WeChat hits one billion monthly users - are you one of them? BBC News

6/3/2018

WeChat hits one billion monthly users - are you one of them?

By Simon Atkinson

Asia Business Reporter

WeChat is one of China's most popular apps

WeChat has hit one billion monthly users for the first time, the owner of the Chinese messaging app has revealed.

The vast majority of its users are based in China, where it's known as Weixin, and where the recent Lunar New Year boosted it past the milestone.

But it is still lagging behind Facebook-owned WhatsApp which has about 1.5 billion monthly users.

WeChat is the jewel in the crown of Chinese tech giant Tencent. But why is it so popular? Here are five reasons it has done so well.

It's not just about messaging

Sure, it began as a messaging app. And it does at first glance look and feel a bit like WhatsApp and Viber.

But WeChat evolved quickly, and it lets users do much more than just communicate with their friends and family.

It serves as China's biggest social network. But it's also where people turn to book a taxi, order food, make a doctors appointment, do their banking, or find a date.

And when they are playing games like the huge Tencent-owned hit Honour of Kings, WeChat is where players compare scores with their friends.

It has become integral to the daily life of many in China, especially in the cities.

It is quite possible to get through an entire day using the app for (pretty much) your every need, which means it's only going to grow.

It makes paying for things simple

The growth of digital payments in China means many younger people have skipped the credit card concept for paying online.

Instead they use payments services run by local tech giants like Alibaba or Tencent.

WeChat's payments feature lets users upload their banking details and then can buy products or services from any official account.

Even taking a small percentage from each transaction makes WeChat in one of Tencent's best-earners.

WeChat has let millions of businesses get into the smartphones of customers and would-be customers.

Companies and organisations can create official accounts within WeChat - a little like apps. Some do this before they even set up an app of their own.

Users can subscribe to the accounts and get promotions messaged directly to them or click in be taken to a shopping page,.

And the payment system already mentioned means if firms can persuade a user to part with some cash, the process of making that transaction is pretty straight forward.

And WeChat is a big reason QR Codes have been adopted so readily in China - technology that helps firms get information to users as well as facilitate those payments.

Also, while WeChat has been fairly conservative in the amount of advertising it allows on its platform, it is a very targeted way for corporations to reach people.

It is unashamedly China-focussed

While it is making in-roads in South East Asia and South Africa, WeChat really is still all about China.

It understands that market, and taps into what Chinese users are doing both online and offline.

For example, the giving of red envelopes containing money at Lunar New Year - the country's biggest annual holiday - is a huge tradition.

A few years back WeChat introduced digital versions of these "hongbao" and its popularity has soared.

During the festival which just ended, more than 688 million WeChat users sent or received them.

The Great Firewall doesn't apply

Restrictions on access to many Western social media services such as Facebook and Twitter - as well as Google - meant most Chinese people do not have access to these services legally, even if they wanted them

And that created an environment where local players like WeChat could thrive. So too did QQ - another Tencent-owned platform which migrated its users over to WeChat, another boost to its user base.

All Chinese social media platforms are required to censor public posts deemed illegal by the government. WeChat is no different.

But it insists encryption means others can't "snoop" on your messages - and that content such as text, audio and images are not stored on its servers - and are deleted once all intended recipients have read them.

Earlier this year it issued a statement denying "storing chat histories" after criticism from Chinese businessman Li Shufu, who recently said the firm "must be watching all our WeChats every day".

The Tencent-owned firm said suggestions that it was watching users was "pure misunderstanding".

MeToo in South Korea: Governor resigns after rape allegations- BBC News

6/3/2018

ME TOO in South Korea: Governor resigns after rape allegations

Mr Ahn is the latest figure to fall as a result of the ME TOO campaign

A South Korean politician once tipped as a presidential contender has resigned after his secretary publicly accused him of repeatedly raping her.

In a Facebook post governor Ahn Hee-jung "begged forgiveness" for his "foolish behaviour" and said denials issued by his office were untrue.

Kim Ji-eun, who said she was inspired by the ME TOO movement, accused him of raping her four times in eight months.

The ME TOO campaign has slowly began to gain traction in South Korea.

"I apologise to everyone, especially Ms Kim Ji-eun," said Mr Ahn. "Everything is my fault. As of today I will resign...[and] stop all my political activities."

The police are currently investigating the allegations of sexual assault, which Mr Ahn has neither explicitly admitted to nor denied.

Mr Ahn, the governor of South Chungcheong province, was a political heavyweight.

Mr Ahn (R) who can be seen here attempting to kiss President Moon (L) was once considered a political heavyweight

He ran against current President Moon Jae-in to be the Democratic Party of Korea's nominee for the 2017 presidential elections. Though he lost, he was widely seen as a leading candidate to replace Mr Moon in the 2022 elections.

