De Chinese Wouden, vrijdag 16 augustus: handel, Tech War, Kantelpunt
Fijn weekend. Ik hoop later in de maand weer wat meer aan schrijven toe te komen, als er ook wat meer nieuws is.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Baltic pipe probe: Finnish leader happy China cooperating, but says ‘case is not closed’ – SCMP 🇫🇮🇪🇪
Interview Andreas Fulda: „Duitsland maakt zich veel te afhankelijk van China” – NRC 🇩🇪
China resubmits application to build contested big embassy in London – Reuters 🇬🇧
Serbian president meets Chinese state councillor – Xinhua 🇷🇸
Ruslands oorlog 🇷🇺
China and Vatican discuss Ukraine peace plan as Russia continues to lose ground – SCMP: ‘The call between Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican’s special peace envoy, and his Chinese counterpart Li Hui was a relatively rare occurrence because the Holy See does not have formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.’ 🇻🇦🇺🇦🇷🇺
HMS Richmond: Royal Navy escorts Chinese warships travelling through UK waters – The Standard: ‘The Chinese ships travelled through British waters twice in three weeks while on the way to-and-from Russia.’ 🇬🇧🇷🇺
Handel 🚗⚡️
Column: Europa moet de eigen groene industrie beschermen tegen Chinese overcapaciteit – Diederik Samsom in de Volkskrant 🇪🇺
Coming to ‘iPhone City’ Zhengzhou in China: An electric car factory from Taiwan’s Foxconn 富士康 – The New York Times
‘Er is grondig onderzoek nodig naar de spionagerisico's door gemeentelijke auto’s uit China. […] Raadsvragen gesteld. […]’ – Lotte van Basten Batenburg (VVD Den Haag), Twitter 🇳🇱
De Chinese staalindustrie stevent af op een nieuwe crisis, met wereldwijde gevolgen – de Volkskrant
Top steelmaker Baowu 宝武 warns Chinese producers face severe crisis – FT: ‘after the sector has been ravaged by weak real estate demand and industrial production.’
‘Chinese steelmakers have been turning to foreign markets to find a home for their products, exporting the most in the first half of 2024 in eight years, but face increasing barriers as other nations put up tariffs to protect their own industries.’
Polestar vermijdt importheffing met productie in VS – FD 🇺🇸
Thailand PM orders swift action on Chinese goods influx – The Thaiger 🇹🇭
Tech War 💽💥
China to restrict critical antimony exports as geopolitical tensions target weapons – SCMP: ‘Analysts and experts see the move as a countermeasure to US sanctions on chips and other technologies by making it harder to produce weapons, as antimony is critical in making military equipment.’ 🇺🇸
US chip and EV industries struggle to take off despite huge subsidies – Nikkei Asia 🇺🇸
The US now leads the world for climate-tech investing, even as the amount invested falls – Bloomberg 🇺🇸
US lawmakers urge probe of WiFi router maker TP-Link over fears of Chinese cyber attacks – Reuters 🇺🇸
TSMC 台積電 to acquire Innolux Tainan plant for NT$17bn [€480m] – Taipei Times
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
Interview: «Europäische Länder könnten innerhalb von drei Tagen militärische Flugzeuge in den Indopazifik verlegen», sagt der EU-Botschafter Gabriele Visentin – NZZ: „Es freut mich besonders, dass die Mitgliedstaaten ihre Teilnahme an «Pitch Black» als europäische Präsenz sehen.“ 🇪🇺
US and French naval forces conduct operations in Philippine Sea – Reuters 🇺🇸🇫🇷
Comment: How China’s peace diplomacy could endanger global stability: Beijing prioritises showcasing its power over achieving lasting peace – Nikkei Asia
How China thrives in a world of turmoil – The Economist’s Chaguan
China to hold annual air force drills with Thailand as it bolsters Southeast Asia defence ties – SCMP 🇹🇭
Japan PM Kishida Fumio 岸田 文雄 forged closer ties with US but failed to improve relations with China – The Straits Times 🇯🇵
Weekend 🏖️📚
Longreads en achtergrond
Foster a Favourable External Environment For Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively To Advance Chinese Modernisation – Wang Yi at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
‘I was afraid somebody might run on stage and harm us’: the Taiwanese play that dares to address nationhood – The Guardian: ‘This Is Not An Embassy deals with Taiwan’s lack of global recognition as a country and the diplomatic challenges it faces as a result.’
