China launches AI that writes politically correct documents for bureaucrats The Register

Asia in brief Chinese web and artificial intelligence giant Baidu teamed up last week with government communications outlet Xuexi to create a tool that generates politically correct documents for bureaucrats.

Xuexi is an app that provides information about the life and thoughts of Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as tools for users to discuss them together.

Reports of Hong Kong And China claim that Baidu has partnered with Xuexi to create a tool that Chinese bureaucrats can use to check the documents they create to ensure that they correctly reflect Xi Jinping's thoughts and that references to his ideas come from from verified sources.

The tool can also be used to produce documents citing government statistics and policies.

The register isn't the first to suggest this pun, but it seems impossible not to call this app Chat Xi-PT. -Simon Sharwood

Apple finds $1 billion to invest in Indonesia

Apple has reportedly dug deep into its pockets and found $1 billion to invest in Indonesia, a week after the country's industry ministry rejected a $100 million investment proposal from the iPhone maker.

Indonesia requires that 40% of the components and/or labor that go into making a smartphone be manufactured or executed locally, which is not the case for Apple's iPhone 16. The sale of the high-end phone has therefore not been approved in the country.

But the problem may now be resolved. Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani last week said According to journalists, iGiant would finance a factory to manufacture components for smartphones and other similar products.

South Korean opposition party thought martial law order was counterfeit

South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung told CNN he thought he was watching a deepfake video when he was shown President Yoon Suk Yeol declaring martial law last Tuesday.

Lee's wife showed him the video while he was in bed, and he assumed it couldn't be real.

President Yoons' order was met with shock and surprise, and quickly rescinded, but not before a drop the value of the national currency and stock prices are faltering for local tech giants.

A martial law order would ban all political activity and censor the media in what many have described as an attempted coup by Yoon. Yoon justified the order as necessary to deal with anti-state activities in the National Assembly, which he said was collaborating with North Korean communists.

Yoon apologized and narrowly escaped impeachment.

Chinese e-commerce sites suspended in Vietnam

Controversial Chinese online retailer Temu has been temporarily suspended in Vietnam for failing to properly register with the government, according to a report. government website.

The government announcement explained that Temu stopped offering a Vietnamese-language app while it worked to resolve regulatory issues, and instead offered only Chinese, English and French .

Media reports suggest that the same fate befell Shein, another Chinese e-tailer.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has set the end of December as the deadline for e-retailers to register with the government or face ban.

The ministry is concerned about online retailers offering deep discounts, possibly selling counterfeit products, and relying on business models that use tax exemptions on low-cost imported products to harm local players. Authorities believe Temu has implemented measures to remove non-compliant promotional programs, discounts above fifty percent, and user-based commission schemes.

The Vietnamese website of Shein, founded in Nanjing and headquartered in Singapore, is currently unavailable, and the retailer told local media it was working with the Ministry of Commerce to register its services.

Vietnam is the latest country to crack down on offshore e-commerce. South Korea announced measures last March aimed at encouraging Chinese e-retailers to act fairly. The United States has also taken steps to close loopholes exploited by industry.

These regulations are sure to anger Beijing, as the Chinese government has expressed interest in the offshore growth of its e-commerce giants.

Beijing calls for vigilance against open source intelligence

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) warned last week of national security risks created by “open source information” on its WeChat account.

Open source data legally accessible from social media, online forums and satellite imagery has been described as an important source of cyberespionage.

“Foreign spy agencies can aggregate fragmented and vague data and, through big data analysis, carry out precise, continuous and stable tracking of targets, extracting valuable intelligence,” the ministry said, according to South China Morning Post (SCMP).

MSS claimed that poor management could lead to leaks of procurement details or sensitive technical data.

APAC Offer Book

Recent alliances and agreements spotted by The register in the region last week:

• China Mobile has achieved a offer [PDF] to acquire Hong Kong broadband provider HKBN for HK6.86 billion ($882 million). The offer follows another offer [PDF] manufactured by the American company I Squared Capital for an undisclosed price.
• Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton confirmed the virtual mobile network operator has been acquired by the major Australian operator Telstra. Adderton did not disclose the acquisition price, but it was reported at $140 million.
• Indian payments giant PayTM last week announcement it sold its rights to acquire shares in Japan's PayPay Corporation to SoftBanks vision fund for US$41.9 billion ($279 million).