controllers on Earth.

Controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) received a downlink on Friday at 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT) through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicating the 4-lb. (2 kilograms) helicopter and its base station are both operating normally."

Maine company successfully launches prototype rocket



"BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — A Maine company that’s developing a rocket to propel small satellites into space passed its first major test on Sunday.

Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace launched a 20-foot (6-meter) prototype rocket, hitting an altitude of a little more than 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) in a first run designed to test the rocket’s propulsion and control systems.

It carried a science project by Falmouth High School students that will measure flight metrics such as barometric pressure, a special alloy that’s being tested by a New Hampshire company — and a Dutch dessert called stroopwafel, in an homage to its Amsterdam-based parent company. Organizers of the launch said the items were included to demonstrate the inclusion of a small payload."

Virgin's Hyperloop

Interview: Horizon presents its long-range Cavorite X5 hybrid eVTOL
"Canada's Horizon Aircraft has popped up out of stealth mode with an interesting 5-seat hybrid eVTOL design using a wicked-cool split-wing mechanism to transition between VTOL and horizontal flight, and a totally unique path to market.
(...)
Once in forward flight, the wings close over, restoring the aerodynamically-efficient shape of a standard wing. Horizon claims that with an LS V8 engine on board and a relatively modest battery system, the Cavorite X5 will offer fully-loaded ranges up to 310 miles (500 km) with 215 mph (350 km/h) cruise capability and the ability to fill up and fly home on pump gas. Unladen with cargo or passengers, it'll fly more than 625 miles (1,000 km).

Practically-minded, the company is currently working on a 1:6 scale version to begin testing its systems and software, and plans to have a half-scale machine built in the next 12 months. Low-volume production is slated for 2024, at which point Horizon hopes to sell the X5 first as a kit plane in the amateur-built experimental category. "


Virgin Orbit launches rocket off a 747 aircraft, puts nine satellites in space

"Austin, Texas (CNN Business)A 70-foot rocket, riding beneath the wing of a retrofitted Boeing 747 aircraft, detached from the plane and fired itself into Earth's orbit on Sunday — marking the first successful launch for the California-based rocket startup Virgin Orbit.

Virgin Orbit's 747, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, took off from California around 10:30 am PT with the rocket, called LauncherOne, nestled beneath the plane's left wing. The aircraft flew out over the Pacific Ocean before the rocket was released, freeing LauncherOne and allowing it to power up its rocket motor and propel itself to more than 17,000 miles per hour, fast enough to begin orbiting the Earth.

The rocket flew a group of tiny satellites on behalf of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites, or ELaNa, program, which allows high school and college students to design and assemble small satellites that NASA then pays to launch into space. The nine small satellites that Virgin Orbit flew on Sunday included temperature-monitoring satellite from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a satellite that will study how tiny particles collide in space from the University of Central Florida, and an experimental radiation-detection satellite from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette."


BLUE ORIGIN MISSION NS-14 SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATES CREW CAPSULE UPGRADES

Key Mission Stats
  • 15th consecutive successful crew capsule landing (every flight in program, including pad escape test in 2012). 
  • The crew capsule reached an apogee of 347,568 ft above ground level (AGL) / 351,215 ft mean sea level (MSL) (105 km AGL/107 km MSL).
  • The booster reached an apogee of 347,211 ft AGL / 350,858 ft MSL (105 km AGL/ 106 km MSL).
  • The mission elapsed time was 10 min 10 sec and the max ascent velocity was 2,242 mph / 3,609 km/h.

ESA plans demonstration of a reusable rocket stage


"Themis is 30 m high and 3.5 m in diameter. This single-stage vehicle demonstrator holds 130 tonnes of liquid oxygen/methane to fuel three aligned Prometheus engines.

Suborbital flight tests are scheduled as of 2023 at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana."




European Space Agency (ESA) has signed contracts for its first reusable space transportation system


SN8 take-off, belly-flop, then landing flip


Russia planning to go reusable in 2026 with new Amur rocket

"Russia is getting into the reusable rocket game.

