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BEIJING – Following a series of high-profile crackdowns on Chinas tech giants over the past two years, the worst appears to be over.

Last week, a top regulatory official said in an interview that the rectifying of bad practices by big tech firms is basically complete. Meanwhile, Chinas top anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), notably left out the mention of platform companies, a catch-all term referring to tech firms, in a statement following its first meeting of the year.

But those in the industry say it cannot be taken for granted that tech firms are now in the clear. Firms will also have to navigate a new normal under the watchful eyes of regulators, they say, where growth can be deemed excessive at the drop of a hat, resulting in heavy penalties.

In an interview with the official Xinhua news agency published last weekend, head of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Guo Shuqing said the government will promote the healthy development of Internet firms in a bid to prop up private businesses.

The special rectification of the financial business of 14 platform companies is basically completed, and a few remaining problems are also being resolved promptly, he said without going into details.

Following that, normalised supervision will be implemented to encourage platform companies to operate in compliance with regulations.

In yet another sign that the tech firms are no longer an area of concern, the term platform companies was left out of the CCDIs post-meeting communique. In contrast, the 2022 edition said the anti-graft watchdog would focus on investigating the corruption behind capitals disorderly expansion and platform monopolies.

While this is official confirmation that were off the hook in a way, it really doesnt matter any more because the damage has already been done, said a government relations executive at a major tech firm.

She, like the other industry insiders The Straits Times spoke to, declined to be named, so they could speak openly about government policy.

Over the past two years, everyone can see how rules can change at the drop of a hat. One minute youre preparing for a foreign listing and the next moment youre under investigation, she said.

There are also these new rules we now have to abide by, which makes doing business very difficult. The era of high growth is over.

Another tech executive who oversees game development said the climate has become increasingly inhospitable for companies who want to expand internationally.

Any company with a sizeable user base, meaning at least one million users, needs to apply for permission from the government to move data out of the country. Its untenable, he said.

Beginning in November 2020, the sector came under probe for a slew of practices including monopolistic behaviour and mishandling of their troves of user data, while others were taken to task for expanding into financial services.

Most of the countrys biggest firms ranging from tech giant Alibaba to food delivery platform Meituan to Tencent, which runs the countrys biggest chat app, WeChat have come under probe and been slapped with billions of yuan worth of fines. More On This Topic Jack Ma: Alibaba tycoon who soared on China's tech dreams grounded by regulators China tech stocks winning back investors after awful year Hardest hit, however, appears to be ride-hailing platform Didi, previously best known for edging Uber out of the Chinese market. Since its New York listing was scuppered by Chinese regulators in July 2021, its app has been taken off all app store platforms, rendering it unable to register new users till this day.

It was part of a drive to better regulate the tech industry, which has done extremely well over the past two decades under lax supervision.

But for many tech firms, the cautionary tales of Alibaba and Didi have been enough to put a damper on any expansion plans.

I had a foreign colleague who was initially brought on to help with our international expansion, but after we saw what happened to Didi, where even their mainland business was hit, none of us even dare think of anything beyond our borders, the gaming executive said. More On This Topic Didi shows China's tech giants must first answer to Beijing As Beijing takes control, Chinese tech companies lose jobs and hope

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Twins call on RHP Matthews to keep streak going

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Twins call on RHP Matthews to keep streak going

The Minnesota Twins recalled right-hander Zebby Matthews from Triple-A St. Paul and inserted him into the rotation for their road game Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The 24-year-old Matthews closed out last season in the Twins’ rotation and fashioned a 1-4 record with a 6.69 ERA in nine starts. He has produced a 2-1 record with a 1.93 ERA in seven starts for St. Paul, which includes 38 strikeouts and nine walks over 32⅔ innings.

The Twins, who carry a 13-game winning streak into Sunday’s game, also selected the contract of outfielder Carson McCusker, a 26-year-old who has yet to make his big league debut. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound slugger is hitting .350 with 10 homers and 36 RBIs in 38 games this season for St. Paul.

