Meta同意支付180億美元，以和解美國關於兒童社交媒體成癮的訴訟（1/2）

Recently Reuter reported the following:

Meta agrees to pay $18 billion to settle US lawsuits over children's social media addiction (1/2)

Reuter - By Diana Novak Jones, Jonathan Stempel and Greg Bensinger

August 26, 20268:20 AM PDT. Updated 9 hours ago

(Summary:

Meta tightens safeguards for children, limits usage, denies wrongdoing.

Accord wins court approval, could be a template for other social media companies.

States were expected to seek close to $200 billion in penalties.)

OAKLAND, California, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) will pay up to $18 billion over the next decade and strictly limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram under an agreement with nearly all U.S. states to resolve claims it designed those social media platforms to addict children.

The settlements announced on Wednesday end a federal trial over allegations Meta's products harmed children and the company misled the public about their safety. Four of the states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — were expected to seek close to $200 billion in civil ‌penalties.

While Meta will not undergo a fundamental overhaul, the accords represent a sweeping effort to define how it serves young users.

It could provide a template for resolving thousands of other lawsuits against social media companies. Governments around the world are trying to curb children's access to harmful online content, including a ban in Australia on social media for children under 16.

“The focus of this case was to protect our kids," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. "The relief we are getting in this settlement is very meaningful and well beyond what any court has ordered or is likely to order."

Meta agreed over the next decade to restrict teenagers' use of Facebook and Instagram to two hours a day and block all usage from midnight to 6 a.m., absent parental consent.

These limits could be tightened if the social media platforms Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt similar terms. Meta will also disable most push notifications to teenage users during school hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and enhance measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.

The settlement does not require Meta to abandon personalized recommendations or targeted advertising. It also does not ⁠address some content Meta researchers found particularly problematic, including posts that made Instagram users uncomfortable with their body image.

Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The total payout represents about three to four months of profit and about one month of revenue for Meta.

"Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta," the Menlo Park, California-based company said in a blog post. "We want to get this right for parents and teens."

Meta shares rose as much as 4.1%, and closed up 1.1%.

CHANGING THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE

Meta agreed to make maximum payments of about $16.7 billion to 47 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

California could receive a $2.2 billion payout, while New York could receive $1.1 billion. Texas reached a separate settlement worth more than $1 billion.

Some states will deposit funds in general accounts, while others will earmark portions to address children's mental health.

"This is a big deal," said James Speta, a Northwestern University law professor who specializes in telecommunications and internet policy.

"Meta and other companies were facing pressure to change business practices whether or not they lost the lawsuits, from the public and from Congress and state legislatures," he continued. "These restrictions will change the experience on Instagram and Facebook, and they are designed to reduce engagement."

The settlement includes guaranteed payments of about $12.7 billion, with another $5 billion contingent on whether Snap Inc's (SNAP.N), opens new tab Snapchat, ByteDance's TikTok and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab YouTube impose similar protections for children.

Those companies were not immediately available for comment. Meta plans to publish a letter on Thursday in national newspapers to push TikTok and YouTube to improve protections for children. A Meta spokesperson said the company was "hopeful" Snap would make similar changes.

(to be continued)

Translation

Meta同意支付180億美元，以和解美國關於兒童社交媒體成癮的訴訟（1/2）

（摘要：Meta會加強對兒童的安全保障，限制其使用，否認過去有不當行為;

和解協議獲法院批准，或將成為其他社交媒體公司的模式;

各州預計將尋求近2,000億美元的罰款）

 加州奧克蘭，8月26日（路透社）—Meta Platforms（META.O）將在未來十年支付高達180億美元，並嚴格限制青少年使用Facebook和Instagram的方式。這是該公司與幾乎所有美國州達成的一項協議，旨在解決其設計這些社交媒體平台旨在使兒童上癮的指控。

週三宣佈的和解協議結束了一項聯邦審判，該審判指控Meta的產品傷害了兒童，及該公司就兒童安全問題誤導了公眾。預計加州、科羅拉多州、肯塔基州和新澤西州這四個州將尋求近2,000億美元的民事罰款。

雖然Meta不會進行根本性的改革，但這些協議代表著一項旨在明確其服務年輕用戶方式的全面努力。

這可能為解決針對社交媒體公司的數千件其他訴訟提供範本。世界各國政府都在努力限制兒童接觸有害的網絡內容，例如澳洲禁止16歲以下兒童使用社交媒體。

科羅拉多州總檢察長Phil Weiser在一份聲明中表示：“本案的重點是保護我們的孩子。我們在這項和解協議中獲得的補償意義重大，遠遠超出任何法院已經或可能作出的裁決。”

Meta 同意在未來十年內將青少年使用 Facebook和Instagram 的時間限制在每天兩小時以內，並在午夜至凌晨6點之間禁止所有未經家長同意的使用。

如果社交媒體平台 Snapchat、TikTok 和 YouTube 也採用類似的條款，這些限制可能會進一步收緊。 Meta 還將在上午 8 點至下午 3 點的上課時間禁用向青少年用戶推送的大部分通知，並加強措施防止兒童訪問受年齡限制的內容。

和解協議並未要求Meta放棄個人化推薦或定向廣告。它也沒有解決Meta研究人員發現的一些特別有問題的內容，包括一些讓 Instagram 用戶對自己體形感到不滿的貼文。

Meta在同意和解時否認有不當行為。和解金額相當於 Meta 大約三到四個月的利潤或一個月的收入。

這家總部位於加州 Menlo Park 的公司在一篇部落格文章中表示：“確保青少年在我們平台上擁有安全且有益的體驗是 Meta 的絕對要務。我們希望為家長和青少年提供最佳體驗。”

Meta 股價一度上漲4.1%，最終收漲1.1%。

改變上網的體驗

 Meta 同意向美國 47 個州、華盛頓特區、波多黎各、美屬薩摩亞和北馬里亞納群島支付最高約 167 億美元的賠償金。

加州可能獲得 22 億美元的賠償，紐約州可能獲得 11 億美元。德州達成了一項價值超過 10 億美元的單獨和解協議。

有些州會將資金存入一般帳戶，而有些州則會指定部分資金用於解決兒童心理健康問題。

西北大學專門研究電信和網絡政策的法學教授 James Speta 說:「這是意義重大」。

他說:「無論 Meta 和其他公司是否敗訴，他們都面臨來自公眾、國會和州議會的壓力，要求他們改變商業行為」; 他繼續說: 「這些限制將改變 Instagram 和 Facebook 的用戶體驗，其目的在於降低用戶參與度」。

和解協議包括約127億美元的擔保付款，另有50億美元取決於 Snap Inc.（SNAP.N）旗下的 Snapchat、字節跳動旗下的 TikTok，以及 Alphabet (GOOGL.O) 旗下的 YouTube，是否也會實施類似的兒童保護措施。

這些公司暫未對此置評。 Meta 計劃於週四在全國性報紙上刊登一封公開信，敦促TikTok和YouTube加強對兒童的保護。 Meta發言人表示，該公司「希望」Snap 也能做出類似的改變。

（待續）

香港天安門紀念活動多年前黯然落幕。如今，其組織者已被定罪 (2/2)

Recently CNN news on-line reported the following:

(Source CNN)

Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil fell dark years ago. Now its organizers have been convicted (2/2)

CNN - By Chris Lau

UPDATED AUG 21, 2026

(continue)

Free speech vs prohibited speech

Security was ramped up outside the courthouse on Friday with police checking the identities of many of those lining up to attend, and searching their bags.

