My view on the Belgian mission

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The mega mission

I already gave a short overview on the visit. Here my view on the Belgian mission, personal observations.
As I was rather unhappy with the way preparations were carried out and what happened, so I skipped the huge reception in Kempinski Hotel in the evening of 18 November. I did not miss much, too many people, the VIPs too far away, no contact.
Anyway I already had met the Princess, on 5 September 2008, in the embassy. See one of the pictures (in wheelchair Tennis player Marie Annick Sevenans) and a media article:

Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, accompanied by Prince Lorenz, will arrive in China for a few days. Her main objective is to attend Saturday’s Paralympic Opening Ceremony and wholeheartedly encourage the 20 Belgian athletes participating in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. The Princess will personally attend the wheelchair tennis competition on  Monday, September 8. Ms. Julie FERNANDEZ-FERNANDEZ, State Secretary for the handicapped, attached to the Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, will also attend the Paralympics and will represent Belgium at the Closing Ceremony.

And I met earlier Jan Jambon as mentioned, thanks in part to Peter Ritzen.

Media comments, in Dutch

Achter de schermen van handelsmissie China: “Wij maken geen stofzuigers, onze technologie kunnen ze niet snel kopiëren”
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/11/18/achter-de-schermen-van-de-grootste-belgische-handelsmissie-ooit/

Achter de schermen van de Belgische handelsmissie in China (deel 2) : peren, studenten én voetbal
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/11/21/achter-de-schermen-van-de-chinese-handelsmissie-peren-voetbal/
In Shanghai is de Belgische handelsmissie in China afgesloten. Meer dan 630 deelnemers trokken 5 dagen door het land in de hoop een nieuwe afzetmarkt te vinden voor onze producten en expertise. Maar wat gaat dat op termijn opleveren? En was zo’n missie wel gepast op het ogenblik dat het democratisch protest in Hongkong de kop in werd geslagen?

The hacking

The hacking story received a lot of comments, some found it to be naive and out of context. Of course we know the Chinese will hack and spy but the “expert” proved to be rather naive indeed. See comment from VRT.

Just curious I checked my desktop (iMac) that is pretty well protected by its firewall and other basic tricks. Yes, there were some attempts of intrusions but overall it seemed pretty lame. See the screenshot.

As for the impact, I have my doubts.

Yes, a mission led by the Princess can indeed open doors and has a positive effect. However:

– Such a big delegation floods the Chinese administration and business world. As a result meetings can be too superficial and unfocused, and done in a rush.
– Many still have unrealistic and naive expectations in this market. A lot of noise concerning a “new platform to import Belgian products such as beer, cookies, Belgian fries and other”. Good luck with that. Many tried, most failed for a variety of reasons I don’t want to explain here.
– The proof will be: let’s see after one year what became of all the “signed deals”.

Preparation of the mission was in my view disappointing. People with proven local expertise were ignored. No further comments.

TV interview

I was interviewed by Bart Aerts of VRT NWS, we finally agreed on the location: Morel’s Restaurant. I understand the interview would come out in February 2020.

Present were Renaat Morel, Bart Aerts, Karl Lagatie en Vlad Vanderkelen.

Belgian mission to China

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

A mega delegation

In November 2019 a huge Belgian mission to China of business people and government officials invaded Beijing and Shanghai. Numbers for the participants were officially far over 600 but I heard even larger numbers.

The official list:
Belgian Economic Mission to the People’s Republic of China, presided by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, Representative of His Majesty the King and in the presence of

  • HE Didier Reynders, Federal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, and of Defence
  • HE Pieter De Crem, Federal Minister of the Interior, Security and Foreign Trade
  • HE Jan Jambon, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Foreign Policy, Culture, IT and Facilities
  • HE Willy Borsus, Vice-President of the Walloon Government and Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade, Research and Innovation, New Technologies, Agriculture, and Urban and Spatial Planning
  • HE Pascal Smet, State Secretary of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Urbanism and Heritage, European and International Relations, Foreign Trade and Firefighting and Emergency Medical Assistance
  • HE Marc Vinck, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Beijing

High-level meetings

From the media:
On 18 November 2019, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan met in Zhongnanhai with Princess Astrid, the representative of the Belgian king and princess.

