Over 1 Million Affected by Severe Flooding in China | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. Intense flooding batters southern China, forcing people to flee homes, crushing people's livelihoods and submerging farmlands. We spoke to locals about the situation. The European Union is slapping significant tariffs on electric vehicles coming from China. The rule takes effect today. Meanwhile, Beijing is formulating trade rules against some key European exports in retaliation. The two sides are expected to hold talks amid the trade war. Reports that Chinese authorities have quietly shut down some sellers of fentanyl precursors. This as Washington demands Beijing to do its part in curtailing the U.S. opioid epidemic. Southern China is still reeling from massive flooding. Over 90 rivers have swelled above warning levels. Blood waters still rising. In one province alone, over one million people have been affected. NTD heard from residents about their desperate situation. Here's more. One county in Hunan province was hit especially hard. The worst flooding in 70 years. Most of the county's districts have been affected. A large swath of mountainous areas are now cut off from the outside world. Local residents told NTD they suspect authorities opened a dam's floodgate to discharge waters without telling them. We have distorted the residents' voices to protect their identities. Why would the local river all of a sudden rise so high? The local dam must have discharged water overnight. Our entire town has been submerged. A man was swept away by the floodwaters. His body washed up this morning. Another resident said the power went out as soon as the floodwaters hit the town. We live next to a river so our situation is even worse. The first floor of the building has been submerged. We tried moving our stuff but it was no use. There wasn't enough time. Authorities haven't announced the number of people killed by the floods. A local resident telling the Epoch Times officials are censoring that type of information. In nearby Anhui province, a million people have been affected. One resident said officials opened the floodgate of a local dam without warning residents. After the floodgates were opened, those living downstream didn't have enough time to evacuate. Our local county has been submerged by floodwaters. I heard people have drowned. In Hunan, the water breached a dam floodwaters poured through submerging local farmlands. Now we can only wait for the water to dry up and then rush to plant, hoping to minimize the losses. Around 200 mu, 33 acres, could have been damaged. If we had any floods in the past, they were usually small. Such severe flooding is rare. For those living in the middle to lower reaches of the Yanzi River, the situation is grim. Weather forecasts predicting water levels will stay elevated there for another 10 days. Here's a close-up of one of the affected areas, a pagoda and a temple submerged in floodwaters. They're located in Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China. Torrential rain has sent its water exceeding the warning level by six feet, the highest in four years. Local authorities have had the second highest level of flood control activated since Tuesday. Flooding has been plaguing parts of southern China, especially in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. One province issued flood alerts. Another activated the highest level flood response. In Anhui province, over 250,000 have been forced to leave their homes for safety. Heavy rain is expected in the coming days. Moving to Europe, the European Union is slapping tariffs up to 37% on electric vehicles built in China starting today. It's Europe's biggest trade case against Beijing yet. The introduction of tariffs is not an objective per se. It is a means to correct an imbalance, an unfair competitive situation to the detriment of producers of electric vehicles in the EU compared to those who are producing vehicles in China. Also worth noting, the tariffs are provisional for four months. Beijing has threatened retaliations and called on the bloc to cancel the tariffs. It's been in talks with Brussels since last week and is likely to continue. The announcement is a blow to China, which is already in a trade war with Washington. President Biden said he would quadruple tariffs on Chinese EVs to 100%. The European Union is the largest overseas market for Chinese electric cars. As for the EU, the new tariffs are up to 37.6%. That's on top of the 10% duty already in place. The EU said the tariffs are to protect the domestic car industry. Because Chinese EVs are backed by state subsidies, they're sold at a price far cheaper than their European counterparts. Both Chinese EV makers and Western brands that are made in China will be impacted by the tariffs, such as Tesla and BMW. Spain's Minister of the Economy, Trade and Enterprise says the European Union must stand its ground in negotiations with China. The minister said he is not looking to escalate the trade conflicts with China. Spain is Europe's biggest port exporter and China is its biggest buyer. China launched an anti-dumping probe into European pork last month, putting Spain in a difficult position. But the minister said he believes Spanish pork companies don't get state subsidies. He also disclosed Spain is working on increasing exports to Japan or could even, quote, be a bit more self-centered to counter the trade challenges. One day after the European Union's trade announcement, China dropped a hint about how it may retaliate against the new EU tariffs on its electric vehicles. In two weeks, the Chinese Minister of Commerce is set to discuss an ongoing