De Chinese Wouden, vrijdag 20 september: mesaanval, piepers, elektrische auto’s
Een Japans jongetje van 10 is overleden nadat hij op weg naar zijn basisschool in Shenzhen was neergestoken door een Chinese man met mes. Het zou verband houden met een jubileumdatum van het ‘Mukden incident’ van 18 september 1931 waarmee de Japanse invasie van Mantsjoerije begon. Afgelopen juni kwam al een Chinese busmoeder om in Suzhou toen die Japanse kinderen beschermde tegen een man die hun schoolbus aanviel met een mes.
Het Chinese ministerie van buitenlandse zaken antwoordde op vragen dat dit overal in de wereld zou kunnen gebeuren. Dit is hetzelfde wat ze zeiden toen kortgeleden een groep Amerikanen werd neergestoken in een park in Jilin. Het zou goed zijn als de Partij toch eens kritisch kijkt naar de xenofobie die het aanwakkert met haar propaganda.
Taiwan is ondertussen in rep en roer over de pieper-ontploffingen in Libanon. Het Taiwanese merk Gold Apollo ontkent ze zelf gefabriceerd te hebben. Het Taiwanese OM heeft wel al de kantoren van Gold Apollo en licentiehouder BAC onderzocht. Wat ze ook vinden, dit zal toch wel weer een stimulans zijn voor de splitsing van leveringsketens in twee blokken.
Verder erg veel nieuws over de onderhandelingen tussen Brussel en Peking over elektrische auto’s.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Apparaten wereldwijd lukraak door China gehackt voor offensieve cyberoperaties – NRC: „Daaronder zijn volgens de diensten ongeveer 2.700 apparaten in Nederland. Het Nationaal Cyber Security Centrum van het Nederlandse ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid meldt dat hier duizenden apparaten zijn getroffen.”
„Het gaat om lukraak gehackte apparaten die werden gebruikt om offensieve cyberoperaties uit te voeren, aldus een Europese inlichtingendienst die de Amerikaanse uitkomsten bevestigt.” 🇳🇱
US FBI disrupts second Chinese hacking group, director says – Reuters: ‘said Flax Typhoon was being run by a Chinese company called the Integrity Technology Group that posed as an IT firm’ 🇺🇸
Zorg dat al je apparaten altijd up to date zijn, ook je slimme koelkast!
‘#German warships passed through #TaiwanStrait regardless #China's firm opposition. Wrong for European members of @NATO to engage in dangerous actions in Asia-Pacific. This harms #Europe's own interests as well as regional stability.’ – 王鲁彤 Wang Lutong, Twitter 🇩🇪
Vraag Chinese diplomaten eens wat ze dan vinden van de Chinese marineschepen die door het Kanaal voeren en oefenden met Rusland in de Middellandse Zee en de Oostzee.
Forschungsministerin Stark-Watzinger (FDP) traf taiwanischen Amtskollegen Wu Cheng-Wen 吳誠文 in Berlin – Handelsblatt: „Eine Expertendelegation des taiwanischen National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), angeführt von Wissenschaftsminister Wu Cheng-Wen, habe sich in der ersten Septemberwoche zu einer Fachreise in Deutschland aufgehalten“
„Der Vorgänger von Wu Cheng-Wen, Wu Tsung-Tsong, war bereits Ende 2022 zu Gesprächen mit Stark-Watzinger in Berlin. […]
In einer aufsehenerregenden Aktion war die FDP-Politikern Anfang 2023 selbst nach Taiwan gereist – als erste Bundesministerin seit 1997. Damals hatte Wirtschaftsminister Günter Rexrodt (FDP) das Land besucht.“ 🇩🇪
‘We welcomed a multi-party delegation from the French🇫🇷 @Senat today. Thank you Hon. @C_Frassa, @JacquemetAnnick, @GuyBenarroche and the whole delegation for your support for Taiwan🇹🇼 and our democracy. Also, congratulations for hosting such an amazing Olympic Games this year!’ – 江啟臣|JOHNNY CHIANG, Twitter 🇫🇷
Italy backs Taiwan’s participation in the UN system – Decode39 🇮🇹
China seeks to restart economic dialogue, expand cooperation with UK – Reuters 🇬🇧
Lord Mandelson slams Tory [sic] ‘boycott’ of China: The Labour peer said it is time for Britain and China to ‘stop throwing mud’ at one another – The Telegraph: ‘co-founded the political consultancy Global Counsel’ 🇬🇧
Rusland 🇷🇺
China-Russia trade inches up as US sanctions and payment issues strain growth – SCMP: ‘The slowing growth was mainly the result of issues in payment amid sanctions from the United States over Russia’s war in Ukraine, said Chen Fengying, a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) – a think tank with ties [i.e. run by] to the Ministry of State Security.’ 🇷🇺
China-Japan 🇨🇳🇯🇵
Japanese boy dies after being stabbed by man in China’s Shenzhen – Kyodo News: ‘The 10-year-old was attacked near a Japanese school Wednesday morning and had been receiving treatment at a hospital.’
