Month: August 2019

It’s billed as ‘Ultimate August’, with an eye-popping $15 million awaiting the new FedExCup champion. And for red-hot Brooks Koepka, it could mean collecting $18 million just in bonus money by the time the dust settles.

Welcome to the conclusion of PGA Tour season, when every stroke matters and every missed shot can mean disaster.

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The stars know they have everything to fight for as one of the most prestigious accolades in sports await the FedExCup champion.

Three tournaments remain out of the 46 that have seen the tour traverse the United States, Canada, Latin America and Asia over the past 11 months, cementing a legend’s stature, establishing new superstars and heralding the arrival of a new generation of exciting young champions.

The all-powerful Koepka is primed to be the season’s biggest winner. Following his third victory of the season at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St Jude Invitational two weeks ago, he picked up a cool $2 million bonus for winning the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, which recognizes the high achievers in the regular season that concluded with last weekend’s Wyndham Championship.

The 29-year-old American then added another $1 million to his bank account for clinching the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, a new and innovative competition that highlights golf’s best strategic decision-makers.

This week, the top 125 golfers from the FedExCup points list are teeing up in the make-or-break Fed-ExCup playoffs, comprised of The Northern Trust, the BMW Championship and the Playoffs Finale, which will feature the top 30 and use a stroke-based system to determine the FedExCup champion.

This season’s $15 million payout to the FedExCup champion is $5 million more than what England’s Justin Rose earned last year, thanks to a cash boost from FedEx, which topped up the overall bonus pool by $25 million to $60 million.

Koepka, who also won this year’s CJ Cup @Nine Bridges in South Korea and the PGA Championship, is geared up for a strong finish as he enters the playoffs at No 1 on the points list.

“It’s incredible. To look at what I’ve done this year, the consistency, trying to take my game to a new level. I’ve done all that. To be up there in the FedExCup with a chance in Atlanta, that’s incredible,” Koepka said.

Rory McIlroy, who is trying to join Tiger Woods as the only two-time FedExCup champion, is one of the contenders aiming to derail Koepka.

“You want to be as high up in the rankings as you possibly can. Obviously, there’s a lot to play for. Every year, the FedExCup is getting bigger and bigger, and it’s more of a target on all the guys’ radar. There’s a lot to play for in August,” said McIlroy.

Much of this month’s excitement is due to the vision of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who has advocated changes to the tour schedule and pushed for greater rewards to capture and expand the imagination of players, fans, sponsors, and TV and online viewers.

As previous FedExCup champions include current greats such as Woods, McIlroy, Rose, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson and Vijay Singh, winning the season-long competition has become a priority for the new generation.

Reigning WGC-HSBC Champions and Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Xander Schauffele of the US, who enters the playoffs in third place, summed up the importance of the next three tournaments: “We have so much to play for. Everything’s on the table. It’s just as big as a major championship. I go to sleep thinking about those things.”

Rose, who became the first Englishman to taste FedExCup glory last year, added: “Obviously the playoffs are all about volatility and bringing your game when you really need it. We’ve all bought in and love that concept.”

Asia will have keen interest in the playoffs, with South Korean rookie Im Sung-jae currently ranked as the highest Asian on the points list in 23rd position, followed by compatriot Sung Kang in 29th and Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama in 30th.

Chinese Taipei’s CT Pan, who sits 35th, broke through for his first PGA Tour win in April and is determined to make it to the Championship for the first time.

“It’s been my goal for the past three years. It’s all I’m trying to do, get into the Tour Championship,” said Pan.

The writer is the PGA Tour’s senior director of communications and is based in Kuala Lumpur.

 

United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith Freehills said on Wednesday that it has become the sixth international law firm to be given approval to operate in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone after joining hands with Shanghai-based Kewei Law Firm.

As part of the joint operations, the two law firms will provide legal advisory services to international and Chinese companies in sectors like cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate affairs, banking and finance, disputes, competition, capital market and financial regulation.