Tang Ngok-kwan, a former member of the alliance that organized the vigils, told reporters that police barred him from entering the court building because he refused to give up copies of past news reports about the crackdown.

Another supporter, Margaret Chan, called the case “absurd.”

“Patriotism is in the alliance’s name. We all love our nation. What does it incite people for? To love their country?” she said.

During the trial itself prosecutors said the trio’s alliance incited subversion by calling for an end to “one-party dictatorship.” They argued the calls were aimed at unlawfully trying to topple China’s fundamental system and central political bodies.

By continuing to advocate for the ousting of the Chinese Communist Party after the national security law came into effect, prosecutors said, the alliance’s act amounted to subversion, adding that the group was also behind a host of events that fostered public hatred toward Beijing, including the annual vigil.

The defense denied the suggestion they meant to topple the party, and argued their campaign was about moving toward democracy and urging the party not to enforce a “dictatorship.” They also argued the alliance had not asked people to adopt any illegal means and promoted peaceful protest.

Chow, a trial lawyer by trade, led her own defense during the court case which – like all of Hong Kong’s national security cases – was heard by a panel of three judges selected to oversee such proceedings and not a jury.

“Speaking the truth has become inciting hatred, seeking justice has become exploiting suffering, limiting power has become violating the constitution, and returning power to the people has become subverting the state,” she said during the trial, the Associated Press reported.

The judges ruled that the alliance’s leaders had been actively “advocating and performing activities” that intended to “overthrow” and “undermine” the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Their agenda breached the Chinese constitution and was “unlawful” despite the absence of any use or threat of violence, they wrote in the judgment.

The leaders “had all along been hostile towards the CCP and the central government under its leadership,” they added.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee - a former security chief - welcomed the conviction. “Their conspiracy was abundantly clear, which must be brought to justice,” he said on Friday.

After the guilty verdict was handed down, Chow blew supporters in the public gallery a kiss, while Lee formed a heart with his arms.

A city transformed

Both Lee and Chow have been kept in pre-trial custody since their arrest in late 2021, a practice that has become commonplace for national security arrests, where bail is harder to achieve.

Chow, Lee and Ho were prominent figures within Hong Kong’s now-defunct democracy movement, which has seen most of its leaders either jailed, fled overseas or fallen silent.

Chow, now 41, studied science at Cambridge University in Britain, before returning to Hong Kong to advocate for labor rights and later joined the alliance Ho and Lee were involved in founding.

She also sought a second career as a barrister after being inspired by some mainland Chinese workers she was commissioned to help, according to a past interview with Reuters.

Lee was a veteran unionist spending his career fighting to improve workers’ conditions while Ho, a lawyer by profession, was a founding member of the city’s biggest opposition Democratic Party, which was disbanded in late 2025.

Eric Lai, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Asian Law and an expert on Hong Kong’s legal system, said the judgment was significant.

“Every actor in Hong Kong’s civil society who assumed that renouncing violence and working with the law would keep them on the right side of the line has to revise that assumption,” he said.

Zhou Fengsuo, a former student leader at the Tiananmen Square protests who now has US citizenship, told CNN the verdict showed “how profoundly Hong Kong has changed.”

“Authorities can extinguish the candles in Victoria Park, but they cannot extinguish the memory of June 4,” he added.

Translation

香港天安門紀念活動多年前黯然落幕。如今，其組織者已被定罪 (2/2)

（繼續）

言論自由與禁止言論

週五，法院外加強了安保，警方檢查了許多排隊等候參加的人的身份，並搜查了他們的包包。

曾是組織燭光守夜活動的聯盟成員的Tang Ngok-kwan告訴記者，警方阻止他進入法院大樓，因為他拒絕交出過去有關鎮壓的新聞報道副本。

另一位支持者Margaret Chan則稱此案「荒謬」。

她說:「愛國主義就寫在聯盟的名字裡。我們都熱愛我們的國家。這煽動人們去做什麼？去愛自己的國家吧？」。

在審判過程中，檢控方稱這三人組成的聯盟呼籲結束“一黨專政”，煽動顛覆活動。檢控方認為，這些呼籲旨在非法推翻中國的基本制度和中央政治機構。

檢控方指出，該聯盟在國安法生效後仍繼續鼓吹推翻中國共產黨，其行為構成顛覆活動。檢控方還補充說，該組織策劃了一系列煽動公眾仇恨​​北京的活動，包括一年一度的守夜活動。

辯方否認他們意圖推翻中共，並辯稱他們的活動是為了推動民主進程，敦促中共不要實行「獨裁」。辯方也辯稱，聯盟並未要求民眾採取任何非法手段，並提倡和平抗議。

鄒女士是一名職業訴訟律師，她在審判中親自為自己辯護。與所有香港國安案件一樣，本案由三名專門負責審理此類案件的法官組成的合議庭審理，而非陪審團。

據美聯社報道，她在庭審中表示：“說真話變成了煽動仇恨，尋求正義變成了利用苦難，限制權力變成了違反憲法，把權力還給人民變成了顛覆國家政權。”

法官裁定，該聯盟的領導人積極「倡導和實施」旨在「推翻」和「破壞」中國共產黨(CCP) 的活動。

判決書寫道，儘管沒有使用或威脅使用暴力，但他們的議程違反了中國憲法，屬於「非法」行為。

判決書還補充說，這些領導人「一直以來都對中國共產黨及其領導下的中央政府抱持敵意」。

香港特首李家超－亦是前保安局局長－對判決表示歡迎。他週五表示：“他們的陰謀昭然若揭，必須繩之以法。”

