De Chinese Wouden, maandag 5 mei: Xi viert bevrijding met Poetin
Vrolijke 80e bevrijdingsdag! Xi Jinping gaat het later deze week vieren in Moskou met zijn vriend Vladimir Poetin. In de aankondiging van zijn staatsbezoek aan Rusland maakte het Chinese ministerie van buitenlandse zaken duidelijk dat het China en Rusland centraal plaatst in het WOII-verhaal. De verbintenis van de uitkomst van de oorlog aan de huidige internationale orde geeft Peking en Moskou een speciale, gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid om het multilaterale systeem te beschermen.
Waartegen? Dat zal uiteindelijk wel het Amerikaanse hegemonisme en unilateralisme zijn. Ik schreef begin april al in ASPI’s The Strategist over de structurele dominantie van Rusland in de Chinese diplomatie sinds het einde van de jaren negentig. In die visie van Xi voor de wereld is de rol voor Rusland alleen maar groter.
Waar wel plaats voor is in die wereld, legt staatspersbureau Xinhua uit. In een artikel voor de gelegenheid van Xi’s staatsbezoek aan Rusland komt het met een stuk over Xi als „visionaire architect van wereldvrede en ontwikkeling”. Veel aandacht voor het Mondiale Zuiden en alle Chinese initiatieven, o.a. de Rusland-vriendelijke punten voor Oekraïne die Peking met Brasiliá voorstelt.
Xinhua eindigt met de woorden van Xi: „met elke toename van Chinese kracht is neemt de hoop voor wereldvrede toe.” Taiwans president Lai komt (voor het eerst) met een eigen toespraak, die waarschijnlijk een ander verhaal zal vertellen.
De nieuwsbrief van woensdag kan vertraagd zijn vanwege bezigheden.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 to pay state visit to Russia and attend Great Patriotic War Victory celebrations on May 7-10 – Xinhua: ‘President Xi will have strategic communication with President Putin on China-Russia relations under new circumstances and on a series of major international and regional issues.’
‘as the two main theaters of Asia and Europe in World War II, China and Russia made immense sacrifice and major, historic contributions to secure the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, save their respective nations from demise, and also save the future of mankind.’
‘President Xi and President Putin previously agreed that the two sides will jointly remember history, honor the martyrs, foster a right view of the World War II history, defend the outcomes of the victory in the war and the post-war international order, and uphold international fairness and justice, the spokesperson said.’
‘China and Russia, as founding members of the UN and permanent members of the UN Security Council, shoulder special and important responsibility in safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core.’ 🇷🇺
China and Russia to hold art exhibition marking 80th anniversary of WWII victory – Xinhua 🇷🇺
Xi Jinping: A visionary architect of world peace and development – Xinhua: ‘In Xi’s own words, “every increase of China’s strength is an increase of the prospects of world peace.”’ [中华力量每增强一分，世界和平的希望就增加一分。]
Taiwan to mark World War Two end in history narrative battle with China – Reuters: ‘Lai will host foreign diplomats and other dignitaries in Taipei on Thursday and give a speech about the 80th anniversary of the war’s end. This marks the first time that Taiwan will formally commemorated the victory of the war in Europe.’ 🇨🇳🇪🇺
Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU Ambassador Cài Rùn 蔡润 Gives an Exclusive Interview with China Global Television Network on the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of China-EU Diplomatic Ties – Chinese Mission to the EU: ‘China and the EU sit at the opposite ends of the Eurasian continent, with no fundamental clash of interests or geopolitical conflicts. Our consensus and cooperation far outweigh differences and competition. We are partners, not rivals, and certainly not enemies.’
‘In conversations with both Chinese and European friends, I often heard one view that makes perfect sense to me: to [should] demonstrate political will, and employ political wisdom to turn the points of friction and differences between China and the EU into points of cooperation and growth in our relationship, to further deepen China-EU economic and trade cooperation.’ 🇪🇺
De ambassadeur maakt duidelijk dat alle verandering van de Europese kant moet komen.