Wang said that the Chinese government warmly welcomes Her Royal Highness to lead a large economic and trade delegation to China. The Belgian Royal Family has long been committed to Sino-Belgian friendship In recent years, the successful exchange of visits between President Xi Jinping and King Philip has greatly promoted the development of bilateral relations. Belgium has a unique location and distinctive economic and cultural characteristics. At present, exchanges between China and Belgium at all levels and in all fields are developing. The all-round friendly and cooperative partnership maintains a high level of operation. Practical cooperation faces new opportunities. We hope that the Belgian royal family will continue to play an active role in implementing the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and taking China-Belgium and China-EU relations to a new level.

See also “Belgian Economic Mission in Beijing” by BelgiuminChina,
Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PrpZXR2GK7ibPWXF73Nibg
Or for those unable to connect:  191118 Belgium_mission

The hacking story (media articles in Dutch)

Waarom willen de Chinezen onze handelsmissie hacken? En moet u als toerist voorzorgen nemen? 5 vragen en 5 antwoorden.
De Belgische handelsmissie die deze week naar China trok, werd massaal aangevallen door hackers, zo blijkt nu. Omdat de delegatie goed was voorbereid, kon er gelukkig geen informatie gestolen worden. Maar waarom proberen de Chinezen informatie te ontfutselen van België? En loop je als particulier ook gevaar om gehackt te worden in China? Vijf vragen en vijf antwoorden van Tom Van de Weghe, die vijf jaar correspondent was in China en zich specialiseerde in cybersecurity en artificiële intelligentie aan de universiteit van Stanford.
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/11/23/waarom-willen-de-chinezen-ons-hacken-vijf-vragen-en-vijf-antwoo/

en ook:

23 November 2019 – Economische missie in China slachtoffer van massale cyberaanvallen
Bron: Belga
https://www.knack.be/nieuws/belgie/economische-missie-in-china-slachtoffer-van-massale-cyberaanvallen/article-news-1535447.html

23 November 2019 – Buitenlandse Zaken ‘op de hoogte van problematiek’ van cyberaanvallen in China
Bron : Belga
https://www.knack.be/nieuws/belgie/buitenlandse-zaken-op-de-hoogte-van-problematiek-van-cyberaanvallen-in-china/article-news-1535555.html

My comments.

I will comment in another post, soon.

Big Data issues

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Indus News again

Another Indus News interview, this time on Big Data issues.
The topic:
Big data and its future: With governments all over the world focusing on the collection of data for a plethora of reasons, we discuss in the show how important big data is in fact in the modern world. Why is there so much emphasis on its collection? How is this data utilized and for what purposes is it used. How is the collection of big data shaping the future of politics and international relations?

My suggested talking points:
– Big Data has become very important in many industries and will grow, it is unstoppable even more with the Internet of Things (everything is connected).
– Regulations need to be in place to address privacy concerns and to protect the vulnerable such as children and others, such as the elderly.
– Companies must clarify what data they gather and how they process and store them.
– Some even think companies should in a way pay for the data, now they harvest free of charge.
– A big concern is the misuse by authoritarian governments, they could use the data for political purposes against dissidents and others, especially if the data collected can be traced to individuals. An example is the Chinese Social Credit System that can trace anything about an individual: website visits, online purchases, online comments, anything.

Oops Internet gone

In the middle of the interview Skype stopped. First I thought there was problem on my side but soon it was clear Indus “was gone”. Soon I got a message through WhatsApp that the studio in Lahore had its Internet cut off… Anyway they still managed to send out the interview, with pieces missing from my side (YouTube):

 

Some more comments on Big Data issues

Big Data is yes, a big issue…

It is being used in so many industries and business: medical, warehousing, inventories, fraud detection, name it. With the increasing computing power and Artificial Intelligence, the sky is the limit…

One major application is to detect trends, in whatever field: in fashion, consumer attitudes, entertainment, politics, opinion on international trade issues, tourism, …. you can basically think about anything.
An example could be: What are the views on the U.S. – China Trade issues? Sources can be the media, in any form, also like Facebook, Twitter, ….

Foreign airline pilots

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Job market changed

In my post on the Binzhou Flying College I mentioned China is employing many foreign airline pilots. The job market for pilots is changing and is suffering the impact of the debacle with the Boeing 737 MAX. Chinese carriers account for 20% of global fleet of grounded planes and have largely stopped hiring foreign pilots for the 737. Appetite for captains of many Airbus models remains unabated.

Commercial pilots in China

The number of Chinese licensed commercial pilots was 61,492 at the end of 2018. That’s up 54% from 2014 levels, but it’s still not enough. According to Boeing, China will need 8,090 new airplanes over the next 20 years. To fly them all, China will require another 124,000 pilots, Boeing says. That’s the equivalent of 119 new hires every week for two decades.
As a result by the end of 2016, Chinese carriers had more than 1,000 foreign airline pilots, double the number in 2010.