宣判有罪後，周向旁聽席上的支持者飛吻，而李則用雙臂比出一個心形。

發生了翻天覆地變化的一座城市

李和鄒自2021年底被捕以來，一直被羈押候審。這種做法在以國家安全為由進行的逮捕中已司空見慣，因為保釋更加困難。

鄒、李和何曾是香港民主運動的領導人物，這場運動如今已走向終結。該運動的大多數領導人要么被監禁，要么流亡海外，要么保持沉默。

現年41歲的鄒曾在英國劍橋大學學習科學，之後回到香港，投身勞工權益運動，後來加入了何和李共同創立的勞工聯盟。

根據路透社先前的採訪報道，鄒是在受委託幫助一些內地勞工後，受到啟發，尋求第二職業，成為律師。

李是資深工會成員，畢生致力於改善工人的待遇；何則是律師，也是香港最大的反對黨民主黨的創始成員之一，該黨已於2025年底解散。

喬治城大學亞洲法律中心資深研究員、香港法律制度專家Eric Lai表示，這項判決意義重大。

他說：“所有香港公民社會參與者認為放棄暴力、遵守法律就能確保自身合法權益的人，都必須重新審視這種想法。”

曾參與天安門廣場抗議活動的學生領袖、現已入籍美國的Zhou Fengsuo告訴CNN，這項判決顯示「香港已經發生了多麼深刻的變化」。

他補充說：“當局可以熄滅維多利亞公園的蠟燭，但他們無法抹去六四事件的記憶。”

              So, Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan, two key organizers behind what used to be the only large-scale public commemoration for the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China have been found guilty of inciting subversion by a court in Hong Kong. They face a jail term of up to 10 years under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020. Actors in Hong Kong’s civil society who assume that renouncing violence and working with the law would keep them on the right side of the line have to abandon that assumption. Apparently, the line on free-speech vs prohibited speech has been shifted.

香港天安門紀念活動多年前黯然落幕。如今，其組織者被判有罪（1/2）

Recently CNN News on-line reported the following:

(Source: CNN)

Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil fell dark years ago. Now its organizers have been convicted (1/2)

CNN - By Chris Lau

UPDATED AUG 21, 2026

Hong Kong — Two key organizers behind what used to be the only large-scale public commemoration for the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on Chinese soil have been found guilty of inciting subversion by a court in Hong Kong.

The verdict is the latest chapter in a years-long crackdown by Hong Kong authorities against publicly marking the moment in 1989 when the ruling Chinese Communist Party sent tanks in to violently quell peaceful, student-led democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Chow Hang-tung, a prominent young human rights lawyer who conducted her own defense, and former opposition lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan were found guilty of inciting subversion at West Kowloon Court on Friday. They face a jail term of up to 10 years under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020.

A third activist, veteran pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Ho, had previously pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later.

Hong Kong’s position as a once-outspoken corner of China has been upended in recent years by a national security crackdown following huge and often violent democracy protests that convulsed the city in 2019.

The erasure of the city’s annual candle-light Tiananmen vigil, which used to draw huge crowds calling for full democracy for Hong Kong and an end to one-party rule in China, is one of the most visible examples of that transformation.

Beijing and the Hong Kong government say the national security laws were needed to return the city to order and stability.

Critics, human rights groups and multiple Western nations – including the United States – say the crackdown has quashed dissent and ended Hong Kong’s unique freedoms.

“The HKSAR Government strongly condemns any biased remarks and smears against the HKSAR’s effort for safeguarding national security,” its spokesperson said in response to CNN’s inquiry ahead of the verdict, using Hong Kong’s official title, adding rights and freedoms are protected under the national security law.

Those convicted on Friday were key leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the group responsible for organizing the annual remembrance until 2019.

It came just days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping praised the decision to clamp down on the Tiananmen protests, in a speech that made a rare mention of the tumultuous period.

Chinese troops cracked down on pro-democracy protesters around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. No official death toll has ever been released, but estimates range from several hundred to thousands, with many more injured. The subject remains widely censored inside China.

Following the events of 1989, mourners would converge on the same day every year in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district, to attend a vigil that filled multiple soccer pitches in the neighborhood’s Victoria Park with candlelight.

It was a tradition that continued after Hong Kong’s 1997 handover by Britain to China, alongside frequent street protests and a political system that allowed pro-democracy lawmakers to stand.

That tradition came to an end with the imposition of a series of new national security offenses following the 2019 protests.

(to be continued)

Translation

香港天安門紀念活動多年前黯然落幕。如今，其組織者被判有罪（1/2）

香港－兩名曾組織大規模公眾紀念1989年天安門事件（中國境內唯一此類活動）的關鍵人物，被香港法院判處煽動顛覆國家政權罪名成立。

這項判決是香港當局多年來鎮壓民眾紀念1989年天安門事件的最新進展。當時，執政的中國共產黨派遣坦克鎮壓了北京天安門廣場上由學生領導的和平民主抗議活動。

為自己辯護的著名年輕人權律師鄒幸彤和前反對派立法會議員李卓人於週五在西九龍法院被判煽動顛覆國家政權罪名成立。根據北京於2020年在香港實施的國安法，他們面臨最高10年的監禁。

第三名活動人士，資深民主派立法會議員何俊仁先前已認罪，稍後將判刑。

近年來，香港作為中國曾經是可暢所欲言的角落的地位發生了翻天覆地的變化。 2019 年，大規模且往往伴隨暴力衝突的民主抗議活動席捲全城，隨後政府採取了國家安全鎮壓措施。

香港一年一度的「天安門燭光晚會」的消失，是這種轉變最顯著的例證之一。該活動曾吸引大批民眾參與，呼籲香港實現全面民主，並結束中國的一黨專政。

北京和香港特區政府表示，國安法是恢復香港秩序和穩定的必要手段。

批評者、人權組織以及包括美國在內的多個西方國家則認為，鎮壓扼殺了異議，終結了香港獨特的自由。

香港特區政府發言人在宣判前回應CNN的詢問時表示：「香港特區政府強烈譴責任何針對香港維護國家安全努力的偏頗言論和抹黑」。發言人使用香港的官方名稱，並補充說，香港的各項權利和自由均受國家安全法保護。

週五被判有罪的人士是香港愛國民主運動支援聯盟（HKSAMC）的主要領導人，該組織負責組織每年一度的紀念活動，直至2019年。

就在判罪幾天前，中國國家主席習近平在一次演講中罕見地提及了天安門事件，並讚揚了鎮壓天安門抗議活動的決定。

1989年6月4日，中國軍隊在北京天安門廣場鎮壓了支持民主的抗議者。官方從未公佈死亡人數，但估計死亡人數從數百人到數千人不等，另有更多人受傷。在中國，這項議題至今仍受到嚴格審查。

1989年事件發生後，每年同一天，哀悼者都會聚集在香港銅鑼灣，參加燭光守夜活動。維多利亞公園的多個足球場都擺滿了燭光。

1997年香港回歸中國後，這項傳統得以延續，同時，香港也經常爆發街頭抗議，當時的政治體制允許民主派議員參選。

然而，隨著2019年抗議活動後一系列新的國家安全罪名的出台，這項傳統也隨之終結。

（待續）

中國希望科技領導企業在國內籌集資金（2/2）

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

China Wants Its Tech Champions to Raise Money at Home (2/2)

Blockbuster market debuts by two technology companies show how Beijing is turning to local investors to finance its A.I. ambitions and reduce reliance on Wall Street.

