De Chinese Wouden, vrijdag 4 augustus: overstroming, spionage, vakantie
De Chinese partijbonzen verzamelen zich in Beidahe voor de zomer. Vakantietijd! Alleen gaat het in de provincie Hebei rondom Peking wat minder goed. De overstromingen leiden tot enorme evacuaties en klaarblijkelijk opofferen van gebieden om de hoofdstad én Xi Jinpings speciale project Xiong'an te beschermen.
Clingendael heeft een vacature voor Senior Research Fellow China.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Beijing faces an increasingly complicated set of risks that give it more incentive to push Moscow and Kyiv toward peace talks – WSJ: ‘Xi is expected to dispatch Chinese peace envoy Li Hui to a Ukraine-backed international conference aimed at outlining the terms of a possible peace deal, according to European and U.S. officials. That would mark a significant shift, as Beijing stayed away from the group’s first meeting, held in Copenhagen in June.’ 🇺🇦
Ambassador Fù Cōng 傅聪 met with Charlina Vitcheva, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission – Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union 🇪🇺
Taiwan hails French promise to safeguard Strait in defence budget bill – Taipei Times: ‘The budget bill — which was spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s aggressive stance in Asia — said that France is an Indo-Pacific power, and has an obligation to defend freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.’ 🇫🇷
Overstroming Peking
Honderdduizenden evacuaties in Chinese provincie Hebei, die water uit Beijing moet opvangen – NRC
Small city southeast of Beijing typifies plight of flood-hit region as top official vows to serve as ‘moat for the capital’ – HKFP: ‘Ni’s remarks came amid online questions about whether Zhuozhou had been “sacrificed” by being used as a water detention area to protect the capital city.’
Residents of areas hit hard by recent flooding in northern China take aim at a key Communist Party official, saying he sacrificed their safety to protect President Xi Jinping’s flagship projects – Bloomberg
Grote evacuatie in China om Peking te sparen na overstromingen – FD
Xinhua Headlines: China speeds up post-disaster resettlement in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region – Xinhua: ‘In Hebei, over 1.2 million people had been evacuated as of Wednesday.’
Flooded rivers and cities test China’s disaster response systems – Reuters
China’s ‘sponge cities’ are not built for extreme flood events – Bloomberg
China spionage
2 US Navy sailors charged with providing sensitive military information to China – AP: ‘But they were separate cases, and it wasn’t clear if the two were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme.’
Taiwan has launched an inquiry into several officers suspected of leaking military secrets to China – Bloomberg
Army lieutenant colonel detained over alleged espionage for China – Focus Taiwan
官員:中共情報機關 已勾結台灣黑道 – 自由時報
Tech War 💽💥
Construction of ASML facility in New Taipei City’s Linkou District approved – Taipei Times 🇳🇱
TSMC vows to prioritise US-based hiring in Arizona after union complaints – Taipei Times
Arbeiders in Taiwan staan doorgaans zwakker, helemaal als het om gastarbeiders gaat, dus dit is even wennen voor de Taiwanese kampioen.
‘German researchers helped China to develop hypersonic weapons’ – Table.China
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
Africa sets sights on China as a top destination for military training – SCMP
Brazil now main holdout against BRICS expansion, sources say – Reuters
Weekend
Longreads en achtergrond
China found influence in Europe’s west—not east – Andreea Brinza for POLITICO Europe
Xi Jinping’s surprise shake-up exposes problems at top of China’s nuclear force – The New York Times
Why Beijing isn’t interested in setting guardrails for China-US competition – Jinghao Zhou for The Diplomat
China's economic slowdown raises ‘Japanification’ fears – Nikkei Asia
Taiwan is a rich, successful country that thinks it’s a poor loser –
Podcasts
China’s role in critical mineral supply chains – Bonnie S. Glaser for China Global interviews Abigail Wulf 🍎 🤖
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China says it is willing to keep talking with US on foreign minister visit – Reuters
Pentagon and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs discuss ties – Reuters
China economie
Chinese regulators are pushing local governments to speed up bond sales for infrastructure spending, and the central bank is urging banks to cut mortgage rates to boost the economy – Bloomberg
Almost a third of Chinese provinces recorded shrinking investment in the first half of the year, as financially-strained local governments and companies cut back on spending – Bloomberg
A nascent rebound in Chinese shares is at risk with foreign investors unconvinced policymakers can revive a faltering economy – Bloomberg
China’s household debt creeps upward, approaching warning line of International Monetary Fund – SCMP
China asks some banks to reduce or delay dollar buying to slow the yuan’s depreciation, sources say – Reuters
China seeks to ease household pressure, free up spending power by pushing banks to lower mortgage rates – SCMP
Chinese cities tighten property firms’ access to escrow funds – Reuters
China is getting serious about clearing the off-balance sheet debt of local governments, and weaker provinces are likely to benefit the most from the process – Bloomberg
China’s July services activity expands at quicker pace, according to Caixin PMI – Reuters
China binnenland
China’s top officials gather in Beidaihe, signalling start of summer break for leaders – SCMP
China hints leaders started annual seaside vacation in flood-hit province – Reuters
China’s cyber regulator looks to limit children to two hours a day on their phones – Reuters
Chinese regulator to make holders of more than 1 million users’ data get annual audits – Reuters
China to make it easier for citizens to settle in small and medium cities – Reuters
Hong Kong
Russian companies move legal battles to Hong Kong courts – Nikkei Asia
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
Joe Biden to ask US Congress to fund Taiwan arms via Ukraine budget – FT: ‘If passed by Congress, Taiwan would get arms through a US taxpayer-funded system known as “foreign military financing” for the first time.’
Japan opposition leader Baba Nobuyuki 馬場 伸幸 vows aid for Taiwan in boosting deterrence during meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文 [Cài Yīngwén] – Kyodo News: ‘Baba also met with former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je of the opposition Taiwan People’s Party’
4 injured, 1 severely in explosion at Pingtung missile base – Focus Taiwan
Taiwan verkiezingen
Vice president and DPP presidential candidate William Lai Ching-te 賴清德 [Lài Qīngdé] to stop in New York and San Francisco on Paraguay trip – Focus Taiwan
Het is gebruikelijk dat kandidaten in de Taiwanese presidentsverkiezingen een moment zoeken om naar de Verenigde Staten te gaan, opdat men daar een beeld kan krijgen van hen. Ko Wen-je (TPP) is al geweest.
KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih 侯友宜 [Hóu Yǒuyí] meets with senior official in Japan’s ruling party LDP – Focus Taiwan
KMT’s Hou Yu-ih 侯友宜 [Hóu Yǒuyí] dismisses China calls for ‘democratic’ talks with Taiwan as currently ‘not feasible’ – Focus Taiwan
Zoals iemand op Twitter stelde, kwam de absurditeit van de Taiwanese (de KMT’s?) politiek naar voren in het interview van Hou met Japanese media, waarin hij stelde dat zijn land al onafhankelijk en soeverein is en Pekings ‘Een Land, Twee Systemen’ verwierp, maar tegelijkertijd dat hij tegen ‘Taiwanese onafhankelijkheid’ (táidú) is.
DPP councillor slams TPP candidate Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 [Kē Wénzhé]’s two 2014 books titled ‘White Power’ – Taipei Times
Taiwan binnenland en economie
President urges vigilance as Typhoon Khanun nears Taiwan – Focus Taiwan
Four die in car accident as typhoon hits Taiwan – Taipei Times