‘Given Wednesday marked the 93rd anniversary of a Japanese bombing of a railroad track near Shenyang, Japan had asked the Chinese Foreign Ministry last week to take thorough safety measures for Japanese schools, according to Kamikawa.’ 🇯🇵
Tokyo demands answers over fatal stabbing of 10-year-old Japanese boy in China – The Guardian 🇯🇵
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian’s Regular Press Conference on September 19, 2024 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China: ‘According to what we know so far, this is an individual case. Similar cases may happen in any country.’
Chinese navy sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan – AFP: ‘Japan’s government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area [between 12 and] 24 nautical miles of the Japanese coast.’ ‘between the islands of Yonaguni [与那国島] and Iriomote [西表島]’ 🇯🇵🇹🇼
Japan protests against ‘unacceptable’ route taken by China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier – SCMP 🇯🇵
China to express readiness to lift import ban on Japanese seafood – Kyodo News: ‘once Japan and the U.N. nuclear watchdog agree to allow third-party countries to join monitoring activities on the discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, diplomatic sources said Thursday.’ 🇯🇵
Elektrische auto’s 🚗🇪🇺
EU country vote on Chinese EV duties delayed – POLITICO Europe: ‘With no new date set for the vote, the week of Sept. 30 now looks to be the earliest possibility, two of the diplomats said.’ 🇪🇺
Heeft de Chinees-Duitse lobby effect gehad?
EU and China trade negotiators fail to strike deal on electric vehicle imports – SCMP: ‘However, the sides committed to intensify talks towards finding a negotiated solution to the quarrel, including taking a “renewed look at price undertakings”.’ 🇪🇺
China and EU hold constructive consultation on EV tariff disputes, China’s Commerce Ministry says – Xinhua: ‘China urges the EU to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China, France, and the EU on properly addressing economic and trade frictions through dialogue and consultation’ 🇪🇺
Chinese trade boss Wáng Wéntāo 王文涛 comes to Brussels on Don’t Tax My Car tour – POLITICO Europe: ‘Beijing’s refusal to engage with the EU’s argument that its support for EV-makers harms European industry leaves slim chances for a breakthrough — and betrays its tone-deafness.’ 🇪🇺
EV tariffs will damage Germany, China, says Chinese commerce minister Wáng Wéntāo 王文涛 – Reuters: ‘Wang said it is hoped that Germany will proceed from its own interests and push the European Commission and China to work in the same direction.’ 🇩🇪🇪🇺
China’s Wáng Wéntāo 王文涛 tells Italy: EU electric vehicle probe affecting investor confidence – Reuters: ‘China is willing to promote mutual investment between auto companies from the two countries’ 🇮🇹🇪🇺
What the EU’s new competition tsar Teresa Ribera thinks about Chinese EV tariffs – FT: ‘“The main message . . . is that it is important to avoid a clash, a trade war,” Ribera told the FT when asked about her personal views on the tariffs’ 🇪🇺
The EU and its EV duties – Noah Barkin for the GMFUS: ‘It is not hyperbole to describe this case as a litmus test for European policy on China writ large.’ ‘Europe cannot afford to cut a dirty deal with Beijing’ 🇪🇺
Economic Watch: EU tariffs on Chinese EVs raise trade war concerns – Xinhua 🇪🇺
So sollte Europa Chinas Vormarsch kontern – FAZ 🇪🇺
The Great China Car Blitzkrieg: Record exports are shattering 100 years of Western car dominance –
Volkswagen audit of Xinjiang plant failed to meet international standards – FT: ‘VW managers briefed on the matter have previously said that the company is reluctant to leave the region before its existing agreement with SAIC expires in 2029, as this would hurt its relationship with the Chinese state-backed partner.’ 🇩🇪
An assessment of the audit of Volkswagen’s controversial factory in Xinjiang – Adrian Zenz for Jamestown China Brief: ‘The audit shows that the factory organizes staff activities promoting “ethnic unity” to ensure “harmony,” an activity associated with forced assimilation.’ 🇩🇪
Volkswagen plans stop to production at jointly-owned China plant – Reuters 🇩🇪
Chinees NIO 蔚来 kandidaat-overnemer voor Volkswagens Audi Brussels-fabriek – De Tijd: „Een delegatie van NIO heeft de voorbije weken de fabriek in Vorst bezocht en sleutelt nu aan een bod, dat uiterlijk aanstaande maandag bij de Volkswagen-groep moet zijn ingediend.” 🇧🇪🇩🇪
China’s Yutong 宇通, world’s top electric-bus maker, touts new technology as exports grow – SCMP
VDL kan z’n borst natmaken.
