De Chinese Wouden, vrijdag 16 februari: Volkswagen
Volkswagen is in de problemen vanwege Xinjiang. Nadat bestuurders jarenlang deden alsof ze nog niks hadden gehoord over de regio en en een problematische audit die tot een revolte onder de consultants leidde, is het schandaal nu niet meer te ontwijken.
Volgens analyse zou Volkswagen van Oeigoerse dwangarbeid geprofiteerd hebben bij de aanleg van een testbaan in Turpan. Foto’s van dwangarbeiders in militair (kamp)uniform die voor Volkswagen werken zijn nogal explosief in de Duitse context. Het bedrijf is dan ook onder druk komen te staan en zegt te overleggen met zijn joint venture-partners over terugtrekking.
Ondertussen heeft het bedrijf zelf aangegeven dat een toeleverancier Chinese componenten heeft aangetroffen die in strijd zijn met de Amerikaanse wet tegen gedwongen arbeid. Daardoor zitten er nu leveranties van Porsche, Bentley en Audi vast bij de Amerikaanse douane.
Een les is de waarschuwing aan bedrijven die actief zijn in China dat het steeds lastiger is om te ontkomen aan verwikkelingen in de morele én juridische uitdagingen van Xi Jinpings Nieuwe Tijdperk. Hoeveel Chinese toeleveringsketens zijn werkelijk compleet onbesmet? Durf jij je manager te zeggen dat er geen risico’s in zitten, terwijl wetgeving in westerse landen uitdijt en de Chinese overheid due diligence criminaliseert? Meer ontkoppeling volgt als vanzelf.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
EU to blunt China’s edge on steel and aluminium exports as proposed carbon border adjustment tax could reach 21%, according to Goldman Sachs – SCMP: ‘While the levy is seen as a protectionist move by China and India, it forms part of an EU policy to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.’ 🇪🇺
Why Hungary is again blocking the latest round of Russia sanctions – FT Europe Express: ‘“The Hungarians did not agree due to Chinese companies,” said one of the officials.’ 🇭🇺
Exclusive: Russians use Chinese partner to produce Citroën cars at idled Stellantis N.V. plant – Reuters 🇷🇺
China’s top diplomat Wáng Yì 王毅 to attend Munich Security Conference, and visit Spain and France – Xinhua: ‘Wang will elaborate on China's propositions on building a community with a shared future for mankind and advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world’
Exclusive: German direct investment in China rises to record high – Reuters: ‘The proportion of German firms exiting the Chinese market or considering doing so has more than doubled to 9% in the last four years’ 🇩🇪
Taiwan’s 1st extradited prisoner returned from Poland – ROC MOFA Taiwan Today: ‘The Polish courts previously ordered Liu’s extradition to China, but the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the decision in 2022 following his appeal.’ 🇵🇱
De naar Polen gevluchte dhr. Liu was onderdeel van een groep Taiwanezen de vanuit Spanje online fraude pleegde en het doelwit was van een gezamenlijke Chinees-Spaanse operatie waarbij de andere Taiwanezen vanuit Spanje naar China werden gedeporteerd.
Schriftelijke vragen: Nieuwssites die al jaren pro-Chinese desinformatie verspreiden – Kati Piri (GroenLinks-PvdA), Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 🇳🇱
Volkswagen 🚙🇩🇪
Volkswagen onder vuur om mogelijke dwangarbeid door Oeigoeren bij bouw testcircuit China – de Volkskrant
Volkswagen trekt zich mogelijk terug uit Xinjiang na berichten over dwangarbeid Oeigoeren – NRC
US Porsche, Bentley, and Audi imports held up over banned Chinese part – FT: ‘after a supplier to parent group Volkswagen found a Chinese subcomponent in the vehicles that breached anti-forced labour laws.’
Neue Vorwürfe gegen Volkswagen in Xinjiang – Handelsblatt: „Hinweise deuten darauf hin, dass beim Bau einer Teststrecke in der westchinesischen Provinz Xinjiang Uiguren als Zwangsarbeiter eingesetzt wurden, erfuhr das Handelsblatt.“
VW bereitet möglichen Rückzug aus Xinjiang vor – Handelsblatt
Press Release: World Uyghur Congress urges Volkswagen to exit East Turkistan – World Uyghur Congress: ‘XTTP reports indicate the use of Uyghur surplus labour during the peak of mass interments in 2017-2018, as well as participation in government monitoring of Uyghur families and assimilation activities. Further evidence, including photos of Uyghur workers in military uniforms, have been published by Chinese media.’