In December 2014, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice released two regulations which gave the green light to the joint operations model. Under this, a foreign law firm and a Chinese law firm can send their lawyers to each other’s offices as legal consultants. Such a business model is only allowed within the Shanghai FTZ at present, and at least one law firm should be geographically operating in the FTZ.

Based on the current regulations in China, the representative offices of foreign law firms can only provide information explaining the influence of the Chinese legal environment. They are not allowed to provide judicial interpretations in the country.

May Tai, managing partner of Herbert Smith Freehills in China, said the joint operations model will allow Kewei to undertake legal work for Herbert Smith Freehills within the permitted business boundaries for foreign law firms in China.

The current joint operation is not the first of its kind for Herbert Smith Freehills. The London-headquartered law firm has also been working with Hiswara Bunjamin and Tandjung in Indonesia in a similar fashion for the last 15 years.

Gavin Guo, international partner of Kewei, said that they had submitted an application for the joint operation to the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice earlier this year and it took them three months to get the green light.

According to Guo, the joint operation of law firms is different from a joint venture and does not include equity options. The two law firms are still independent entities but share administrative resources and provide one-stop legal services to clients.

Such joint operation models are attractive for multinational companies with operations in China and outbound Chinese companies, said Guo. Before this, companies need to go to a foreign law firm and a Chinese law firm separately for legal services. This can be avoided as communication with both the law firms can be completed in the same office and will incur only a single charge, he said.

“Given the current global economic and political uncertainties and trade friction, governments are tightening their scrutiny and regulation in areas like foreign direct investment. The joint operation model will play a big role in terms of transaction habits, disputes resolution and even company strategies,” he said.

The first joint operation was set up by the Chicago-headquartered Baker McKenzie and Beijing Fenxun Partners in April 2015. In an action plan rolled out in April 2018, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice said it will study the possibility of promoting the joint operation model to the rest of the city to further improve the business environment.

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The Red Devils host the Blues on Sunday, with Paul Pogba fit to start and Harry Maguire raring to go after signing from Leicester City

New Manchester United signing Harry Maguire and the recently injured Paul Pogba are set to start Sunday’s Premier League opener against Chelsea, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed.

Maguire joined United on Monday for a reported £80 million ($97m) from Leicester City following a drawn-out transfer saga.

His signing was made all the more necessary by a serious knee injury suffered by Eric Bailly at the end of July, ruling him out for up to five months.

Meanwhile, Pogba’s future has remained somewhat uncertain throughout the close season, with speculation suggesting he missed Saturday’s friendly against AC Milan in an attempt to force through a move away from Old Trafford, rather than the “back spasm” Solskjaer said he was suffering from.

Nevertheless, Pogba is fit again and likely to start against Chelsea, with Maguire in line to make his first competitive appearance for the Red Devils.

Speaking to MUTV, Solskjaer said: “Harry has impressed me, very much so. He has come in as a presence.

“He is taller and bigger than I thought. He has come in as a real plus. He will have an impact on the rest of the boys.

“Harry is ready to play. I am sure he will put himself up, when I ask him on Sunday, if he is available, because he has played many games for Leicester over the pre-season. He has trained well and he has looked sharp when he has been here.

“Paul joined in, actually, the day after [the Milan friendly]. I wasn’t going to risk him, travelling down with the flight, but he joined in the game against Blackburn the day after, behind closed doors here.

“He is available. All of the boys are fit. It was always our aim to get to the starting line with as many players as fit as possible. Of course, Eric’s injury is bad news, but the rest of them are available.”

United won all six of their pre-season matches over the summer, restoring the feel-good factor around the club after a dismal end to the 2018-19 campaign.

In addition to Maguire, Welsh winger Daniel James and English defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka also arrived at Old Trafford, from Swansea and Crystal Palace respectively.

A number of other top European stars were linked with moves to Manchester, but United’s only activity on Thursday’s transfer deadline day was to offload Romelu Lukaku, who joined Inter Milan for £73 million ($88m).

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Barcelona remain keen on offloading the Brazil international, in an ongoing effort to bring Neymar back to the club, but are running out of options

Barcelona have a Philippe Coutinho problem, with the end of the Premier League transfer window seeing one potential escape route for the Brazilian playmaker shut off.