ME TOO

On Monday night, Ms Kim appeared in an interview broadcast by local television network JTBC, where she made her allegations against Mr Ahn public.

She accused the 54-year-old of raping her four times over the course of eight months, from June 2017 to February this year, and said he had sexually harassed her on many occasions.

She also alleged there were other victims.

Mr Ahn's office had initially claimed that he had consensual sex with Ms Kim.

"Our sexual relations were not consensual, and I'm sure he knows it. I was not in a position where I could say no," said Ms Kim in the interview, as reported by the Korea Times.

Mr Ahn, who is married, said in his later statement that his office had "falsely" announced that the relationship was consensual.

Will ME TOO spread in China?

China professor accused in ME TOO campaign is sacked

Why women fear a backlash over ME TOO

Ms Kim said the ME TOO campaign, sparked by the widespread allegations of sexual abuse in Hollywood, had given her the courage to come forward.

"After the movement came into the spotlight, Mr Ahn appeared to be anxious," said Ms Kim in the interview, as reported by the Korea Times. "On 25 February he called me into his office and apologised. But then, he did it again."

The campaign, which has seen thousands using the hashtag to share their experiences of sexual harassment, has spread across the globe.

It was slow to take off in South Korea, but recently gained ground after a number of women came forward.

In January, female prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun claimed she was sexually harassed by a former senior justice ministry official

Female film director Lee Hyun-ju, 36, retired from movies after being found guilty in December of sexually assaulting an actress

Prominent theatre director Lee Yoon-taek apologised for sexually harassing actresses over an 18-year period, but denied allegations of rape

'Betrayed and shocked'

People South Korea have been expressing their disappointment at the news about Mr Ahn.

"I don't know what to do. I [feel] betrayed and shocked," said one user on Facebook. "I thought he was a good politician."

"I believed in you and supported you. You've taken my support, turned it into power and used it to control someone else," another user added.

"I thought you could be the one who could lead our country after Mr Moon. I can't believe it. I'm speechless," said one user.

"Kim Ji-eun, thank you for your courage. We will cheer you on," one commented.

Police probe substance as Russian spy 'critical' in hospital - BBC News

6/3/2018

Police probe substance as Russian spy 'critical' in hospital

"He was doing strange hand movements, looking up to the sky": What we know so far

Police are trying to identify a substance which caused a former Russian agent convicted of spying for Britain to collapse in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Sergei Skripal, 66 - who was granted refuge in the UK in 2010 as part of a "spy swap" - and a 33-year-old woman are critically ill in hospital.

Meanwhile police have closed the city's Zizzi restaurant "as a precaution".

The pair were found slumped unconscious on a bench at the Maltings shopping centre on Sunday.

Wiltshire Police said the pair had no visible injuries and officers were investigating whether a crime had been committed.

Sergei Skripal: Who is the former Russian colonel?

Putin, power and poison: Russia’s elite FSB spy club

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said: "They are currently being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance.

"The focus is trying to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill.

"We are working with partners to prioritise this diagnosis and ensure that they receive the most appropriate and timely treatment."

Police said Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury has been closed as a precaution

He said the police's "major incident" response was not a counter-terrorism investigation.

But he said multiple agencies were involved and police were keeping an "open mind".

Col Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006.

He was convicted of passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

He was one of four prisoners released by Moscow in exchange for 10 US spies as part of a swap and was later flown to the UK.

He and the woman, who police said were known to each other, are both in intensive care at Salisbury District Hospital.

A number of locations in the city centre were cordoned off and teams in full protective gear have used hoses to decontaminate the street.

Workers in respirators and hazardous material suits searched bins close to the scene where the two collapsed.

Media captionTemp Asst Chief Constable Craig Holden: "We are unable to ascertain whether or not a crime has taken place"

On the restaurant closure, police said Public Health England had reiterated there was no known risk to the wider public.

As a precaution, they advised that if people felt ill they should contact the NHS on 111, or ring 999 "if you feel your own or another's health is significantly deteriorating".

Neighbours at Col Skripal's home in Salisbury said police arrived around 17:00 GMT on Sunday and had been there ever since.

They said he was friendly and in recent years had lost his wife.

Public Health England has not said what the substance was

An eyewitness to the scene where the pair were found, Freya Church, told the BBC she saw them sitting on the bench: "An older guy and a younger girl. She was sort of leant in on him, it looked like she had passed out maybe.

"He was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky...

"They looked so out of it I thought even if I did step in I wasn't sure how I could help."

Witness: "They looked like they'd been taking something quite strong"

The possibility of an unexplained substance being involved has drawn comparisons with the 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

The Russian dissident and former intelligence officer died in London after drinking tea laced with a radioactive substance.

A public inquiry concluded that his killing had probably been carried out with the approval of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.