China urges firms not to be ‘blinded by lies’ over Xinjiang rights record – AFP
Volkswagen in talks with joint venture partner over future of business activities in Xinjiang, China – Reuters
Tech War 💽
ASML annual report says geopolitics and new export restrictions remain risks – Reuters 🇳🇱
Applied Materials, the largest US maker of chipmaking machinery, jumped in late trading after giving a bullish revenue forecast for the current period – Bloomberg
CATL, BYD, and others unite in China for government-led solid-state battery breakthrough – Nikkei Asia: ‘the China All-Solid-State Battery Collaborative Innovation Platform (CASIP)’
Ford sees low-cost Chinese electric vehicles as a ‘colossal strategic threat’ that will ultimately arrive on US shores – Bloomberg 🇺🇸
China’s bid for self-reliance in tech is fuelling a US$147 billion rally in Japanese chip-sector stocks – Bloomberg 🇯🇵
Europe ‘getting more dependent on China’ for clean tech, EU climate chief Hoekstra warns – Euractiv: ‘“And, you know, we are getting redder while we’re getting greener,” Hoekstra said about China’s growing dominance on clean technologies.’ 🇪🇺
World’s biggest solar company Longi 隆基 warns West not to cut out Chinese suppliers – FT
This Arctic Circle town in Norway expected a green energy boom. Then came Bidenomics. – The New York Times: ‘There is a growing sense that both the European Union and Norway, which is not an official member but follows many of the European Union’s policies, could fall behind in the sprint for clean energy.’
China is quietly reducing its reliance on foreign chip technology – The Economist: ‘Look away from the bleeding edge, however, and China is steadily chipping away at its reliance on foreign semiconductor technology.’
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
Leaving China, long-time EU trade group chief Joerg Wuttke says investors remain keen, but with more reservations – SCMP: ‘Multinational companies remain willing to invest in China, but worsening overcapacity in the manufacturing sector, Beijing’s push for self-reliance and lack of candour of top leadership have eroded its allure’
‘In contrast, local government officials in China have remained very engaging with foreign investors, since job creation and tax gain are always their top priorities, Wuttke said.’
China’s foreign firms grapple with upward mobility in post-Covid era as state-owned peers rise – SCMP: ‘foreign firms are left wondering not only how much more they might become marginalised or eased out by the expanding state sector, but — more fundamentally — whether a more inward-facing China still needs or welcomes their investments.’
Weekend 🏖️📚
Longreads en achtergrond
Sunset of the Economists – Mark Leonard for the China Books Review: ‘In short, Chinese experts feel the economic fundamentals are not as bad as Western debate suggests. Where they are really pessimistic is about the politics. “The United States can’t stop China’s growth,” one economist said, “only the stupidity of our leaders and the sycophancy of their advisers can do that.”’
Tipping point? Germany and China in an era of zero-sum competition – Noah Barkin and Gregor Sebastian for Rhodium Group
Does Evergrande’s collapse threaten China’s economy? – Zongyuan Zoe Liu for CFR
Evergrande 恒大 betekent voor hedgefondsen een harde les in onderhandelen met China – FD
Xi Jinping’s succession dilemma – Neil Thomas for The Asia Society
Review: How China stifles dissent without a KGB or Stasi of its own – The Economist’s Chaguan: ‘China’s system of “preventive repression” is designed to deter, detect and frustrate critics of one-party rule before they can organise or act, writes Mr Pei’
Podcasts
China’s new domestic politics – Jude Blanchette’s Pekingology talks to Evan Medeiros 🍎 🤖
The rise of China’s high-tech SMEs, with Alexander Brown and François Chemist – MERICS China Podcast 🍎 🤖
Pottinger on Trump 2.0 – ChinaTalk: ‘One of the interesting things is that there are many aspects of President Biden’s policy that were continued from the Trump years.’ 🍎 🤖
China’s Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference: implications for PRC foreign policy – Bonnie S. Glaser’s China Global talks to Neil Thomas 🍎 🤖
Is China’s power on the wane? – FT Rachman Review talks to Richard McGregor 🍎 🤖
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China’s Volt Typhoon spies broke into emergency network of ‘large’ US city – The Register: ‘“[…] these are very strategic targets. It's not a spray and pray,” Dragos CEO Robert Lee said on a call with reporters.’ 🇺🇸
Chinese influence campaign pushes disunity before US election, study says – The New York Times: ‘An added aim, the report said, is to convince international audiences that the United States is in a state of chaos.’ 🇺🇸
Hackers for China, Russia, and others used OpenAI systems, Microsoft report says – The New York Times: ‘But instead of using A.I. to generate exotic attacks, as some in the tech industry feared, the hackers have used it in mundane ways, like drafting emails, translating documents and debugging computer code, the companies said.’