The Catalans are eager to move on the Brazilian so they can step up their attempts to bring back Neymar, with Barca only able to push ahead with that potential deal once they’ve removed Coutinho from their wage bill.

It had appeared likely that the 27-year-old former Liverpool midfielder would be making a return to the Premier League and, with the deadline in England approaching, north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham emerged as viable options.

The Gunners, though, passed up the opportunity to make a move, while a switch to Spurs did not appeal to the player.

Barcelona are now short on suitors who could afford to put a deal in place for a player who earns a wage packet of between €10 million (£9m/$11m) and €15m (£14m/$17m) per year.

Only four clubs still able to purchase players this summer could finance such an agreement: Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Monaco and Juventus.

No member of that quartet has shown any interest in taking Coutinho off Barcelona’s hands at this stage, however, leaving the Brazilian somewhat stuck in limbo at Camp Nou.

PSG were mooted as a potential option at one stage, potentially in a trade agreement involving Neymar, but the Ligue 1 champions refused to enter into such negotiations regardless of any fee that would accompany the deal.

Bayern also appear to be well out of the running, although their plans may change now that Manchester City winger Leroy Sane has suffered an unfortunate injury and is therefore unavailable for an immediate transfer.

The German giants have been linked with Ousmane Dembele in the recent past, but they are a club that keeps a close eye on the purse strings and rarely consider salaries such as Coutinho’s.

Juventus, meanwhile, are endeavouring to push through sales which would allow them to make one more marquee addition this summer.

There is no suggestion that Coutinho would come into their thinking, but they do at least boast the funds required to pull off such a swoop should they make a late move for a proven performer.

The final option is Monaco, with the Ligue 1 outfit flush with disposable income after sanctioning a number of sales across the last two seasons.

They would be able to snap up Coutinho on a permanent basis and bring a long-running saga to an immediate close but with no discussions having been held, there is no indication that a move is even a possibility.

Which leaves Barca in the rather unfortunate position of having a player at their disposal that they no longer want, while nobody else seemingly wants him either.

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Fans haven’t been fully impressed with the Red Devils’ summer business, but the Norwegian is happy with the players at his disposal

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained the club’s decision not to buy a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, who joined Inter in an €80m (£74m/$90m) transfer on Thursday, stating that he feels the Belgian’s goals will be replaced by other attackers in the team.

Lukaku was signed under Solskjaer’s predecessor, Jose Mourinho, and while he did score 28 goals in 66 Premier League matches for the Red Devils, he was often accused of failing to show up against stronger teams.

Indeed, Marcus Rashford was the preferred starting option towards the end of the 2018-19 season, playing a part in Lukaku’s decision to take on a new challenge under Antonio Conte’s Nerazzurri in Serie A.

United did not sign a replacement striker in the summer window, however, and Solskjaer explained that the club are taking a different attacking approach, and insisted there was never a breakdown in the relationship between the player and his boss.

“Of course Rom has a good record and stats – he’s one of the top number nines around when you want to play with that kind of striker – he’s a target man,” the Norwegian told a press conference on Friday.

“[But] for me, I’m very confident that we’ll get goals from [Anthony] Martial, Rashford… Dan James will come in and create, Jesse Lingard will get more. We have a different attacking set-up this season.

“It was time for Rom to go because I think we got a good deal,” Solskjaer added. “He’s happy so I think both parties ended that deal as it should be. Rom was injured for a while in pre-season and didn’t participate so I just hope for him he’ll get a good start at Inter.

“I have always had a good relationship with Rom, open and honest. We’ve spoken to each other openly and frankly and I have no issue with him at all. But now, whoever’s in here, we’re very happy with them.”

With United preparing for their first Premier League match of the season on Sunday, some have been wondering whether young talent Mason Greenwood will play a part in the campaign and Solskjaer says that the starlet will get plenty of chances to impress.

“Towards the end of last season, we didn’t score a lot of goals did we? We have players that we think will make an impact and Mason’s pathway would have been a lot more difficult if we had another forward.