By Steve Lohr and Xinyun Wu - Steve Lohr reported from Seoul and Xinyun Wu from Taipei, Taiwan. Meaghan Tobin contributed reporting from New York.

 Published Aug. 18, 2026

Updated Aug. 19, 2026, 4:02 p.m. ET

(continue)

Last year, Beijing set up a “national venture capital guidance fund” to work with Chinese investors and eventually deploy as much as $145 billion in investment in companies pursuing high-tech fields like A.I. and quantum computing.

The Shanghai stock market has long been known for speculative volatility and for a listing process burdened by red tape. In June, the Shanghai Exchange issued guidelines to streamline the process for Chinese A.I. software companies whose chatbots compete with those from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.

The Chinese start-ups developing these so-called large language models, the exchange said, “urgently need the supporting role of the capital market.”

The first Chinese A.I. model makers to go public early this year — Z.ai and MiniMax — listed first on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a market many investors regard as more established and less volatile than Shanghai.

But the government is encouraging all Chinese A.I. model developers to establish secondary listings in Shanghai, which Z.ai and MiniMax have said they plan to do.

Beijing is not only steering companies toward domestic markets. It is also willing to step in to support those markets when they come under pressure.

In July, as fears of excessive A.I. spending triggered a global stock sell-off, the Shanghai market fell. Two state-owned investment funds, China Reform Holdings and China Chengtong Holdings, responded by announcing purchases of $9 billion in Chinese shares and expressing confidence in the market.

That increasingly state-guided system contrasts sharply with an earlier era, when American investment funds and venture firms rushed into China, lured by its growth and encouraged by policymakers in Washington. In the 2010s, American investors were early backers of Alibaba, the e-commerce giant; ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company; and Didi, once hailed as China’s answer to Uber.

Now, as Beijing encourages domestic investors to put money into homegrown technology companies, it is making foreign capital a less welcome part of the equation.

Geopolitics has contributed to the retreat. American firms have grown wary of being caught in the crossfire of U.S.-Chinese trade and technology disputes. Foreign venture investment in China has fallen sharply, and many firms have scaled back or left altogether.

Sequoia Capital, for example, spun off its China business two years ago. The resulting firm, HSG — its Chinese name, Hongshan, means “redwood” — backed Unitree and owns a 7 percent stake in the company, now worth about $3.5 billion.

For Chinese companies, “raising money overseas is actively discouraged,” said Kevin Xu, founder of Interconnected Capital, a hedge fund that invests in A.I. technologies. “The Manus saga is the clearest example.”

Manus, an A.I. company started by three engineers in Wuhan, China, developed an A.I. agent that caught Meta’s attention. By the end of last year, Meta had agreed to buy Manus for $2 billion. But in April, the Chinese government intervened and demanded that the deal be unwound.

Manus had moved its headquarters to Singapore, but Beijing still considered it a Chinese company subject to its authority. This month, the unwinding was completed, and Manus announced it had resumed operating as an independent company.

Translation

中國希望科技領導企業在國內籌集資金（2/2）

兩家科技公司在市場上的驚人亮相表明，北京正轉向本土投資者，為其人工智能雄心壯志提供資金，並減少對華爾街的依賴

（繼續）

去年，北京設立了“國家創投引導基金”，旨在與中國投資者合作，最終向從事人工智能和量子運算等高科技領域的公司投資高達1,450億美元。

上海股市長期以來以投機波動和繁瑣的上市程序而聞名。今年6月，上海證券交易所發佈了指導方針簡化中國人工智能軟件開發公司上市流程。這些軟件公司開發的聊天機器人與OpenAI、Anthropic和Google等公司的同類產品競爭。

交易所表示，開發這些所謂「大型語言模型」的中國新創公司「迫切需要資本市場的支持」。

今年年初，首批上市的中國人工智能模型開發商 - Z.ai和MiniMax - 首先在香港聯交所上市。許多投資人認為，香港市場比上海市場更成熟，波動性也更低。

但政府鼓勵所有中國人工智能模型開發商在上海進行二次上市，Z.ai和MiniMax都表示計劃這樣做。

北京不僅引導企業向國內市場發展，也願意在這些市場面臨壓力時出手支持。

7月，由於對人工智能領域過度支出的擔憂引發全球股市拋售，上海股市也隨之下跌。兩家國有投資基金 - 中國改革控股和中國誠通控股 - 隨即宣佈斥資90億美元購買中國股票，並表達了對市場的信心。

這種日益國家主導的體系與先前美國投資基金和創投公司蜂擁而至的時代形成了鮮明對比。在2010年代，去早期支持電商巨頭阿里巴巴、TikTok母公司字節跳動以及一度被譽為中國版Uber的滴滴出行是美國投資者。

如今，隨著北京鼓勵國內投資人投資本土科技公司，外國資本在投資格局中成為不太受歡迎的一部分

地緣政治因素也促成了這個趨勢。美國企業越來越擔心被捲入中美貿易和技術爭端的漩渦。外國創投在華大幅下降，許多公司縮減了投資規模或徹底撤離。

例如，Sequoia Capital兩年前就剝離了其中國業務。結果成立了 HSG (HongShan Capital Group) （其中文名稱「紅杉」意為「紅杉」）為 Unitree 提供了支持，並持有該公司 7% 的股份，該公司目前市值約 35 億美元。

投資人工智能技術的對沖基金Interconnected Capital創始人Kevin Xu表示對中國企業而言，“海外融資受到積極阻礙”，“Manus 事件就是最明顯的例子。”

Manus 是一家由三位工程師在中國武漢創立的人工智能公司，其開發出来的人工智能代理引起了 Meta 公司的注意。去年年底，Meta 同意以 20 億美元收購 Manus。但今年 4 月，中國政府介入並要求取消該交易。

Manus在這之前 已將總部遷至新加坡，但北京方面仍將其視為受其管轄的中國公司。本月，取消收購程序完成，Manus 宣佈恢復作為獨立公司運作。

So, two stock market debuts (CXMT and Unitree Robotics) in Shanghai in recent weeks have underscored a pair of China’s intertwined ambitions: harnessing investor enthusiasm for homegrown companies and reducing dependence on American technology and finance. Beijing is not only steering companies toward domestic markets; it is also willing to step in to support those markets when they come under pressure. Apparently, the government’s role is becoming more like a referee and champion of Chinese capital markets, and it may get involved directly on occasion, acting like a venture capitalist.