The nation's space agency, Roscosmos, announced last week that it aims to develop a two-stage rocket called the Amur, whose first stage will return to Earth for vertical, powered landings like those performed by SpaceX's Falcon 9 boosters.

Indeed, the Amur bears a remarkable resemblance to the Falcon 9, down to the stabilizing grid fins on the rocket's first stage and the desire to launch each booster up to 100 times eventually. "

In 5 years, and a pale copy of SpaceX's design. Copycats contribute very little to the advancement of space exploration innovation...


NASA Looks to Advance 3D Printing Construction Systems for the Moon and Mars
Rocket startup Astra reaches space for the first time with second launch attempt from Alaska


"San Francisco-area startup Astra became the latest U.S. rocket builder to reach space on Tuesday, with the successful launch of its Rocket 3.2 vehicle from Kodiak, Alaska.
The rocket came just shy of reaching orbit, with Astra CEO Chris Kemp telling reporters after the launch that the vehicle reached the target altitude of 390 kilometers but was “just a half a kilometer per second short” of the target orbital velocity."


Blue Origin’s team turns in its moon landing proposal — and provides a sneak peek

Isar Aerospace (Germany) is building a micro-satellite launcher significantly smaller and thus lower in price than bigger launchers on the market today

"The startup is a spinout of TUM — the famous Munich Technical University — where co-founders Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl all studied engineering.

Metzler said that typically the price for a satellite launch today can be in the range of between $30,000 and $40,000 per kilogram. “We aim to go more in the direction of $10,000 per kilogram,” he said."



Aptera opens orders on 1,000-mile solar EV that never needs charging


Read more »
Posted by at

Saturday, June 06, 2020

Idiotie

Ecrire ca en 2020, c'est d'une idiotie incroyable...

http://alter.quebec/la-mondialisation-economique-et-le-virus/

La mondialisation économique et le virus

Antonin-Xavier Fournier et Philippe Münch, Le Devoir, 28 mars 2020

28 mars 2020

 

La crise planétaire provoquée par l’arrivée de la COVID-19 frappe de plein fouet le monde capitaliste dans lequel nous vivons : les Bourses s’effondrent, le chômage risque de devenir endémique et dans plusieurs pays les paiements d’hypothèque sont suspendus. Les banques centrales, déjà éprouvées par la crise systémique de 2008, semblent être à court de solutions, tout comme nos gouvernements. Bref, la crise sanitaire pourrait avoir de graves répercussions sociales et économiques et des conséquences importantes sur notre mode de vie et sur notre conception de l’organisation sociale. Sans nécessairement envisager les scénarios catastrophes et voir là une sorte de fin du monde bien hypothétique et pour le moins alarmiste, il est difficile de ne pas concevoir qu’il y aura un « avant » et un « après » l’année 2020, comme ce fut le cas en 1929 ou en 1939. Quelle insouciance que d’avoir imaginé que nous étions en quelque sorte immunisés contre les « pestes » de l’humanité.

Hier encore, la société de consommation, déjà vertement critiquée par Karl Marx il y a plus de 150 ans, était universellement célébrée. Aujourd’hui, on constate pourtant toute la fragilité et la futilité de ce mode de vie. Comment peut-on imaginer qu’il y a quelques jours à peine, on pensait distraitement vagabonder d’un pays à l’autre alors que la pandémie était pourtant déjà en route et probablement en marche sur tous les continents ? Pire encore, les moyens d’information nous avaient pourtant prévenus qu’une crise était à nos portes. Cette insouciance est-elle le résultat d’un désir inconscient de suicide collectif ; à l’image d’une société incapable d’endiguer sa propre destruction malgré l’évidence de son mal-être et de son aliénation ?