Chinese solar panel boom threatens Pakistan’s debt-ridden grid – FT: ‘“Chinese [solar panel] imports are contributing to difficulties servicing power debt, including to Chinese investors,” she says.’ 🇵🇰
Tech War 💽🇺🇸
Taiwanese prosecutors search Gold Apollo 金阿波羅 and BAC 阿波羅系列 offices in Taiwan over Hezbollah pager explosions – Focus Taiwan: ‘Prosecutors on Thursday also questioned Hsu Ching-kuang (許清光), chairman of Gold Apollo’
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo says Budapest-based BAC produces its model of pagers used in Lebanon blasts – Reuters: ‘The ministry said in a statement that there was no record of direct pager exports from Taiwan to Lebanon.’ 🇱🇧🇭🇺🇮🇱
Taiwan drawn into Middle East politics after deadly pager blasts in Lebanon – Al Jazeera
Taiwan security bodies ‘paying great attention’ to Hezbollah beeper explosions – Reuters: ‘Koo, asked whether Israel had given Taiwan a heads-up about the explosions or whether the two had security or intelligence exchanges, said Taipei did not have that kind of a relationship with the country.’ 🇮🇱
Lebanon pager blasts expected to prompt greater caution in China about electronic devices – SCMP: ‘China would possibly view electronic and communications products made by the US and its allies — including Taiwan — with greater suspicion.’
Woensdag noemde ik al dat dit tot meer paranoia over Chinese techproducten kan leiden in het Westen. Je vraagt je ook af of ze in sommige landen nu juist meer Chinese tech zullen inslaan om te de-risken van het Westen.
A yearlong congressional investigation found that Chinese cargo cranes used at US seaports have embedded technology that make them vulnerable to espionage and disruption – WSJ: ‘found that the China-based manufacturer of the cranes, ZPMC, had at times pressured port operators to allow the company to maintain remote access.’
‘adding that ZPMC had shown particular interest in requesting remote access to its cranes located on the West Coast.’ 🇺🇸
‘Keep your mouth shut’: ByteDance 字节跳动 TikTok whistleblower claims Chinese police kidnapped and threatened his father – Forbes: ‘claims Chinese national police detained his father and took him to “a remote secret facility” to interrogate and intimidate him after the former employee spoke to Western press about ByteDance’s censorship of content on TikTok.’
Regering-Biden stelt besluit Japanse overname US Steel uit – NRC 🇯🇵
Schijnt genoemd te zijn door Japanse zijde tijdens de gesprekken over exportcontrolemaatregelen op halfgeleiderapparatuur.
Music is out, AI is in: China’s universities introduce new majors in line with ‘national goals’ – The Straits Times
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
US keeps mid-range missile system in Philippines as China tensions rise – Reuters: ‘The Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year, both countries said at the time, but has remained there.’ 🇵🇭
Een van de grootste zorgen in het geval van een Chinese aanval is de Chinese opbouw van enorme aantallen raketten. Dit systeem zou helpen iets meer balans aan te brengen – anders zou het heel moeilijk worden voor de Amerikaanse strijdkrachten om Taiwan (of de Filipijnen of Japan of Zuid-Korea) te hulp te schieten.