Staying ahead of threat actors in the age of AI – Microsoft Security: ‘focused on entities within Taiwan, Thailand, Mongolia, Malaysia, France, and Nepal, with observed interests extending to institutions and individuals globally who oppose China’s policies.’
US lawmakers weigh blacklist for firms lobbying for Chinese military-linked companies – POLITICO Influence 🇺🇸
Philippines deploys warship off the waters of Palawan island in western waters to ‘safeguard maritime interests’ – Reuters 🇵🇭
Philippines committed to South China Sea code of conduct – Reuters 🇵🇭
What will Prabowo’s China policy look like? Analysts expect pragmatism over nationalism – The Straits Times 🇮🇩
Leaked emails suggest authors ‘excluded from Hugo awards over China concerns’ – The Guardian
China economie
China’s massive property market is crumbling. Xi Jinping wants to revive socialist ideas about housing and put the state back in charge. – WSJ: ‘Whether China wants to pay that tab—or even can—is a central question.’
US investors in emerging markets switch to ETFs that exclude China – FT
China binnenland
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平’s article on upholding and improving people’s congress system to be published – Xinhua: ‘it is necessary to continue to advance whole-process people’s democracy’
习近平:坚持和完善人民代表大会制度 保障人民当家作主 – 《求是》2024/04
China holds citizen on spying charges after she did ‘admin’ work for US company, US husband says – The Guardian: ‘Chen’s son, a Chinese citizen from a previous relationship, was barred from leaving the country last week’
Hong Kong
For foreign firms in Hong Kong, national security plans bring fresh chill – Al Jazeera
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
Two dead after Chinese speedboat capsizes in Kinmen waters during pursuit by Taiwan Coast Guard – Taipei Times
Beijing condemns Taiwan after two Chinese fishers die in speedboat crash – The Guardian
Death of 2 Chinese men off Kinmen regrettable, says Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council – Focus Taiwan: ‘According to the MAC, various Chinese fishing vessels have been intruding recently into Taiwan’s restricted or prohibited waters to poach high-priced fish’
Cyberattacks spiked day before Taiwan’s elections – Taipei Times: ‘Most of the attacks focused on internal communications in government offices, police department networks across Taiwan, and billing and insurance information from financial institutes, the report said.’
Cyberattack on Democracy: Escalating Cyber Threats Immediately Ahead of Taiwan’s 2024 Presidential Election – Trellis
Taiwan reports another Chinese ‘combat readiness patrol’ nearby – Reuters
Taiwan has no preconditions for foreign exchanges, says foreign ministry – Focus Taiwan: ‘after an opposition party leader in the Solomon Islands said recently that his party would seek to reestablish official ties with Taiwan if it won the general elections in April.’
Taiwan binnenland en economie
DPP and KMT strategising to attract young voters – Taipei Times
30% of Taiwanese do not want either KMT or DPP – Courtney Donovan Smith
Taiwan CDC reports sixth year of decline in new HIV infections – Focus Taiwan: ‘The agency said that the number of medical facilities offering PrEP consultations had climbed to 103 this year and that up to 6,000 people covered by National Health Insurance can be accommodated.’
KMT seeks to override executive authority through revival of Special Investigation Division under legislature’s control – New Bloom
KMT calls to boost role of lawmakers not constitutional, says Control Yuan President Chen Chu 陳菊 (DPP) – Taipei Times: ‘The Constitution is based on a framework of five branches of the central government, as envisioned by the Republic of China founders in the original Constitution in 1947.’
Nu Han Kuo-yu daar de scepter zwaait, probeert de KMT de macht van het parlement over de regering en overheid uit te breiden.
De DPP heeft zich al gepositioneerd als de beschermer van de moderniseringen van het Nationale Leger t.o.v. de tegenwerkende KMT. Nu is de dag gekomen dat DPP-politica en slachtoffer van vervolging door de ROC/KMT Chen Chu het Vijf Machten-systeem van Sun Yat-sen wil beschermen tegen aanvallen van de KMT…
Lawyer, DPP legislator-at-large candidate Chen Chun-han 陳俊翰 dies at 40 – Focus Taiwan
National Taiwan University declines in global rankings – Taipei Times