Note:

1. HSG (HongShan Capital Group, 红杉中国) is directly descended from Sequoia Capital’s China operation, but since 2023 it is no longer the same company as the U.S./European Sequoia Capital. (ChatGPT)

中國希望本土科技龍頭企業在國內融資（1/2）

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

China Wants Its Tech Champions to Raise Money at Home (1/2)

Blockbuster market debuts by two technology companies show how Beijing is turning to local investors to finance its A.I. ambitions and reduce reliance on Wall Street.

The NYT - By Steve Lohr and Xinyun Wu - Steve Lohr reported from Seoul and Xinyun Wu from Taipei, Taiwan. Meaghan Tobin contributed reporting from New York.

Published Aug. 18, 2026

Updated Aug. 19, 2026, 4:02 p.m. ET

Two explosive stock market debuts in Shanghai in recent weeks have underscored a pair of China’s intertwined ambitions: harnessing investor enthusiasm for homegrown companies riding the artificial intelligence boom and reducing dependence on American technology and finance.

The companies — CXMT, China’s leading memory chip maker, and Unitree Robotics, a Chinese maker of humanoid robots — both chose Shanghai to list their shares. Their offerings were encouraged by government policies aimed at steering promising tech companies toward domestic financial markets rather than relying on state subsidies or foreign capital.

They were departures from years past, when the path for successful Chinese tech start-ups so often ran through Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

“The flow of global tech capital was essentially a one-way street looking westward,” the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times said in an editorial last week, citing the CXMT and Unitree initial public offerings in Shanghai as signals of a change. “Today, however, the world is shifting its gaze from West to East.”

Under Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, Beijing has pursued self-reliance across industries, including critical materials, food and many others, seeking to reduce the leverage that countries can wield over it. Nowhere is that national strategy more evident than in technology, where developing A.I. and advanced semiconductors requires staggering amounts of capital.

Increasingly, the government wants that capital to come from China. The extraordinary reception for CXMT and Unitree suggests that Chinese investors are willing to provide it.

First came CXMT, short for ChangXin Memory Technologies. Late last month, its shares soared 470 percent on the first day of trading and have climbed further since, giving the chipmaker a market value of around $545 billion and pushing it past Tencent as China’s most valuable publicly traded company.

CXMT has benefited from A.I. technology’s insatiable demand for high-speed memory chips, which are essential for storing and moving vast quantities of data. Its main domestic rival, Yangtze Memory Technologies Company, is also preparing to go public.

Then came Unitree. Its shares began trading on Wednesday in Shanghai, and surged 460 percent on its debut. At one point, the stock was up 629 percent before pulling back.

Unitree occupies a more speculative frontier of the A.I. boom. There are still doubts about how quickly a large commercial market will develop for machines that look and move like humans. But videos showcasing the feats of Unitree’s humanoid robots have attracted millions of views online: performing kung fu routines, scaling walls, doing backflips, running races and boxing. In China, the company has become a symbol of the country’s high-tech ambitions.

The blockbuster offerings point to China’s push for technological and financial self-reliance in tandem.

The Global Times, which often espouses nationalist views, argued that stronger domestic capital markets could provide Chinese technology companies with an alternative to American financing. “As technological autonomy becomes a reality,” it stated, “the domestic capital market gains a basis for reasonably valuing these companies, no longer needing to rely on ‘validation’ from overseas exchanges.”

China experts say the growing emphasis on local capital markets is an evolution in the country’s industrial policy. Beijing is seeking to rely less heavily on state subsidies, which have often proved costly and inefficient, instead leaning more on investors to decide which companies deserve capital.

Subsidies can work well in established industries, where the product is understood and the technological path relatively clear. For cutting-edge technologies, they can be less effective.

“They work badly at the frontier, where nobody knows which approach wins and they tend to prop up firms that should fail,” said Gerard DiPippo, a director at the Eurasia Group, a research group in Washington.

Domestic capital markets and investors, Mr. DiPippo said, will increasingly be relied on as “a better way to discipline growing tech firms.”

The government’s role is becoming more like a referee and champion of Chinese capital markets. But it still gets involved directly on occasion, acting like a venture capitalist.

(to be continued)

Translation

中國希望本土科技龍頭企業在國內融資（1/2）

兩家科技公司在股市的驚人亮相表明，北京正轉向本土投資者，為其人工智能雄心壯志提供資金，並減少對華爾街的依賴。

近幾週，上海兩家公司在股市的爆炸性上市凸顯了中國兩項相互交織的雄心：一方面，利用投資者對本土人工智能公司蓬勃發展的熱情；另一方面，減少對美國技術和金融的依賴。

這兩家公司 - 分別是中國領先的記憶體晶片製造商長信儲存 (CXMT) 和中國人形機器人製造商宇樹科技（Unitree Robotics）- 都選擇在上海上市。政府政策鼓勵它們的上市旨在使科技公司向國內金融市場融資，而不是依賴國家補貼或外資。

這與過去幾年截然不同，過去中國科技新創企業的成功之路往往要經過矽谷和華爾街。

中共控制的《環球時報》上週在一篇社論中指出:「全球科技資本的流動基本上是一條單行道，流向西方」; 「然而，今天世界正將目光從西方轉向東方」。並現以上海CXMT和Unitree的首次公開募股為例，認為這是轉變的信號。

在中國最高領導人習近平的領導下，北京在包括關鍵材料、食品等在內的各行業推行自力更生，力求減少其他國家對中國的影響力。這項國家策略在科技領域體現得尤為明顯，人工智能和先進半導體的研發需要龐大資金。

政府越來越希望這些資金來自中國。長信儲存 (CXMT) 和宇樹科技 (Unitree) 的上市反應異常熱烈，顯示中國投資者願意為其提供資金支持。

首先是長信儲存，全名為長信儲存技術有限公司。上月底，該公司股票在上市首日飆升 470%，此後股價持續攀升，使其市值達到約 5,450 億美元，超越騰訊，成為中國市值最高的上市公司。