Good salaries

Chinese airlines that are still hiring are getting more picky to select foreign airline pilots, simulator tests are pretty strict. Chinese airlines still pay above-market wages,  paying multiple times the median salary of a commercial pilot in the United States.
It’s still possible for overseas pilots to head home with US$1 million in the bank after five years of flying in China.

Juneyao Airlines in Shanghai is offering US$299,000 a year to A320 captains aged between 30 and 53. The role demands an average of just 14 hours’ flying a week and includes 50 days of paid leave and an overseas employment allowance of US$666 a month. The pay climbs to US$311,000 – after tax – a year in the second term.

China United Airlines, a unit of China Eastern is offering US$288,000 a year to 737 captains on three-year contracts. But that’s the site’s first ad for 737 pilots in China since July. The package includes a monthly education allowance of $1,000 for children in Chinese schools.

The future

Schools as the one in Binzhou have an uphill task to satisfy demand, in view of China’s booming aviation market.

Sources
See:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3042166/chinese-airlines-drop-foreign-pilots-wake-boeing-737-max
and
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/SIG2PVuxEQ2Tokrkv4r-Pw

 

Binzhou Flying College

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Flying school

Binzhou Flying College is located in Binzhou University (Chinese: 滨州学院) is a public university located in Binzhou, Shandong province.
The university was established in 1958.
The university offers 38 diplomas, with 19 undergraduate majors. It is the first regional university in China to offer flight training for pilots. It operates a number of research centers and institutes in diverse areas including ecology, military science, history and ancient books. It has received 23 Provincial Scientific Research awards and has published extensively in the field of science.
Faculty and Students:
The university hosts a student body of approximately 18,000 full-time students, with a teaching faculty of over 700.

The University has set up Flying College since 2006 and became the first regional university to train pilots in China. I could not find s decent website in English for the University and the Flying College.
The Binzhou Flying College has several sections, such as intensive courses, maintenance of aircraft and parts, training for flight control in airport and other. It is said to have some 1,500 students.

The visit on 30 November

In front of Binzhou Flying College there are two planes, can also be used for training.
See the flight simulators, the workshops for maintenance training, classrooms, assembly of model planes, training for airport flight management (see the video clip, click to play).

191130 airportcontrol2

China lacks commercial pilots and as for now has to employ many foreign pilots (Brazil and other countries).
The students can practice in the Aircraft City where Shandong Bin Ao is located.
See the pictures:

Shandong Bin Ao Aircraft Industries

Shandong Bin Ao Aircraft Industries Co., Ltd. is located in the Dagao Town, Zhanhua County, Binzhou City.
The company was founded in 2008. It is a joint venture set up by Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH. The joint venture manufactures mainly DA40 Diamond Aircraft with a yearly production scale of 500 aircraft.

See: www.bin-ao.com (Chinese only)

Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH/Shandong Bin Ao delivered 40 DA40 and 10 DA42 aircrafts to China. The aircraft, manufactured in Austria, Canada and China, are primarily used for commercial pilot training.

About the Diamond Group

See: https://www.diamondaircraft.com/en/about-diamond/why-diamond/

In 1981 Hoffmann Aircraft GesmbH was established as a 100% subsidiary of Simmering-Graz-Pauker AG with its head office in Vienna and began the production of the Diamond MK II.
Diamond Aircraft, headquartered in Austria with facilities in Canada and China, is amongst the leading aircraft manufacturer in General Aviation. Founded in 1981, Diamond has pioneered many aviation firsts and achieved numerous milestones and industry expert accolades.

Today, Diamond Aircraft has more than 1,000 employees worldwide and offers the most complete range of certified piston aircraft models: from the 2 seat single DA20 to the stunning 7 seat DA62. With its complete line of piston aircraft including a dedicated flight training concept with Single Engine Piston (DA40 NG) and Multi Engine Piston (DA42-VI) trainers, along with type-specific flight training simulators and proprietary engines, Diamond Aircraft is the only sole source provider in the fleet training market.

In 1996 the company was first named named Diamond Aircraft.
First flight of a jointly developed multi-engine hybrid electric aircraft, commenced on 31 October 2018.
In 2017 Wanfeng Aviation Industry CO., LTD acquires the Diamond Group, including Austria, Canada and Austro Engine.