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“For me, I believe that Mason is going to be playing and involved a lot – and when he is he will score goals.”

Another attacking option at the manager’s disposal is Alexis Sanchez, who has thus far failed to hit the kind of form that earned him a move to Old Trafford from Arsenal. Solskjaer, however, expects the Chilean to find the net with more regularity this term.

“Alexis has come in and trained well,” he said. “He’s four or five weeks behind the boys and has not played apart from the one behind closed doors here, so I think he’ll see this as an opportunity as well to make his mark.

“I do expect him to stay, there’s a striker there we think is going to be able to score some goals.”

Some of Britain’s brightest talents are littered among Germany’s top clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Schalke and RB Leipzig

In the past, the sight of a professional British footballer gracing pitches beyond the borders of the United Kingdom was a rare thing.

But a trend has developed in recent years whereby young footballers are leaving the UK in search of first-team opportunities, with Germany becoming a particularly popular destination.

While there were a few outliers such as Kevin Keegan, Paul Lambert and Mark Hughes in years gone by, the Bundesliga was never a massively attractive league for players coming from England, Scotland or Wales.

However, it is now transforming into fertile ground for young pretenders from Britain to cultivate their abilities outside of the usual, prosaic surroundings.

Ahead of the 2019-20 season, Goal takes a look at the British footballers who are plying their trade in Germany.

British players in 2019-20 Bundesliga

Rising Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho is undoubtedly the most impressive of the British players who will be found in the Bundesliga this season.

The 19-year-old joined Dortmund in 2017 from Manchester City and has gone from strength to strength since arriving at Westfalenstadion, scoring 12 goals in 34 league appearances last term.

His impressive displays in the yellow jersey earned him international recognition, not to mention the 2019 NxGn award.

Sancho’s near-instant success has been used as a beacon for other players and he will be joined by plenty of his compatriots, who hope to emulate him, in 2019-20.

Player	Club	Previous/Parent club
Ethan Ampadu	RB Leipzig (loan)	Chelsea
Lewis Baker	Fortuna Dusseldorf (loan)	Chelsea
Keanan Bennetts	Borussia Monchengladbach	Tottenham
Jonjoe Kenny	Schalke (loan)	Everton
Ademola Lookman	RB Leipzig	Everton
Rabbi Matondo	Schalke	Manchester City
Reece Oxford	Augsburg	West Ham
Jadon Sancho	Borussia Dortmund	Manchester City

Chelsea have sent two of their prospects – Ethan Ampadu and Lewis Baker – to Germany to get first-team action this season.

Ampadu, who has already been capped on a number of occasions by Wales at senior level, will be aiming to break into the RB Leipzig team, while Baker will spend his loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf.

England youth international Reece Oxford has already spent time in Germany on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach and Augsburg, but this season he made a permanent switch to Augsburg on a four-year deal.

Former Everton youth Ademola Lookman enjoyed his loan spell at RB Leipzig so much last season that he signed  a permanent deal with them this summer.

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Lookman will come up against his former team-mate Jonjoe Kenny this season after the full-back joined Schalke on a season-long loan and, who knows, perhaps Kenny will follow his peer to mainland Europe.

Kenny won’t be the only Brit at Schalke either, with Wales international Rabbi Matondo – another ex-Manchester City youth player – also on the books of the Gelsenkirchen outfit.

Keanan Bennetts joined Borussia Monchengladbach from Tottenham last season and, having bedded in with games in the Regionalliga, he’ll be hoping to break into the first team in 2019-20.

Bennetts was one of two English players in the Gladbach squad last season, joining former Crystal Palace youth Mandela Egbo. He is now the only one after Egbo signed for 2. Bundesliga side Darmstadt.

Other examples of British players in the Bundesliga

A number of other British players have played in the Bundesliga in the past few seasons, but mostly on short-term loan deals.

Arsenal youngster Reiss Nelson has returned to north London looking for first-team opportunities this season having impressed for Hoffenheim in the 2018-19 campaign.

Another Gunner, Emile Smith Rowe, was playing for RB Leipzig at the same time, but endured persistent injury frustration.