Australia to boost South China Sea presence by joining Philippines’ maritime defence patrols – SCMP 🇦🇺🇵🇭
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell says challenges posed by China exceed those of Cold War – Reuters: ‘said increasing the speed of U.S. warship output should be of the highest priority over the next decade.’ 🇺🇸
US Navy chief unveils plan to be ready for possible war with China by [Xi’s] 2027 – SCMP 🇺🇸
How China is sharing its development and governance experience with Africa – SCMP
Weekend 🏖️📚
Longreads en achtergrond
China’s continued experimentation for ‘peaceful reunification’ with Taiwan – Erik Green for IISS: ‘a new Taiwan strategy that seeks to achieve ‘peaceful reunification’ through bottom-up innovation and regional experimentation, while still preparing for reunification by force if necessary.’
Diving into pro-Russia propaganda targeting Chinese audiences in Malaysia: Pro-Kremlin narratives in Chinese-language media aim to shape views on the war and geopolitics – Kuek Ser Kuang Keng, Chan Wei See, and Wong Kai Hui for Sinopsis 🇲🇾🇷🇺
China’s ‘full-time dads’ challenge patriarchal norms – AFP
Taiwan’s death penalty hangs in the balance ahead of Constitutional Court ruling – Focus Taiwan
Podcasts
China’s crackdowns are crushing the dreams of a generation – Bloomberg The Big Take
Xi Jinping’s plan for Taiwan – CSIS Pekingology 🍎
Exit interview: David Rennie ends 6 years covering Beijing for ‘The Economist’ – NPR Morning Edition
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
Chinese military video appears to show ‘dangerous’ intercept of Australian aircraft over South China Sea in 2022 – ABC News: ‘the PLA aircraft flew closely alongside the RAAF plane firing flares, before cutting in front of it and releasing “chaff” into its flight path, which included aluminium fragments that were sucked into the P-8’s engine.’
‘The PLA pilot [in the propaganda broadcast] then quoted a military adage — “The braver of the two who meet on the narrow road will win” — before he declared: “We must show our swords to the enemy.”’ 🇦🇺
Video of Chinese jet’s apparent intercept with Australian defence plane ‘deeply troubling’ propaganda, Coalition says – The Guardian 🇦🇺
Het voorspelt niet veel goeds als de Chinese strijdkrachten dit soort gedrag als model voorhoudt aan de eigen piloten. Het was juist met zulk roekeloos vlieggedrag waardoor de Chinese jachtvlieger in 2001 tegen een Amerikaans surveillancevliegtuig opbotste, het zogeheten Hainan-incident.
China tried to drive voters away from Conservative candidate, inquiry hears – CBC News: ‘concluded that the Chinese government tried to get Chinese Canadian voters to vote against the Conservative Party (CPC) and then-Conservative MP Kenny Chiu in the 2021 election.’ 🇨🇦
Canadian elections laws too weak to lay charges in cases of Chinese meddling against Conservatives in 2021 election – The Global and Mail 🇨🇦
China sets countermeasures [i.e. sanctions] against 9 US firms over weapons sales to Taiwan – Reuters: ‘including Sierra Nevada Corporation and Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC’ 🇺🇸
China to impose countermeasures against US military companies for arms sales to Taiwan region – Xinhua: ‘Pursuant to Articles 3, 4, 6, 9 and 15 of China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law’ 🇺🇸
Peking is tegen sancties, dus stelt slechts ‘tegenmaatregelen’ in onder de orwelliaans genaamde ‘anti-sanctiewet’.
Malaysia’s king to visit China, eyes infrastructure support – Reuters: ‘The ceremonial ruler from the southern state of Johor, will be accompanied by Malaysia’s transport and housing ministers’ 🇲🇾
China economie
China to ramp up policy steps to revive economy but no ‘bazooka’ stimulus seen – Reuters
China steps up efforts to boost domestic demand – Xinhua
Ultra-weak home prices like in northern China’s Hegang arrive in southern powerhouses – Reuters: ‘Across China, average home values have tumbled nearly 30% from their 2021 highs’
China binnenland
New data reveals exactly when the Chinese government blocked ChatGPT and other AI sites – Rest of World: ‘Data from GFWeb allows observers to spot long-term trends. For instance, it shows that Chinese authorities are particularly concerned with AI tools used for content generation.’
