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A 14-year-old boy suffering from a psychiatric episode walked into Bangkok's upscale Siam Paragon Mall and randomly started shooting, killing two and wounding five others.

Among the dead included a female Chinese tourist.

The boy was quickly taken into custody and revealed that he suffered from schizophrenia and hadn't taken his medications on Tuesday.

"The suspect said that someone was telling him to shoot others," said National police chief Torsak Sukvimol

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? This incident is a massive setback for the Thai tourism industry, which was already suffering mightily from a significant drop in Chinese arrivals due to the blockbuster movie "No More Bets" about Chinese tourists being kidnapped in Southeast Asia. 

SUGGESTED READING:

• Reuters: Suspected Thai mall shooter suffered breakdown, used modified pistol, police say by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat
• Globe and Mail: Thailand wants Chinese tourists to return. Some are too scared to go by James Griffiths

Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) is building a commodities team to hedge and trade metals and energy products, according to the Chinese technology company's job posts on professional social network LinkedIn.

The company was looking for a commodity trader and a commodity market analyst in Singapore a month ago, the posts on LinkedIn showed. Both positions are no longer accepting applications. (REUTERS)

The Chinese and Saudia Arabian navies will conduct a second round of joint naval exercises later this month off the coast of Guangdong in southern China.

"This joint training focuses on overseas maritime counter-terrorism operations, conducting exercises on sniper tactics, boat driving, helicopter landing, and joint rescue," Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Wu Qian told a press briefing.

The drills are the latest evidence of closer ties between the two countries since leaders from both countries met in Riyadh last December. 

President Bashar al-Assad's visit to China in late September is widely seen as an important step in Syria's re-integration into the international community after years of Western-led international isolation.

Assad received a much warmer welcome in China than he would pretty much anywhere else in the world. He got the same treatment that any visiting head of state receives in Beijing, including an honor guard review on Tiananmen Square and a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Beyond the recognition and the pageantry, though, Assad also came with a big wish list for Chinese assistance with reconstruction and requests for increased trade and investment.

Even though the two sides signed a number of MOUs and announced their formation of a “strategic partnership,” it's still not clear if Assad got everything he wanted from the Chinese.

For some perspective, CGSP Middle East Editor Jony Essa spoke with Carmit Valensi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv.

Their conversation was lightly edited for clarity.

JONY ESSA:  What do you make of Assad`s visit? What do you think his main goals were?

CARMIT VALENSI: In my opinion, the aim of the visit was twofold: Diplomatic and Economic.

Economic-wise, al-Assad is looking for international partners to aid in the economic reconstruction of war-battered Syria, seeking financial support to rebuild his country.

Diplomatically, he is attempting to improve his international standing after being ostracized over atrocities committed during Syria’s ongoing civil war.

The recent normalization of relations with the Arab world and the rejoining to the Arab league have not so far benefitted any funding for reconstruction projects that are badly needed.

So, the aim is to try to gain as much as possible economically from China due to the lack of resources from other countries due to the American sanctions and the Ceaser Act (restrictions on funding and legislation that sanctions the Syrian government, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by the U.S., and United Nations).

JONY: What do you think the Chinese goals are from the visit?

CARMIT: Assad’s visit presents an opportunity for Beijing to demonstrate diplomatic strength at a time when China is facing an intensifying rivalry with the United States for geopolitical influence, including in the Middle East.

When the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, visited Beijing in June, China offered to mediate between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is expected to be presented with a similar offer of mediation when he visits China later this year. 

The role of China as a mediator is intensified, presenting a new world order, presenting an alternative to the U.S. and Europe. Interacting with Syria while respecting its sovereignty and noninterfering the domestic affairs as a precondition for aid offers an alternative to the traditional world order.