Liverpool forward Ryan Kent spent the first half of the 2017-18 season on loan at Freiburg, while Scotland international Oliver Burke joined RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest in 2016 before signing for West Brom.

Before the recent upsurge of British exports to Germany, ex-Chelsea youth Michael Mancienne was quietly going about his business with Hamburg, where he spent three seasons from 2011 until 2014.

Of course, prior to Mancienne, Owen Hargreaves was the player people thought of when they imagined British stars in Germany.

The Canada-born midfielder was a stalwart for Bayern Munich for seven seasons, having come through the ranks, before joining Manchester United in 2007.

The US administration under President Donald Trump has resorted to bullying, hindering China’s progress and suppressing Chinese companies with unreasonable excuses, one of which is that China has stolen the United States’ research findings and technologies. China, which has adopted reasonable approaches to obtain technologies, finds the accusation absurd.

China’s first approach has been to purchase patents. It spent $35.6 billion on intellectual property rights purchases in 2018, of which a quarter was paid to the US.

The second approach is through learning. China began to send students abroad every year for studies. A total of 360,000 Chinese students are studying in US schools and universities. China has learned about technologies through learning and following the management techniques of developed countries and multinational corporations.

Some countries in Northeast Asia have taken the lead in several fields within a short period because of proactive learning. Although China has been a late starter, it is catching up through learning. Developing countries need to reform, open up and learn from developed nations. The US, a country with advanced technologies, did similar things in its initial phase of development.

While ignoring the struggles of developing nations, the US is focused on maintaining its leading status in the world. China has made steady efforts in the past 40 years through reform and opening-up, and narrowed the gap with the US to some extent.

The third approach is through knowledge and technology, which means absorbing foreign capital and allowing foreign companies to do business in the developing countries. Many developing countries are eager to attract foreign capital and embrace foreign companies, since these companies can bring in capital, technology and different management approaches.

Through cooperation and trading with foreign companies or working in such companies, people in the developing countries can better learn about advanced production technologies and management approaches of developed countries and multinational corporations.

These companies are likewise eager to enter developing nations, applying advanced technologies across a wider area and achieving higher profit. However, such mutually beneficial cooperation has been described by some US officials as forced technology transfer to China.

Such accusations are baseless because no enterprise will transfer core technologies to other countries without an eye on profit.

Competition in China may be stiffer than those in other countries, since the market is bigger and open, with top companies from all over the world having a presence in every industry. China’s market is complicated, too.

In addition, over the past few years, China has come out with stringent laws and regulations, special courts as well as administrative agencies specializing in intellectual property rights protection.

The only way China can make the US realize the absurdity of its accusations is to make efforts toward development, continue to learn, deepen reform and opening-up, promote independent innovation and maintain sustainable economic growth.

The author is president of the China Development Institute. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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The fifth World Baijiu Day falls on Friday – the pronunciation of the numbers “eight” and “nine”, representing the date, is similar to that of baijiu, or white liquor.

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This year, pubs, bars and restaurants in over 30 cities around the world, including Beijing, Shanghai, London and Stockholm, are celebrating the festival with baiju-inspired cocktails, infusions, liqueurs, gelatos, chocolate and pizza.

Canadian Jim Boyce, who has lived in Beijing for over a decade, launched World Baijiu Day in 2015 to promote the liquor’s culture outside China.

“China’s national spirit, baijiu, represents about one-third of global spirits’ sales but is little known beyond its home base of China. World Baijiu Day aims to change that with events in dozens of cities,” said Boyce, a consultant in the wine business.

Britain’s head of counterterrorism said a no-deal Brexit would create an “immediate risk” to the security of the country because of British police losing access to European data on serious criminals.

In an interview in The Guardian newspaper, Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said he “can’t put a scale” on the damage leaving the European Union at the end of October without alternative measures in place would do to the country’s security. No amount of preparation would lessen the impact, he added.

“It would create an immediate risk that people could come to this country who were serious offenders, either wanted or still serial and serious offenders committing crimes in this country, and we would not know about it,” Basu said.

“It creates that risk. There would still be deep concern. There would be some damage to our safety. I can’t put a scale on that.”