Taiwan a like-minded ally of EU, EETO head says at Europe Day celebration – Taipei Times
Wereldhandelsoorlog 📉💥
Europa als nieuwe politieagent van de wereldhandel? Zo ver is het nog lang niet – NRC 🇪🇺
Met heffingen maakt Trump een einde aan de koopjes van Temu en Shein 希音. Kan dat ook in Europa? – NRC 🇪🇺
Deal or no deal? EU engages US and China on high-wire bargaining act – SCMP: ‘Europe’s priority is a deal with Washington and the latest signs are it is willing to sacrifice ties with China to get one.’
‘“A popular narrative right now is that Trump is driving Europe into China’s arms. But I won’t be surprised if in the coming weeks you see the opposite happening – that there is a joint approach on overcapacity,” said an EU official, who was not permitted to speak publicly.’ 🇪🇺
Chinese EV makers sell more plugin-hybrids in the EU to avoid tariffs, research firm says – Reuters 🇪🇺
Canton Fair offers fee refunds as China moves to protect tariff-struck exporters – SCMP: ‘a 50 per cent refund on booth fees for all Chinese exporters’
VS-China 🇨🇳
President Donald Trump said he is willing to lower tariffs on China at some point because the levies now are so high that the world’s two largest economies have essentially stopped doing business with each other – Bloomberg: ‘He noted recent economic pains in China’ 🇺🇸
Beijing is considering ways to address the Trump administration’s concerns over China’s role in the fentanyl trade, according to people familiar with the matter – WSJ: ‘Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s security czar, Wang Xiaohong, in recent days has been inquiring about what the Trump team wants China to do when it comes to the chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl, the people said.’ 🇺🇸
As China looks for way out of US trade deadlock, fentanyl could be key – The New York Times: ‘China is considering presenting an offer to deepen cooperation with the United States on fighting the flow of fentanyl, according to a person familiar with the matter who has spoken with Chinese officials.’ 🇺🇸
China assessing US messages of hoping to hold tariff talks, commerce ministry says – Xinhua: ‘as the United States has recently reached out through relevant channels multiple times, expressing a desire to engage in talks with China over tariff issues.’
‘The tariff and trade wars were unilaterally initiated by the United States, and if it wants to negotiate, it must demonstrate sincerity by making preparations and taking concrete actions, such as correcting its erroneous practices and lifting the unilateral tariffs, said the statement.’ 🇺🇸
Chinese exporters ‘wash’ products in third countries to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs – FT: ‘adverts on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu offer to help exporters ship goods to countries such as Malaysia, where they will be issued with a new certificate of origin’ 🇺🇸
How China is quietly diversifying from US Treasuries – FT: ‘More reserves are now being managed outside the US and other western countries where assets could easily be frozen.’
‘in Chinese academic and policy circles, it is the suggestion of a selective US default that is most alarming’ 🇺🇸
China low-value package tariff exemption ends but questions remain over US collections – Reuters 🇺🇸
TEMU is abandoning the model centred around cheap Chinese imports that catapulted it to success in the US, aiming to sell only goods from local merchants to American consumers for the foreseeable future – Bloomberg 🇺🇸
California’s Governor Newsom offers ‘open hand’ to China amid Trump trade war – Nikkei Asia: ‘in an online interview with Nikkei Asia on Friday.’ 🇺🇸
VS-Taiwan 🇹🇼
Visiting Taiwan legislators talk chips at US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security – Focus Taiwan 🇺🇸
VS-wereld 🌏
UK is ‘compliant servant of communist China’, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro says – POLITICO Europe 🇬🇧
Techoorlog 💽💥
Europese boete van meer dan half miljard voor TikTok wegens sturen gegevens naar China – NRC 🇪🇺
Why TikTok ruling sparks trouble for EU-China relations – POLITICO Europe: ‘Companies sending EU data to China don’t have an overarching legal framework for this as they would for territories such as the U.S.’ ‘If specific contracts and locating data servers in the EU is not enough to please regulators, then what is?’ 🇪🇺
Huawei 华为’s Shenzhen facilities reveal new push into advanced chipmaking – FT: ‘“These companies will be cut off from Huawei once they reach a certain stage of development,” said a person with knowledge of its operations.’