Chinese diet shift to more meat and fewer grains may cost US$14 billion in health spending – SCMP
Hong Kong en Macao
1 year and 2 months jail for first person convicted under Hong Kong’s new national security law – HKFP: ‘after pleading guilty on Monday to sedition over wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan on it.’
Singapore will ‘mop up’ much of financial business leaving Hong Kong – The Straits Times: ‘But the success in private markets has never flowed through to its stock market, with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) plagued by low volumes, the EIU noted.’ 🇸🇬
Macao’s electoral authority accepts Sam Hou Fai 岑浩輝 as candidate for chief executive election – Xinhua: ‘the only application received to become a candidate for the post of chief executive.’
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
China’s growing military activity makes a shift to war harder to spot, Taiwan’s defence minister Wellington Koo 顧立雄 warns – FT: ‘“We have to think about how we differentiate between peacetime and wartime,” Koo told reporters. “The scale of [China’s military] activity is getting larger and larger, and so it is harder to discern when they might be shifting from training to a large exercise, and from an exercise to war.”’
Taiwan deepening security cooperation with US and other ‘allies’ – Reuters: ‘Cooperation focuses on “substantively improving” combat effectiveness rather than just “formality”, Koo said.’
China blocks senior Taiwan executive from returning home – Nikkei Asia: ‘The unidentified Formosa Plastics Group official was questioned after landing in Shanghai via a flight from Taipei on Sept. 1, according to local media.’ 🇨🇳
Chinese mainland to stop tariff exemption on certain Taiwan farm produce – Xinhua: ‘Bans, restrictions and other discriminatory measures imposed unilaterally by the Taiwan region [sic] on the export of mainland products have severely hindered cross-Strait economic and trade cooperation, it said.’ 🇨🇳
Taiwan calls China’s end of tariff exemptions on agricultural goods ‘coercion’ – Focus Taiwan: ‘[China’s TAO] blamed the current administration led by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in Taiwan, for its “stubborn adherence” to a pro-independence stance. 🇨🇳
Zou te maken kunnen hebben met de recente uitspraken van president Lai over het verdrag van Aigun waarmee China in de 19e eeuw grondgebied opgaf aan Rusland en de herdenking van de Taiwanese zelfbeschikkingsbeweging.
23 indicted for China espionage, including 8 active servicemen – Focus Taiwan: ‘Tainan prosecutors launched an investigation into the case in April this year after the Political Warfare Bureau received a tip-off from a soldier in 2022, the branch told CNA.’ 🇨🇳
Chinese speedboat man sentenced to 8 months for entering Taiwan illegally – Focus Taiwan: ‘The suspect, identified as a 60-year-old man surnamed Ruan (阮), said he was restricted from leaving China over online speech issues.’ 🇨🇳
National Development Council eyeing increased cooperation with Japan – Taipei Times: ‘a delegation of representatives from almost 50 innovation firms to a Taiwan-Japan start-up summit in Tokyo’ 🇯🇵
Taiwan binnenland en economie
DPP urges unity on bill addressing UNGA resolution 2758 – Taipei Times: ‘but opposition party members later walked out of a cross-party meeting when the topic was raised.’
‘More recently, the Australian Senate and the Dutch House of Representatives also passed motions clarifying the definition of UN Resolution 2758.’
KMT seeking a resolution in the ‘Republic of China’s interests’ – Taipei Times: ‘the KMT believes the [DPP] motion would jeopardize the national interests of the ROC, as it excludes Taiwan from the nation’s territory’
Het is onder andere aan het Chinese nationalisme van de toen nog dictatoriale KMT te danken dat de ROC/Taiwan zich in 1971 terugtrok uit de Verenigde Naties in plaats van in te gaan op oplossingen zoals gebruikt zijn voor het gelijktijdig VN-lidmaatschap van West- en Oost-Duitsland en Noord- en Zuid-Korea.
Donovan’s Deep Dives: How Eric Chu 朱立倫 revived the KMT – Courtney Donovan Smith for Taipei Times
民進黨新北議員林銘仁涉助理費案遭搜索 列被告約談 – 中央社
檢調偵辦貪污案 搜索國民黨新北議員白珮茹服務處 – 中央社
Corruptieonderzoeken naar gemeenteraadsleden van DPP en KMT in New Taipei.
Cross-strait same-sex marriages can be registered in Taiwan: MAC – Focus Taiwan 🇨🇳