A no-deal Brexit would mean British security services would lose access to data stored in the Schengen Information System, records of passenger names, and the ability to use European arrest warrants.

On the matter of security, Basu said any preparatory steps would result in less efficient systems. “Those systems and tools were developed in the EU for very good reason. They were very good,” he said. “In a no deal we’d lose all that. We’d have to renegotiate it.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists the already twice-delayed Brexit process will happen at the end of October, without a deal if necessary.

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Johnson says the country must prepare for a no-deal exit and its consequences. The chief operating officer of Britain’s Food and Drink Federation, Tim Rycroft, told the BBC that no-deal would result in “selective shortages” of food for “weeks or months”, and there is also widespread concern about how National Health Service medical supplies would be maintained.

Basu said he accepted that politics was not the business of police officers, who “shouldn’t be the loudest in the room”, because security was just one of many concerns that needed to be included in political decision-making. But he stressed that it was vital policymakers take into account the informed advice of police on the security implications of Brexit.

“Their first responsibility is the security of the nation. I think they absolutely get what needs to be done,” he added.

Demand from Chinese companies for skilled and highly educated overseas returnees has intensified as China continues to deepen its reform and opening-up, a new study said.

China’s overseas returnees, or those educated or with work experience overseas, are more likely to get a higher income versus their counterparts in other Asian countries and regions, international recruitment firm Hays said in its latest report. The report said 61 percent of surveyed Chinese companies are willing to offer overseas returnees a premium salary.

Simon Lance, managing director of Hays in China, said the survey findings are a broad reflection of the current trends from the country’s social and economic transformation.

“Willingness to offer overseas returnees a premium salary shows the open attitude by Chinese mainland businesses, which is what the country needs as it further opens up its economy,” said Lance.

“Thanks to the reform and opening-up policy, China opened its economy to the outside world, boosting Chinese businesses’ need for returning talents. They will need more overseas returnees as the country’s economy keeps growing and as it further opens the economy. More talents, meanwhile, will move back,” he said.

To enhance competitiveness, a number of Chinese cities have jumped into a fierce “war” for talents with attractive financial support, favorable hukou (household registration) policies and other subsidies.

Shenzhen in Guangdong province, for example, has started its “peacock project” to attract overseas returnees since 2011, and is granting rewards of 3 million yuan ($432,000) to high-end overseas talents in industries that are facing an acute shortage of skilled workers.

In June, Guangdong announced a policy to reduce taxes for overseas talents and the much-needed skilled workers planning to move into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

“The Chinese immigrants overseas and students overseas are the emerging power of China’s future economic development,” said Wang Huiyao, founder and director of the Center for China and Globalization, a nongovernment think tank in Beijing. “The talent war is getting more and more fierce. In Silicon Valley, international talents count for 50 percent of its total talent pool, but in Zhongguancun (China’s technology hub in Beijing), the ratio is only 1 percent.”

About 53 percent of the surveyed respondents moved back for opportunities to progress and develop their careers in key emerging sectors that face talent shortages, such as the biopharmaceutical industry.

However, better payment was not the sole reason for the shift, the report said. “Being close to family is of paramount importance to professionals who want to return to their families as Asia is aging rapidly.”

The survey found that 71 percent of the Chinese overseas returnee respondents regarded family as the prime motive for moving back to the home country, a rapid increase from the 41 percent seen in a similar Hays survey in 2013, despite the fact that they may not receive a pay increase at home.

The survey found that 47 percent of the overseas returnees were expecting a salary equivalent to the same they received abroad. On the contrary, 58 percent of the overseas returnees across the whole of Asia felt that living closer to their family was the most compelling reason to move back.

Overseas returnees may also face challenges after coming home and working for companies at home as the corporate culture differs, the survey said.

“Overseas returnees should do research about their home countries’ corporate culture,” says Qu Na, vice-president of human resources, corporate communication and sales training at Lundbeck China, a unit of the Denmark-based international pharmaceutical company.

“My suggestion is that they be more patient and give themselves time to understand local working environments,” Qu said.