Karl Marx, le grand théoricien du socialisme, ne serait sans doute pas surpris de constater aujourd’hui encore les failles, déjà entrevues au XIXe siècle, de la société capitaliste dans laquelle nous vivons et qui a mené, d’une certaine manière, à la crise actuelle. Mais la critique de Marx ne s’arrêterait probablement pas uniquement à une « simple » remise en cause du système capitaliste, car les fondements de la propagation de la pandémie démontrent aussi les limites de l’État-nation à répondre efficacement à une problématique de l’ampleur de la COVID-19. N’oublions surtout pas que les théories marxistes ont une portée universaliste. Marx lui-même n’aurait sans doute pas vu d’un mauvais œil la création d’une forme d’autorité supranationale capable de réguler les grandes problématiques de l’État-nation.

Logique marchande et société de consommation

On le sait, la pandémie est, en partie, le résultat de la mondialisation et de l’interdépendance des marchés économiques. La libre circulation des marchandises et des individus n’a fait qu’accélérer le phénomène. Sans cette mondialisation économique, le virus de la COVID-19 aurait sans doute pu se limiter à une crise localisée. Malheureusement, la réaction des pays a été dominée par des impératifs économiques plutôt que par des impératifs de santé publique alors que c’est de la survie de l’humanité dont il était question. Pourquoi avoir tant tardé à agir sinon par la volonté d’amoindrir les effets économiques de la crise ? Sommes-nous à ce point aliénés que nous perdons toute forme de raison humaine ? La défense contre le virus est pourtant simple : confinement et restriction des échanges de toutes sortes… Fermer la frontière aux touristes américains ? Complexe et difficile nous répondent d’abord nos dirigeants subordonnant toujours leurs réflexions sociales aux exigences économiques.

Cette logique marchande cosmopolite qui fait primer les intérêts du grand capital sur ceux de la santé de la population est déjà critiquée par le jeune Marx qui, avec son acolyte Engels, va écrire le célèbre Manifeste qui souligne avec justesse les limites de la mondialisation : « Par l’exploitation du marché mondial, la bourgeoisie donne un caractère cosmopolite à la production et à la consommation de tous les pays. […] À la place des anciens besoins, satisfaits par les produits nationaux, naissent des besoins nouveaux réclamant pour leur satisfaction les produits des contrées et des climats les plus lointains. » Comment ne pas voir là les limites de la société dans laquelle nous vivons actuellement et l’incongruité de produire en Chine ce que nous achetons maintenant, au risque d’importer un virus létal.

 

Mais il y a plus, car la pandémie est peut-être surtout le résultat de la société de consommation dans laquelle nous vivons et que Marx entrevoit déjà avec une lucidité désarmante en 1844 dans ses Manuscrits : « Chaque homme cherche à susciter chez l’autre un nouveau besoin afin de le pousser à un nouveau sacrifice, de le précipiter dans une nouvelle dépendance, de le séduire par un nouveau genre de jouissance et par là de le ruiner économiquement. » N’est-ce pas exactement ce qui se produit présentement en 2020 avec ce que l’on nomme « l’industrie » du tourisme et qui pousse l’homme à sacrifier des besoins élémentaires pour découvrir les merveilles du monde ? « Les besoins humains sous le capitalisme » ont donc facilité l’exportation de la COVID-19 en créant de toutes pièces une nouvelle industrie, un nouveau genre de jouissance capable de propager, comme jamais dans l’histoire de l’humanité, les maladies de toutes sortes. Autrement dit, l’humain préfère aujourd’hui risquer sa vie plutôt que de renoncer à un besoin superficiel, prouvant par là que « chaque nouveau produit est en puissance un moyen de tromperie et de spoliation réciproques ».

Nouvelle Internationale socialiste ?

Dans ce contexte, plusieurs pays ont décrété l’état d’urgence et ont adopté une série de mesures extraordinaires, à commencer par la fermeture partielle ou intégrale des frontières aux ressortissants étrangers. L’Europe et l’Amérique s’enfoncent ainsi progressivement dans un confinement généralisé qui prend des allures de territoire assiégé. Les présidents Macron et Trump ont d’ailleurs qualifié cette crise mondiale sanitaire de « guerre » contre un « ennemi invisible ». Alors que plusieurs spécialistes annonçaient la fin de l’État-nation, avec le délitement de ses pouvoirs souverains par les forces transnationales issues d’un marché mondialisé, la pandémie aura ramené au-devant de la scène un acteur-clé : l’État et sa puissance régalienne de protection et de régulation.