investigation into allegations European brandy was subsidized and sold below market value in China. The Commerce Ministry said Friday it would hold a hearing to examine claims European brandy producers are selling into the country at below market rates. Officials have also referred to another probe into EU pork exports. Analysts say the targets were chosen to pressure Spain and France, which have been among the strongest backers of the new levies. Reports in state-backed media indicate other possible targets for retaliation. That could include dairy products and luxury cars. The EU tariffs have also divided opinion in Europe. German automakers have called for them to be scrapped, fearing they could be a target for Beijing's response. Chinese EV brands are set to make a large number of their cars in Mexico. The idea is to take advantage of North American trade rules, which could help China in the wake of fresh tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. The White House is set to impose a 100 percent tariff on electric cars coming from China. But China could use the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement to get around them. Under this policy, Mexico-made cars can enter the U.S. market duty-free with a very small tariff. This also applies to cars made in Mexico by Chinese brands. On national security grounds, Germany this week decided to block the plan of sale of a gas turbine business to China. Some German politicians are concerned China may use the turbines to power warships. German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said while investments in Germany were welcome in general, certain technologies must be protected. The restriction we have to adhere to by law is that we protect the technologies which are relevant to public order from information flow or if there is a danger to public security and order because of the influence from countries which maybe not always have a friendly relationship with us. MAN Energy Solutions, part of the Volkswagen Group, said in June 2023 that it planned to sell its gas turbines business to a Chinese gas turbine company that belongs to a corporation that dominates the Chinese shipbuilding industry. In 2022, Germany blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech company because of security concerns. Fentanyl control. China is reportedly quietly taking steps to limit the availability of fentanyl precursors in the country. It comes as drug-related deaths in the U.S. surge. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Beijing has shut down some sellers of opioid precursors and says it will soon impose regulations on three other chemicals. The reported efforts come after President Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco last year. Most U.S.-bound fentanyl precursors are made in China. They are often sold to Mexican cartels for further manufacturing before being smuggled into the United States. The opioid epidemic has been a flashpoint in U.S.-China relations. America records tens of thousands of deaths from fentanyl overdoses every year. Earlier this year, a report by the House Select Committee on the CCP said Beijing is directly subsidizing the industry through grants and tax rebates. Last September, Washington placed Beijing on a black list of major drug-making countries, along with others like Mexico and Colombia. Taiwan reporting more Chinese military activity off its coasts on Friday. The Taiwanese government is now calling on Beijing not to escalate tensions after its seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat. Taiwan's defense ministry said that just before 7 a.m. local time, it detected 26 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a joint combat readiness patrol with Chinese warships. The Chinese aircraft flew into airspace near the north, center and southern part of Taiwan. Taiwan has detected at least 127 Chinese military aircraft operating near the island since the start of this month. Earlier this week, Chinese Coast Guard officers boarded and detained a Taiwanese fishing boat off China's southeast coast. The Taiwan Coast Guard called the move from Beijing political manipulation which undermines cross-strait relations. James Zimmerman, a lawyer based in Beijing, says that several companies have asked him about risks facing their Taiwanese personnel. Data shows around 180,000 Taiwanese were working in China in 2022, some of them for multinationals. Some of their employers are worried about Beijing's vague definition of pro-independence. It seems the guideline could be used to target people simply for posting online about political issues in Taiwan or for voting for a particular Taiwanese political party. But Chinese authorities say most Taiwanese don't need to worry about the new rule and that people come to China, quote, in high spirits. Taiwan President Lai Ching-de has denounced China's new guidelines. Taiwan also warned its people about the risks involved in traveling to China. Last year, China detained at least eight retired Taiwanese officers and academics on formal exchange programs. That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We're now sharing a shortened version of our program here after being demonetized for three years. If you'd like to support us, consider donating. Find us at donorbox.org or subscribe to our partner platform, Epic TV, where you can watch our full episodes. Just click the link down below. Here's what to look out for in our second half. The Philippines says it will hit back just as hard if China attacks again. What would this mean for the U.S. as a Philippine defense treaty ally? Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you soon.