China’s academies of science and engineering tap private sector for sci-tech leaders in expanded academic recruitment drive – SCMP: ‘biggest hiring spree in a decade’
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
The US Army’s new Pacific commander says ‘extraordinary times’ in the region demand agile ground forces, new missile systems and a different way of thinking – WSJ: ‘The Army, […], has created agile new units to operate on front-line territories including the first island chain.’ ‘Two such units, called Multi-Domain Task Forces, have been constituted for the Indo-Pacific. A third is in the works.’ 🇺🇸
US ability to defeat China in Taiwan threatened, top Indo-Pacific commander warns – FT: ‘he warned that China was building weapons systems, including warships, at a much faster pace than the US.’ 🇺🇸
China’s military likens anti-corruption drive to preparations for war – SCMP: ‘PLA Daily […] said rectifications of the military had been needed at each “key historical intersection”, referring to campaigns in revolutionary days, during the war against Japanese aggression and another one right before the victory of the civil war.’
毛炜豪：从“不确定性”中寻找战机 – 《解放军报》（2025年04月29日 第07版）：“然而换个角度看，不确定性是指挥员正确决策的制约因素，但也可以成为其决策的有利条件。例如，态势模糊会导致己方误判，但同样也可以扰乱对手。”
Afgezien van de commentaarserie over het belang van politieke rectificatie op historische kantelpunten verscheen ook dit stukje in de PLA Daily over onzekerheid en de voordelen die het ook kan bieden bij het verstoren van de tegenstander.
Japan to cooperate with Singapore on undersea cables and cybersecurity – Nikkei Asia: ‘Singapore is overseeing revisions to ASEAN guidelines for undersea cable management and maintenance.’ 🇯🇵🇸🇬
Radio Free Asia lays off most of its staff amid funding battle with Trump – CNN 🇺🇸
Trump team clashes with Berlin over AfD designation as right-wing extremist – POLITICO Europe 🇺🇸🇩🇪
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
US blacklist on China is riddled with errors and outdated details – Reuters: ‘A Reuters review of almost 100 Chinese and Hong Kong companies added to the U.S. entity list in 2023 and 2024 found more than a quarter, or 26 entries, contained erroneous details, such as incorrect names and addresses and outdated information.’ 🇺🇸
China Coast Guard helicopter [operates in] airspace off Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands – Kyodo News: ‘The helicopter took off from one of the four Chinese coast guard ships that entered Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkakus’ 🇯🇵🇹🇼
Vietnam opposes China and Philippines acts on disputed South China Sea reef Sandy Cay – Reuters: ‘Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago’ 🇻🇳🇵🇭
Community group denies links to Beijing after roping in volunteers for election candidates – ABC News: ‘The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed that it has asked the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce to investigate allegations about the actions of the Hubei Association’ 🇦🇺
China’s Caribbean beachhead – POLITICO China Watcher: ‘House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) […] trip he and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) took to Guyana, Suriname and Barbados last week.’ 🇬🇾🇸🇷🇧🇧
China’s military reveals details of Type 094 nuclear submarine for first time – SCMP
China economie
China’s tentative property rebound looks wobbly as Trump’s tariffs bring a wave of doubt – SCMP: ‘The tentative bottom of the market, as indicated by several months of transactions and narrowed declines in prices, appears to be slipping away.’
‘Living perfectly well without American goods’: Why more Chinese shoppers support local brands – CNA: ‘Experts previously told CNA that many Chinese factories were already seeing supply outpace demand’
China’s secret weapon in the trade war: Its miraculous gig economy is propping up jobs – The Economist: ‘The miracle-cure properties of the gig economy are leading to its political rehabilitation.’