Pour autant, Marx ne verrait pas d’un bon œil ces formes de repli national, qui portent en germe des dynamiques politiques régressives. À travers son œuvre, même s’il n’y a pas de théorie systématique de la nation, on retrouve ici et là quelques grandes lignes de sa conception politique. L’État-nation n’est pas une fin en soi. Il a été une forme politique au service de la bourgeoisie pour détruire la société féodale. La nation est par contre dépassée par les logiques d’un marché mondial qui entraîne une exploitation généralisée des travailleurs. C’est en ce sens que Marx affirme dans son Manifeste que les « ouvriers n’ont pas de patrie ». Et il ajoute dans L’idéologie allemande : « La grande industrie crée une classe dont les intérêts sont les mêmes dans toutes les nations. » En clair, l’asservissement moderne est le même partout. En raison de conditions sociales communes, il importe alors que les luttes ouvrières se coordonnent et s’internationalisent. Ces principes finiront par se matérialiser par la création en 1864 de la Première Internationale dans laquelle Marx jouera un rôle militant important notamment en rédigeant le programme de l’organisation.

Face à cette crise sans précédent, les tentations protectionnistes et nationalistes actuelles ne constitueraient pas une voie de sortie viable. Marx dénoncerait sans aucun doute les discours xénophobes de Trump qui évoquent un « virus étranger » et « chinois », confortant ainsi sa base partisane populiste avide de sécurité et de frontières fermes. Si un tel repli nationaliste improvisé et sans concertation avec les autres pays est non seulement susceptible d’alimenter les mouvements de la droite radicale, il ne permet surtout pas d’endiguer efficacement le virus ni d’encadrer les abus du capitalisme mondialisé. La propagation du virus à travers le monde, de l’Asie vers l’Amérique en passant par l’Europe, est le résultat d’une incapacité flagrante des nations à coopérer, à s’unir et à s’organiser ensemble. La nation est un refuge temporaire. Seule une action internationale concertée et solidaire aurait pu limiter l’épidémie à la Chine, voire à l’Asie. Mais les forces du grand capital, les intérêts nationaux ainsi que le désir de consommer et de voyager auront finalement permis au virus de se répandre de pays en pays, de continent en continent. Le virus a été mondialisé faute de solutions internationales.


Le projet marxiste passe ainsi par une gouvernance internationaliste avec des pouvoirs absolus pour défendre les intérêts de l’humanité, des 99 % qui subissent les effets dévastateurs de la crise sanitaire, climatique et économique. Marx aurait applaudi à la déclaration du directeur général de l’OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus : « Ce coronavirus présente une menace sans précédent. Mais c’est aussi une occasion sans précédent de nous rassembler contre un ennemi commun, un ennemi de l’humanité. » En d’autres termes, « prolétaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous », aurait-il encore conclu.

Posted by at

Thursday, June 04, 2020

Carrie Lam has the Hong Kong protesters to thank for the lack of Covid-19 cases in the SAR

In an article published on April 17th in The Lancet, one of the oldest and most highly regarded medical journals, a group of scientists reported their findings on the impacts of a series of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 and influenza in Hong Kong[1].

The study revealed that “Influenza transmission declined substantially after the implementation of social distancing measures and changes in population behaviours in late January”. The studies also highlighted that Covid-19 “might share some aspects of transmission dynamics with COVID-19”, hinting that benefits in reducing transmissibility for one, would also impact the other’s.
Interestingly, it also revealed that Hong Kongers expressed that they widely lacked trust in the Hong Kong and mainland’s governments ability to handle the crisis, were avoiding crowded places, used face-masks, washed their hands, and avoided visiting the mainland. And all of these, as early as January 2020.