How award-winning athletes became ‘Taiwan’s Glory’ – Ho Ming-sho for ThinkChina
Taiwan POWER: A Model for Foreign Information Manipulation & Interference Resilience – Doublethink Lab
Podcasts
Unpacking China’s Anti-Secession Law: A conversation with Dr. I-Chung Lai and Professor Jacques deLisle – CSIS ChinaPower 🍎
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China’s Wáng Yì 王毅 urges war-torn Myanmar to seek ‘political reconciliation’ – Nikkei Asia: ‘Wang met with military chief Min Aung Hlaing and influential former leader Than Shwe in Naypyitaw on Wednesday.’ 🇲🇲
China promises technical support and aid for census and elections in Myanmar, junta-run media says – Reuters: ‘The proposed election has been widely derided as a sham and the outcome is unlikely to be recognised by most Western countries’ 🇲🇲
China calls for ‘national unity’ in Myanmar as rebels gain ground near Yunnan border – SCMP 🇲🇲
Chinese and Cambodian foreign ministers meet on bilateral and regional cooperation – Xinhua 🇰🇭
Xi says China ready to work with Brazil to promote building of China-Brazil community with shared future – Xinhua 🇧🇷
Xinhua Commentary: China and Brazil join forces for next ‘golden 50 years’ of ties – Xinhua 🇧🇷
Palau president accuses China of ‘weaponising tourism’ – AFP: ‘in a bid to get his Pacific nation to break ties with Taiwan.’ 🇵🇼🇹🇼
Kiribati election: Results show pro-China leader retains parliamentary seat – AFP 🇰🇮
Chinese coastguard set to get new ship modelled on advanced Type 052D destroyer – SCMP
China economie
At least 48 million homes in China have been sold before construction has been completed – Bloomberg: ‘suggesting the country’s property crisis won’t be resolved anytime soon, according to a report from Bloomberg Intelligence.’
China’s July home prices fall at a slower pace as state support shows ‘some effect’ – SCMP
China retail sales improve in July despite weak economy – Nikkei Asia
China’s spending slump weighs as e-commerce giant Alibaba misses estimates – Reuters
China’s factory output slows, dashing speedy recovery hopes – Reuters
China’s diesel demand fell in June by most in three years, US EIA says – Reuters
China vows to get foreign firms’ pricey mega projects under way as FDI outflow persists – SCMP
Mainland China’s provinces seek overseas capital, with Hong Kong as go-between – SCMP
No respite for Chinese officials as economy shows new signs of weakness – Reuters
China binnenland
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平’s explanation of key reform resolution to be published by Qiushi Journal – Xinhua: ‘Xi listed the priorities in drafting the resolution’
Did China just demote its defence ministry? – Defense One: ‘Dong Jun, the country’s defense minister, was neither added to the Central Military Commission nor appointed a State Councilor.’
Custody ruling in same-sex case hailed as LGBTQ+ milestone in China – The Guardian
Fury in China as deliveryman kneels before security guard – BBC News
Hong Kong
Jimmy Lai 黎智英 appeal judge, UK’s David Neuberger, withdraws from media freedom NGO’s advisory panel – HKFP 🇬🇧
Hong Kong population edges up from end-2023 as Mainlanders move in – Nikkei Asia
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
Chinese speedboat man indicted for entering Taiwan illegally – Focus Taiwan 🇨🇳
Translation: Start Taiwan Takeover Preparations as Soon as Possible – CSIS Interpret: China: ‘In this short piece, researchers at the Cross-Strait Institute of Urban Planning at Xiamen University lay out recommendations for Beijing on how to prepare for post-“reunification” governance of Taiwan.’
Taiwan’s military releases footage of under-development suicide drone – Focus Taiwan: ‘A source told CNA that the suicide drone shown in the video footage is still under development by Taiwan’s Navy and has not been officially commissioned.’
Evergreen apologizes over absent Chinese flag furor at Paris hotel – Focus Taiwan: ‘a number of Chinese travel sites have removed the Paris and Shanghai branches of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel from their booking services.’ 🇨🇳🇫🇷
Opinion: Excessive US pressure on Taiwan defence spending plays into CCP’s hands: American policy influencers should explain that Taipei needs encouragement, not punishment – Yoshiyuki Ogasawara for Nikkei Asia 🇺🇸
Taiwan binnenland en economie
Taiwan’s third-largest party dogged by corruption scandals – Nikkei Asia
Accounting firms searched in TPP financial fraud case – Taipei Times: ‘A TPP spokesperson said that investigators did not search TPP headquarters or Ko’s office, adding that the party voluntarily handed over six boxes of material.’
TPP fraud suspects released on bail – Taipei Times: ‘Figures within the TPP have blamed Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) for the situation and have demanded that she resign as a lawmaker.’
TPP declared no campaign expenses – Taipei Times: ‘The TPP records showed no campaign expenditures and a net income of NT$13.6 million [€380k], [the Control Yuan] said.’
Premier Cho touts plan for economy – Taipei Times: ‘The National Development Council’s (NDC) four-year national development plan aims to achieve 3 percent economic growth, GDP per capita of US$40,000, an unemployment rate lower than 3.5 percent and stable consumer price growth of 2 percent’
Fitch retains Taiwan’s ‘AA’ sovereignty rating – Taipei Times
Taipei administrative court blocks bid to change ID without gender dysphoria diagnosis – Focus Taiwan
Northeastern Taiwan rattled by 5.7 magnitude quake, no immediate reports of damage – Reuters