長信儲存受益於人工智能技術對高速儲存晶片的巨大需求，這些晶片對於儲存和傳輸大量資料至關重要。其主要國內競爭對手長江儲存技術有限公司 也正準備上市。

隨後是宇樹科技。該公司股票於週三在上海上市，首日股價飆漲 460%。股價一度上漲 629%，之後又有所回落。

宇樹科技在人工智能熱潮中佔據了更具投機性的前端地位。人們仍然懷疑外形和動作都與人類相似的機器能否迅速發展出龐大的商業市場。但展示宇樹科技人形機器人精彩表演的影片已在網絡上吸引了數百萬的點擊量：它們表演功夫、攀爬牆壁、後空翻、賽跑和拳擊。在中國，該公司已成為國家高科技野心的象徵。

這些轟動一時的產品表明，中國正致力於同時實現技術和金融的自力更生。

經常發表民族主義觀點的《環球時報》認為，更強大的國內資本市場可以為中國科技公司提供美國融資以外的另一種選擇。該報指出：“隨著技術自主成為現實，國內資本市場將擁有合理評估這些公司價值的基礎，不再需要依賴海外交易所的‘認可’。”

中國問題專家表示，對本土資本市場的日益重視是中國產業政策演變的體現。北京正尋求減少對國家補貼的依賴，因為補貼往往成本高且效率低下，現在轉而更依賴投資者來決定哪些公司值得獲得資金。

補貼在成熟產業中可能效果顯著，因為這些產業的產品已被充分理解，技術發展路徑也相對清晰。但對於開創技術而言，補貼的效果可能較差。。

華盛頓研究機構歐亞集團 的董事 Gerard DiPippo 表示:「在開創技術領域，補貼的作用很差，因為沒有人知道哪種方法最終會勝出，而且補貼往往會扶持那些本應失敗的公司」。

DiPippo先生指出，國內資本市場和投資者將日益成為「去規範發展中科技公司的更有效途徑」。

政府的角色正變得越來越像中國資本市場的裁判和領導者。但它仍然會不時直接介入，扮演創投家的角色。

 （待續）

Shigeru Mizuki and Iwo Jima: Now we question the burden of life (2/2)

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

水木しげると硫黄島 命の重みをいまに問う(2/2)

2026年8月16日 11:30

NHKスペシャル

(continue)

そこに、もう1つの視点を与えてくれることになったのが、アニメ化にあたって脚本を担当した吉田玲子さんだった。

「戦争ドキュメンタリーを見る敷居を下げたい」という私たちの要望に対し、吉田さんは視聴者が共感できる第3のキャラクターを提案した。

それが、湊（みなと）水兵だ。軍隊の精神に順応しながらも、幼い頃に聞かされた妖怪の姿を島でもつい空想をしてしまう青年である。そんな湊は、2人の中尉のぶつかり合いを目の当たりにして、揺れ動く。

詳しくは番組に譲るが、湊は命令を受けて、結局硫黄島を脱出することになる。それは、当時としては許されない行為であり、島を離れる湊の目から涙がこぼれ落ちる。

吉田さんの脚本は、アニメの監督をつとめた佐藤千春さんの手によって絵コンテとなり、２人の中尉や湊水兵に、新たな形で命が吹き込まれた。

絵の力に圧倒されながら、私たちはこの話が「実話かどうか」に関心を惹かれていた。一方で、こんな声が上がった。 

「湊水兵は、その後の人生をどう生きたんですかね。生還した人たちのその後を取材したい」

こうして出会ったのが、冒頭に紹介した秋草鶴次さんだった。

背負った宿命

秋草さんは戦後、電気設備の管理の仕事をしながら、一男二女を育てた。家族には戦争の話をしなかったが、遺品のノートには、硫黄島での体験が日付単位で詳細に書きつけてあった。

2006年に、NHKの取材をきっかけに体験を公にしてからは、自衛隊員や地元の中高生に証言するようになった。その訳を尋ねられた際に、こう述べている。

「（戦死者が忘れられるのは）耐えられないですよね。生きた時代、過ごした時代は何だったかということになるのだからね。その間はじゃあ『空』だったのか」

硫黄島の戦いは、全くの非対称の戦いであった。兵力はアメリカ軍の6万人に対し、日本軍は2万人あまり。海からは艦砲射撃、空からは爆撃、陸上ではロケット弾、戦車、火炎放射器を浴びせられた。

それでも、アメリカ軍に対して開戦以来最大の損害を与えたのは、総延長18キロメートルに及ぶ地下ごうから、神出鬼没のゲリラ戦を繰り広げたからだ。捕虜になることを禁じられ、「死を急ぐな」と命じられた兵士たちは、命のある限り戦い続けるしかなかった。

その苦しさを、秋草さんはこう証言している。

「（所属していた）通信科は火を点けて総攻撃に出たんですよ。そこに残った炭を食べた。本当に涙が出てくる。そういうのをね、思い出すと涙が出てくる。本当に、食べるものが無い。無いんだから、（口に）入るものが。（中略）でも頑張るんだと。このことを誰が言うんだと、いうことでね。だから、生きなくちゃなんないんだと、そういう気持ちです」

今回見つかったビデオには、遺骨すらのこらなかった戦友たちのことを、涙ながらに子供たちに伝える秋草さんの姿が映っていた。

「次から次へと砲弾が降ってくるので、骨がみんな砂になるんです。人間の骨の形をしていないんです。この人たちの骨は日本へ永遠に帰れないんです。（中略）風化させないために語り継ぐんです。これが、生かされている自分の使命であり、宿命だと思っています」

戦友に伝えた言葉

硫黄島での体験を伝える秋草さんが、もう1つ続けていたことがある。亡くなった戦友の故郷を訪ねての慰霊だ。息子の茂之さんは、父が遺した御朱印帳を広げながら「本当に全国に行っているね」と、戦友への思いの深さに改めて驚いていた。

秋草さんは毎年、靖国神社にも通っていたが、茂之さんは何度か同行し、九段の社を一緒にくぐった。手を合わせる父が、必ず口にしていた言葉があった。

“秋草さんの息子 茂之さん

「この当時は（戦後）60年だから、『60年間、戦争をしなかったぞ』 って、報告を含めてお参りをしていた。口癖だから」”

戦争をしないことー。

それが、秋草さんにとって、戦友に対する最大の供養だったのだ。

ロケの終わり、茂之さんは家から10分ほどの神社に、取材班を案内した。ここに、父が通っていた地元の戦没者の慰霊碑があるという。茂之さんは、父の思いを受け継ぎ、月に一度は訪れている。

父を思い、こみ上げてくるものがあったのか、手を合わせる茂之さんの肩は、小刻みに震えていた。茂之さんの傍では、鶴次さんのひ孫にあたる那緒ちゃんがその小さな手を合わせていた。

玉砕の島で秋草さんが保った命は、その思いとともに、今につながれている。

Translation

Shigeru Mizuki and Iwo Jima: Now we question the burden of life (2/2)

August 16, 2026, 11:30 AM

NHK Special

(continue)

It is Reiko Yoshida (吉田玲子), who writes the script for the anime adaptation, provides another perspective.