While Hong Kong had similar success in controlling Covid-19 as Taiwan and South-Korea, by implementing the same healthcare response measures, and this, in spite of the Hong Kong government’s every attempts to keep the borders open and discourage mask utilization, it faced a much larger challenge doing so as it shares a land border with the mainland, and sees a vastly greater number of Chinese passport carrying visitors[2].

Other articles were published attributing the success of Hong Kong being to the collective efforts of its population rather than those of the government[3].

It seems that all of these studies and commentaries failed to point out what I would call “the Wuhan elephant in the room”; the risk of Covid-19 contagion from the mainland was greatly reduced due to the fact that mainland visits had correspondingly been reduced since June 19, when massive protests debuted in Hong Kong.

Let us dig in the data that I got from the Hong Kong immigration department.


From the onset, we can observe that the mass protests and disturbances which started in June 2019 are clearly and directly correlated with the reduction of mainland Chinese tourism to Hong Kong. December 2019 Chinese passport carrying arrivals from mainland China were down 52% when compared to the same period in 2018. In January 2020, the decrease is even more staggering, at 63%.

However, if we want to capture the true extent of the risk that was actually adverted, we need to compare the January 2020 actuals with what would have been the expected number of mainland Chinese visitors, accounting for the previous years’ arrivals growth rate (about 15%).

When this is considered, we see that a forecasted 7.8 million mainland visitors turned into an actual 2.5 million, meaning that over 2/3 of these visitors did not cross the border in January 2020.
After much pressure from the medical sector and the population (strikes and other opposition movements), the HKSAR government finally shut most of the entry points to Hong Kong, which resulted in decrease of Chinese passport holders visits of 98.3% and 99.5% respectively in February and March, over the same months in 2019.

The low incidence of cases in Hong Kong also cannot be attributed to the Wuhan lockdown, as it started on January 23rd. That was far too late for it to be considered a significant explanation of the low cases incidence in Hong Kong.

As numerous studies have confirmed[4], the key to successfully control the epidemic is early action. It seems that in Hong Kong’s case, the 2019 protests had the unintended beneficial consequences, not only of having Hong Kongers distrust their government’s recommendations regarding non-usage of face masks, travel, and border closure, but also in greatly reducing the risk of contacts with infected visitors from the mainland.

Although it was due to different reasons, the data evidence is also corroborated in Macau which saw a 75% decrease in mainland Chinese visitors during the 2020 Lunar new year[5]. This was followed by a near-complete stop (-97.2%[6]) of all visits from mainland Chinese as China discontinued issuing single-day entry permit to the gaming enclave[7] on January 27th.

It is hard to put in numbers how many more Covid-19 cases would we been diagnosed in the H.K.S.A.R, had Hong Kongers not started protesting in June 2019 and mainlanders not significantly reduced their visits here as a result. However, it is plainly obvious that the effects of the protests in reducing risks did have a measurably more significant impact on southbound visits than any measures Carrie Lam’s administration begrudgingly took in the weeks that would follow…

 

 

 


[4] List studies about early detection


Posted by at

Tuesday, June 02, 2020

CCP's desperately trying to emulate Hong Kong by making Hainan the new Hong Kong

https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-06-02/60-policies-about-hainans-planned-free-trade-port-101561993.html


China on Monday released a plan (link in Chinese) for building the southern island province of Hainan into a high level free trade port by 2050. The following are 60 key measures of the plan posted on an official social media account. A free trade port policy system is set to be “basically established” in Hainan by 2025 and grow “more mature” by 2035, according to the plan.