China binnenland
Xi Focus: Link personal pursuit with the country — Xi’s message to Chinese youth on May 4 – Xinhua
A wall behind a wall: Emerging regional censorship in China – Mingshi Wu, Ali Zohaib, Zakir Durumeric, Amir Houmansadr, and Eric Wustrow for 2025 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP): ‘We find that Henan has established TLS SNI-based and HTTP Host-based censorship […] the Henan Firewall […] block ten times more websites than the GFW at some points in time.’
Wetenschappers vonden een extra provinciale firewall in Henan, bovenop de nationale Great Firewall.
Chinese entrepreneurs educated overseas hit back at ‘appliance queen’ over spy allegations – SCMP: ‘a leading businesswoman’s remarks that overseas-trained workers could be spies.’
Hong Kong
Politie Hongkong arresteert familie voortvluchtige dissident Anna Kwok 郭鳳儀 – NRC
Hong Kong falls to 140th in press freedom index with historic low score, entering ‘red zone’ for first time – HKFP: ‘“At RSF, we have never seen such a sharp and rapid deterioration in the press freedom record of any country or territory,” the watchdog’s Asia-Pacific Bureau Advocacy Officer Aleksandra Bielakowska told HKFP.’
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
China funding religious trips from Taiwan, intelligence source says – Taipei Times: ‘Officials have found examples of such trips by temples large and small throughout Taiwan, including in Miaoli and rural parts of Tainan, they added.’ 🇨🇳
Over 40% of Taiwanese doubt US security support under Trump, according to survey – Focus Taiwan 🇺🇸
Japanese lawmakers to meet with President Lai during 4-day visit to Taiwan – Focus Taiwan 🇯🇵
Taiwan’s agriculture ministry and military to hold joint disaster response drills in Hualien – Taipei Times
Domestically developed ammo set for mass rollout – Taipei Times
Taiwan binnenland en economie
The terrible secrets of Taiwan’s Stasi files – The Economist: ‘Researchers have unearthed the surveillance records of Taiwan’s former dictatorship. But the revelations inside could tear society apart’
批賴清德除家暴外一事無成 朱立倫：史上只有希特勒做過 – 聯合報：「朱立倫批評，賴清德動用一切手段打擊政敵創紀錄，全世界沒有一個民主國家，會剷除在野黨，罷免國會議員，歷史上只有一個人做過，那個人叫希特勒，法西斯希特勒」
罷綠委涉「幽靈連署」 多位國民黨幹部遭收押》朱批賴法西斯 綠斥為保大位抹黑 – 自由時報
KMT-voorzitter Eric Chu vergelijk president Lai met een „fascistische Hitler” vanwege de handtekeningenacties voor herroepen van KMT-wetgevers en het vervolgen van KMT’ers en TPP’ers betrokken bij fraude en corruptie. Eerder noemde Chu Lai al „communistischer dan de communisten, fascistischer dan de fascisten”.
DPP reageert dat Chu zich zo extreem uitlaat omdat hij waarschijnlijk de komende verkiezingen voor KMT-voorzitter gaat verliezen.
Recall petitions against KMT legislators in Taichung close to 10% requirement – Taipei Times
Two KMT staffers detained in Taichung recall cases – Focus Taiwan: ‘The offenses included document forgery, unlawful use of personal data and the initiation of recall motions with falsified signatures.’
DPP and legislative officials clash over spy hearing no show – Taipei Times: ‘The Legislative Yuan on Monday said that its officials and staff assist lawmakers in carrying out their oversight functions, but do not answer to them and therefore should not be summoned to answer questions at committee meetings.’
Siraya group reject KMT’s draft ‘Pingpu aborigines’ bill – Taipei Times
Interior ministry requests legislators’ transparency in China travels – Taipei Times
Uh-oh, the Taiwanese dollar is having a mad one – FT Alphaville: ‘Our bet is therefore that the Taiwanese dollar’s sudden surge is caused by local life insurance companies belatedly scrambling to hedge their dollar exposures.’
Emergency room congestion crisis increasingly discussed in Taiwan – New Bloom
Power outage response plan discussed – Taipei Times
Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage begins – Focus Taiwan