In response to our request to "lower the barrier in watching war documentaries," Ms. Yoshida proposes a third character that viewers could empathize with.

That character is Sailor Minato (湊). While adapting to the military's spirit, he was a young man who, even on the island, couldn't help but fantasize about the yokai (妖怪) (supernatural beings) he heard about as a child. Minato was swayed when he witnessed a clash between two lieutenants.

While the details are left to the program, Minato received orders and ultimately escaped from Iwo Jima. This was an unforgivable act at the time, and tears streamed down from Minato's face as he left the island.

Yoshida's (吉田) script is transformed into storyboards by animation director Chiharu Sato (佐藤千春), new life is breath into the two lieutenants and Sailor Minato.

While overwhelmed by the power of the animation, we are intrigued by the question of whether this story was "true or not." Meanwhile, this question arises:

"What did Sailor Minato do with his life afterward? I want to interview those who survived."

This is how we meet Tsuruji Akikusa, introduced at the beginning.

A borne destiny

After the war, Akikusa raised one son and two daughters while taking up an electrical equipment management post. He never spoke of the war to his family, but his notebook, among his belongings, contained detailed, date-by-date accounts of his experiences on Iwo Jima.

In 2006, after an NHK interview prompted him to make his experiences public, he began testifying to Self-Defense Forces personnel and local junior and senior high school students. When asked for the reason, he said the following:

"It's unbearable to think that those who died in battle will be forgotten. It would mean that the era they lived in, the era they experienced, was meaningless. Was that time just 'emptiness'?"

The Battle of Iwo Jima was a completely asymmetrical battle. The American forces numbered 60,000, while the Japanese had just over 20,000. They were subjected to naval bombardment from the sea, bombing from the air, and rockets, tanks, and flamethrowers on land.

Nevertheless, the greatest losses inflicted on the American forces since the start of the war came from the elusive guerrilla warfare waged from underground bunkers stretching 18 kilometers in total. Forbidden from surrendering and ordered "do not rush to your death," the soldiers had no choice but to continue fighting as long as they lived.

Akikusa testified to that suffering as follows:

"The communications unit (to which I belonged) set fire and launched a full-scale attack. We ate the charcoal that was left behind. It really brings tears to my eyes. When I remember things like that, tears well up. There really was nothing to eat. There was nothing to put into our mouths. (omitted) But we had to persevere. Who would tell that? So, yeah. Therefore, I say I have to stay alive, that's the feeling.”

The video recently discovered showed Mr. Akikusa, with tears in his eyes, telling children about his comrades, comrades who didn't even leave behind their remains.

"As shells rained down one after another, all the bones turned to sand. They no longer resembled human bones. These people's bones would never return to Japan. (omitted) We must pass on these stories so that they are not forgotten. I believe this is my mission and destiny, that I am still alive."

Words conveyed to his comrades

Mr. Akikusa, who recounted his experiences on Iwo Jima, was continuing to doing one more thing: visiting the hometowns of his fallen comrades to pay his respects. As his son, Shigeyuki, opened the stamp book that his father had left behind, exclaimed, "He really went all over the country!" He was once again amazed by the depth of his father's feelings for his comrades.

Every year, Mr. Akikusa visited Yasukuni Shrine, and Shigeyuki accompanied him several times, passing through the torii gate at Kudan together. There was a phrase his father always uttered as he prayed.

"Shigeyuki, Akikusa's son:

"At that time, it had been 60 years since the end of the war, so we would visit the shrine to report, 'We haven't fought a war for 60 years.' It was just a habit of ours."

Never wage war again—

For Akikusa, that was the greatest way to honor his fallen comrades.

After the filming, Shigeyuki led the crew to a shrine about 10 minutes from his house. There, he said, was a memorial for local war dead that his father used to frequent. Shigeyuki, carrying on his father's legacy, visited once a month.

Perhaps overwhelmed by the thought of his father, Shigeyuki's shoulders trembled slightly as he clasped his hands together. Beside him, Nao-chan, Tsuruji's great-grandchild, clasped the small hands together.

The life that Akikusa-san managed to keep on the island where Japanese forces had honorable death, along with her feelings, continues to this day.

              So, more than 80 years after the war, as traditional program production centered on interviews with war survivors becomes difficult, to focus on the appeal of animation become a new way of conveying the story. While searching for source material, Mizuki’s "The White Flag" gets the attention of NHK’s film director Yu Miyajima. He works on a dialogue drama in which two lieutenants debated about life and death. This work also highlights how Akikusa has testified to the public on the suffering of Japanese soldiers in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Note:

1. A stamp book (御朱印帳) contains the seal stamp (御朱印 goshuin) given to worshippers and visitors visiting shrines and temples.

Shigeru Mizuki and Iwo Jima: Now we question the burden of life (1/2)

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

水木しげると硫黄島 命の重みをいまに問う(1/2)

2026年8月16日 11:30

NHKスペシャル

戦後81年となることし、NHKは漫画家・水木しげるさんの戦記「白い旗」をアニメ化する。

舞台は硫黄島。降伏を禁じられ、死ぬまで戦うことを求められた日本軍で、部下の命を救おうと死を覚悟して白旗を掲げた1人の海軍士官の物語だ。

硫黄島から生還した将兵は、全体のわずか4％ほど。生還者の取材から見えてきた、失われた命と、つながれた命の重みとはー。

（社会番組部ディレクター 宮島優 / 社会番組部プロデューサー 横井秀信）

(報道局社会番組部ディレクター 宮島優2012年NHK入局 戦争、安全保障などのテーマを中心に番組を制作

報道局チーフ・プロデューサー 横井秀信 1999年NHKに入局 太平洋戦争に関する番組を中心に制作)

NHKスペシャル「白い旗 水木しげると硫黄島」

硫黄島の戦いを経験した人の言葉

「硫黄島作戦」と題されたノートに挟まれていた小さなメモ用紙の言葉に、取材班の目は吸い寄せられた。

「生きるというのは権利ではない。義務なのだ。生きているのではなく、生かされている。今の人生を精一杯生きよう」

記したのは、硫黄島の戦いを経験した秋草鶴次さん。

20年前、NHKの取材を受けたことをきっかけに戦争体験を語り始め、2018年に90歳で亡くなるまで、地元の小中学生に体験を伝え続けた。

「1週間、10日くらい、長く見たら20日くらい、飲まず食わずじゃなかったかと。あるいはそれ以上かも。耐久試験だこれは、人間の。そういう思いだったね」

アメリカ軍は、ガソリンを混ぜた海水を日本軍が潜伏する壕に注入し、火をつけた。腕と足を負傷していた秋草さんは、気を失って水に浮かんでいた時に拘束され、捕虜となった。