1.Personal income tax cap of 15% for eligible talent

2.Corporate income tax of 15% on encouraged industrial enterprises

3.Enterprises exempt from import duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax on imported production equipment for their own use

4.Enterprises exempt from import duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax on imported operational vehicles and yachts

5.Enterprises exempt from import duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax on raw and auxiliary materials imported for production

6.Enterprises exempt from import duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax on imported goods purchased by island residents

7.Increases the quota for offshore duty-free shopping to 100,000 yuan ($14,020) per person per year and increases the number of categories for duty-free products

8.Until 2025, enterprises will be exempt from corporate tax on income from new foreign direct investment for tourism, modern services and high-tech industry enterprises

9.Qualified capital expenditures eligible to receive full tax deductions or accelerated depreciation and amortization

10.Tax exemptions on imports and sales of overseas exhibits during exhibitions

11.Products originating from Hainan, including output products whose added value exceeds 30% after the domestic processing of imported intermediary products, are exempt from taxes when entering the rest of China

12.Allow flights in and out of Hainan to refuel with bonded aviation fuel

13.Export tax rebates on domestically built ships that are registered at Yangpu Port of China and engaged in international transport

14.Allow ships (those engaged in domestic and foreign trade) that transit at Yangpu Port of China to refuel with bonded fuel

15.Build Yangpu Port of China into an international port of registry

16.Adopt a trial policy of tax rebates at the port of departure on goods that use Yangpu Port of China as a transit port for final departure from China

17.Adopt an import and export management system featuring “free flow through the first line and efficient control at the second line” in Yangpu Port Bonded Area and other qualified zones

18.Allow high-level overseas universities and vocational colleges with specializations in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine to open branch schools independently in Hainan

19.Build Hainan into an island featuring innovative and international education

20.Establish a multifunctional free trade account system

21.Replace pre-audit with post-audit for the banking sector on authenticity review of cross-border and new international trade

22.Conduct the negative list of cross-border trade in services for Hainan Free Trade Port

23.Grant enterprises access to the market with a prior commitment

24.Conduct the special list of market access to the Hainan Free Trade Port

25.Conduct the negative list of foreign investment access to Hainan Free Trade Port

26.Treat domestic and foreign enterprises as equals in government procurement

27.Implement a more convenient visa-free entry policy

28.Salary ranges employed as main indices to evaluate talents

29.Conduct a negative list management system on the issuance of work permits for foreign employees

30.Permit foreign personnel to serve as legal representatives in legal bodies, public institutions and state-owned enterprises

31.Remove restrictions on overseas ship and aircraft financing

32.Decentralize the registration management of foreign debts issued by enterprises to Hainan

33.Expand the scope of cross-border asset transfer

34.Prioritize the support of listing Chinese enterprises overseas

35.Allow enterprises listed overseas to handle foreign exchange registration directly at banks

36.Establish Hainan International Intellectual Property Rights Exchange

37.Support overseas securities, funds, and futures institutions to set up wholly-owned or jointly-owned institutes in Hainan

38.Support the establishment of property insurance, life insurance and reinsurance companies, mutual insurance organizations and self-insurance companies

39.Support to develop cross-border medical insurance products in cooperation with overseas institutions

40.Support the construction of trading venues for international energy, shipping, property rights and equity stakes

41.Enable nonresidents to participate in trading and fund settlement at trading venues

42.Develop over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives services

43.Conduct cross-border asset management services

44.Issue Hainan provincial bonds globally

45.Open up value-added telecommunications services

46.Conduct services of online data processing and transaction processing

47.Open up basic telecommunications services in a safe and orderly fashion

48.Conduct the International Internet Data Interaction Pilot Project

49.Expand air traffic rights, including the Fifth Freedom and Seventh Freedom

50.Build an international aviation hub

51.Build a new international land and sea transport hub to connect Western China with the world

52.Build a regional medical center

53.Build a national base featuring China’s blockchain technology and industrial innovation

54.Build a pilot zone for cruise tourism

55.Build a pilot zone for reform, development and innovation of the yacht industry

56.Build Hainan into an International Design Island

57.Build a national Sino-foreign culture and trade exchange base

58.Authorize the Hainan government to manage and adjust the use of cultivated land, permanent basic farmland, forestland and land for construction

59.Grant greater autonomy to various industry organizations

60.Formulate laws and regulations based on the reality of Hainan’s free trade port construction


Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)