The task ahead of Matthews is to try to continue a hot pitching streak that has seen the Twins record three straight shutouts, including in the first two games of the Brewers series. Minnesota enters Sunday with a collective 3.15 ERA that ranks No. 3 in the majors.

The active stretch of 33 straight shutout innings is the longest such streak in Twins history, which began in 1961. They had three longer shutout streaks when they were the Washington Senators, but the most recent of those took place in 1913.

To accommodate Matthews’ arrival, the Twins placed reliever Danny Coulombe (left forearm extensor strain) on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Thursday. Coulombe has yet to allow a run this season in 16⅔ innings.

To make room for McCusker, the Twins shifted rookie Luke Keaschall to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Keaschall fractured his right forearm April 25 against the Los Angeles Angels.

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Cora to skip game to attend daughter’s graduation

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Cora to skip game to attend daughter's graduation

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora will miss Monday’s series opener against the New York Mets at Fenway Park so he can attend his daughter’s college graduation.

Cora’s daughter, Camila, will be graduating from nearby Boston College.

“It’s going to be a very special day — one that I’m not going to miss,” Cora said before Sunday’s game vs. the Atlanta Braves. “I 100% will miss the game for that. I will do that any given day. It’s going to be a very special day for us.”

Cora reflected on how the time has seemed to go quickly and spoke about how fast his daughter seemed to grow up.

“It went fast, it went really fast,” Cora said of her time in college. “For a girl from divorced parents, her mom did an amazing job, staying the course while I was playing and coaching and doing my ESPN thing. … She’s actually a reflection of her. I appreciate everything she’s done for her and for us.”

Asked if he’ll be able to hold back his emotions at the ceremony, Cora smiled and said “We’ll see,” before bringing up memories of when his daughter was at the 2018 World Series victory celebration and a postseason series wrap-up win over Tampa Bay in ’21 at Fenway.

“It’s going to be an amazing day. It happened fast,” he said. “You put everything into perspective, you go back to the videos of ’18, she was a little girl.

“Then you go back to ’21 when she hopped onto the field when we beat Tampa, she was still a little girl. Now, she’s not a little girl,” he said. “She’s a woman. She had fun with it. She’s a great student and the future’s bright for her.”

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Brewers send struggling starter Myers to minors

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Brewers send struggling starter Myers to minors

MILWAUKEE — Brewers pitcher Tobias Myers is going back to the minors as he continues to struggle to match the success he enjoyed as a rookie last year.

The Brewers optioned Myers to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday while selecting right-handed pitcher Easton McGee from Triple-A and transferring left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas to the 60-day injured list.

Myers is 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA in six appearances, including five starts. He allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings in a 7-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

The right-hander had gone 9-6 with a 3.00 ERA last season and was selected the Brewers’ most valuable pitcher by the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He closed that season by pitching five scoreless innings in the decisive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets, a game the Brewers lost 4-2 by allowing four runs in the ninth.

“I love the kid, man,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Saturday’s game. “You saw it in Game 3, that’s in there. So we’ve got to get back to that.”

The Brewers had optioned Myers to Nashville a week ago, but he didn’t actually pitch there before rejoining the big-league club after left-hander José Quintana went on the injured list with a left shoulder issue. Now he’s heading back to Nashville.

Myers entered Saturday having walked 10 batters over 16 1/3 innings. He didn’t walk anyone Saturday, but gave up a career-high 11 hits.

“My goal was to fill the zone up and kind of get away from the walks I’ve been dealing with,” Myers said after the game. “I think I just filled it up a little too much.”

McGee went 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings in 13 relief appearances with Nashville.

McGee appeared in one game for Tampa Bay in 2022 and one game for Seattle in 2023.In the only two games he has pitched in the big leagues, McGee has allowed just one unearned run over 9 2/3 innings while striking out three and allowing five hits and one walk.

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