大本営は「（硫黄島から）『全員壮烈なる総攻撃を敢行す』との打電あり」と発表し、新聞は「玉砕」と報じた。秋草さんが終戦後の1946年に帰国した時、ちょうど地元の小学校で、町主催の合同慰霊祭が執り行われている最中だったという。

「家族には（戦争の話は）言わない。そこは徹底していたね」と、息子の茂之さん（67）は語る。

そのそばを、鶴次さんのひ孫にあたる那緒ちゃん（7）が離れない。鶴次さんが硫黄島から生還したからこそ、命が茂之さん、そして那緒ちゃんへとつながれたことになる。その重みを、思わずにはいられなかった。

水木しげるが描いた硫黄島

今回、硫黄島の戦いを取材するきっかけとなったのは、水木しげるさんの戦記「白い旗」との出会いだった。

戦後80年を超え、戦争体験者への取材に軸足を置いた従来の番組作りが困難となる中で、新たな伝え方としてアニメーションの訴求力に注目していた。その原作を探していた時に、水木さんの「白い旗」を知ったのだった。

この作品は、硫黄島で総攻撃が行われた後、部下とともに生き残った2人の中尉が、生と死をめぐって激論を繰り広げる対話劇だ。

「死んでいったやつも生きたかったんだ（中略）そうした何万という英霊に対して戦友として死んでやるのが軍人の道ではないのか」

「現在の状態で部下を殺すことが、そんなに勇敢なことだろうか。部下を生かすことこそ勇敢ではないのか」　(水木しげる「白い旗」より)

現代においては、ほとんどの人が後者の言葉に共感するだろう。しかし、当時の戦場では、いや戦場ばかりではなく一般社会においても、天皇や国のために死ぬことは当然のこととされ、多くの人に内面化されていた。

徴兵された水木さん自身も、所属していた分隊が全滅、上官に「皆が死んだんだから、お前も死ね」と言われたという経験を明かしている。

その水木さんが、硫黄島を舞台に描いたのは、部下に「各人生きのびる権利があると思う」と語りかけ、白旗を振る士官の姿であった。しかも、士官は実在したと読者に提示している。

それは本当なのか。水木さんはこの作品で、何を伝えようとしたのか。そんな関心がムクムクと湧き上がり、私たちは「白い旗」に惹かれていった。

(to be continued)

Shigeru Mizuki and Iwo Jima: Now we question the burden of life (1/2)

August 16, 2026, 11:30 AM

NHK Special

This year marks 81 years since the end of the war, NHK is adapting manga artist Shigeru Mizuki's (水木しげる) war memoir, "The White Flag," into an anime.

The story is set on Iwo Jima. In the Japanese army, where surrender was forbidden and soldiers were ordered to fight to the death, a story was told about a naval officer who, prepared to die, raised the white flag to save the lives of his subordinates.

Only about 4% of the soldiers returned from Iwo Jima. From interviews with survivors, we can see the weight of lives lost and lives that were saved.

(Yu Miyajima(宮島優), Director, Social Programs Department / Hidenobu Yokoi (横井秀信), Producer, Social Programs Department)

(Yu Miyajima(宮島優), Director, Social Programs Department, News Division: Joined NHK in 2012. Produces programs primarily on themes such as war and security.)

(Hidenobu Yokoi (横井秀信), Chief Producer, News Division: Joined NHK in 1999. Primarily produces programs related to the Pacific War.)

NHK Special "The White Flag: Shigeru Mizuki (水木しげる) and Iwo Jima"

Words of someone who experienced the Battle of Iwo Jima

The reporter's eyes are drawn to the words on a small memo slip tucked inside a notebook titled "The Iwo Jima Operation."

"Living is not a right. It is a duty. We are not living; we are being allowed to live. Let's live this life to the fullest."

These words were written by Tsuruji Akikusa (秋草鶴次), who experienced the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Prompted by an NHK interview 20 years ago, he began sharing his wartime experiences, and continued to do so with local elementary and junior high school students until his death in 2018 at the age of 90.

"I think I was without food or water for about one week, about ten days, or at most about twenty days. Or it might be even longer. It was a test of endurance, a test for humans. That's what I felt."

The American forces poured seawater mixed with gasoline into the bunkers where the Japanese were hiding and set them on fire. Mr. Akikusa (秋草), who had been injured in his arms and legs, was captured while floating unconscious in the water and became a prisoner of war.

The Imperial General Headquarters announced that "a telegram has been received (from Iwo Jima) stating that 'all men will launch a heroic general attack,'" and newspapers reported it as "honorable death「玉砕」." When Mr. Akikusa returned to Japan in 1946 after the end of the war, it was said that a joint memorial service hosted by the town was underway precisely at his local elementary school.

His son, Shigeyuki (茂之) (67) said "He never talked (about the war) with his family. He was very insistent about that."

Seven-year-old Nao (那緒), Tsurugi-san's great-grandchild, stayed right by the side. It was because Tsuruji-san survived Iwo Jima that his life was passed on to Shigeyuki-san, and then to Nao-chan. It couldn't help but felt the burden.

Iwo Jima as depicted by Mizuki Shigeru

The impetus for this coverage of the Battle of Iwo Jima comes from encountering Mizuki Shigeru's war memoir, "The White Flag."

More than 80 years after the war, as traditional program production centering on interviews with war survivors become difficult, to focus on the appeal of animation became a new way of conveying the story. While searching for source material, Mizuki’s "The White Flag" gets the attention.

This work is a dialogue drama in which two lieutenants who survived the general attack on Iwo Jima, along with their subordinates, engaged in a heated debate about life and death.

"Those who died wanted to live too... Isn't it the duty of a soldier to give his life as a fellow soldier, for those tens of thousands of fallen comrades?”

"Is it really so brave to kill your subordinates in the current situation? Isn't it braver to save your subordinates?" (From Shigeru Mizuki's "The White Flag")

In modern times, most people would resonate with the latter statement. However, on the battlefield at that time, and not just on the battlefield but also in the society in general, dying for the Emperor and the country was considered natural and internalized by many.

Mizuki himself, who was drafted, revealed the experience that his squad was wiped out, and his superior officer told him, "Everyone else is dead, so you should die too."

What Mizuki depicted on Iwo Jima was an officer telling his subordinates, "I believe each of you has the right to survive," and waving a white flag. Furthermore, he presented to the reader that this officer had actually existed.

Is that really true? What is Mizuki trying to convey with this work? Such curiosity wells up within us, and we become drawn to the "White flag."

(to be continued)