Read the full interview with Carmit Valensi on The China-Global South Project website.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China is willing to "play a constructive role" at the upcoming APEC summit in November but wouldn't confirm if President Xi Jinping will attend. Xi stayed home from both the recent G20 and ASEAN summits, prompting speculation he'll do the same for APEC.  (REUTERS)

Indonesian authorities deported more than 150 Chinese nationals suspected of committing cross-border telecom fraud. The suspects were repatriated late last week aboard three chartered jets as part of a region-wide crackdown by China's Public Security Bureau on telecom and internet scammers. (CAIXIN)

Brunei's start-up airline GallopAir will be the first international carrier to order for planes made by the Chinese state-owned aircraft company COMAC. GallopAir said it plans to buy 30 passenger and cargo planes in a deal worth $2 billion. (REUTERS)

The Philippines condemned the China Coast Guard for installing a 300-meter floating barrier in a disputed area of the South China Sea. The Philippines Coast Guard said on Sunday the barrier was intended to prevent Filipino fishing boats from accessing waters near a contested shoal. (CNN)

Colombia will reportedly soon start exporting beef to China. The Brazilian meatpacker Minerva, which has facilities in Colombia, said it has been informed by the Colombian government that China has approved a protocol for beef imports. The final bureaucratic details for import clearance are currently being finalized. (REUTERS)

China is reportedly on a list of countries coming under extra scrutiny in the Singaporean banking system following a $1.8 billion money laundering scandal last month. Banks are warning that while it used to take only a few weeks to open a private bank account in the city-state, waiting times now extend to three or four months for certain nationalities to allow for increased background checks. One of the suspects in the case is a Chinese national reportedly running cross-border online gambling operations in Cambodia and the Philippines. (FT)

GEM, China’s largest supplier of raw battery materials and its largest recycler of batteries will invest roughly $750 million in two new battery plants in Indonesia. One plant, valued at $600 million, will process nickel ore into compounds, 80% of which will then be further processed by a GEM joint venture in South Korea. The project is aimed at setting up a supply chain based on Indonesian and South Korean mining and refining which will satisfy demand in the U.S. and Europe for battery minerals not refined in China. (YICAI)

China blasted the U.S. for imposing sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals accused of supporting Iran's drone and military aircraft development. The Commerce Ministry said Washington's actions were an "unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises and individuals." (AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE)

Huawei announced a massive $430 million investment spread across various countries in North Africa. The telecom giant said it will launch a new $200 million cloud computing center, allocate $200 million to develop its local partner network and $30 million for technical training. (AHRAM ONLINE)

Export Import Bank of China reportedly signed a $300 million loan facility agreement with the African Finance Corporation to provide increased trade finance and investment. The deal was signed on the sidelines of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank annual meetings in Egypt. The 3-year loan facility is an expansion of China Exim’s relationship with one of Africa’s key lenders for infrastructure, and will allow it to support trade and economic diversification projects. The news comes amid a sharp pullback in Chinese lending to the continent. (THE GUARDIAN NIGERIA)

Malaysia will reportedly allow the building of a dual 5G network from next year to break its current monopoly held by the state-run telecoms company Digital Nasional Berhad. President Anwar Ibrahim said the shift will enable better cooperation with China’s Huawei, and give Malaysia a mix of Western and Chinese technology. "We in Malaysia... and I believe rightly, decided that while we get the best from the West, we also should benefit the best from the East," he said at an event sponsored by Huawei. (REUTERS)

The Chinese solar panel maker Trina Solar is planning to invest $400 million to buid its third factory in Vietnam. The move could help boost exports to the U.S., after output from its factory in Thailand was hit by sanctions. The 250,000 square meter plant will start production in 2025. (REUTERS)

Deweh Gray, a deputy foreign minister in Liberia, told an audience at the Chinese embassy in Monrovia on Tuesday that her government firmly supports Beijing's One-China policy.

For most countries, that's not a very controversial stance, but not in Liberia, where President George Weah's administration made the exceptional decision to vote with the U.S. and Europe on the sensitive issue of China's human rights policies in Xinjiang.

Although Gray never mentioned the Xinjiang votes in her speech, her endorsement of the One-China policy was widely seen as an embrace of China's other sensitive core issues. (LIBERIAN OBSERVER)