De Chinese Wouden, vrijdag 6 januari: utilitarisme, covid
Niet veel grote verhalen zo snel in het nieuwe jaar. Covid blijft doorwoeden en dat verdient nog altijd onze aandacht. Ook is er nieuws in de SCMP over Japan en toegeven aan Amerikaanse druk op halfgeleiders.
Ik wil vooral het stuk van David Rennie (Chaguan) in The Economist aanraden. Volgens mij is zijn interpretatie van de huiveringwekkende utilitaristische logica achter Xi Jinpings aanpak van de pandemie helaas de juiste. Ik raad iedereen aan om ook het stuk van het onvolprezen China Media Project over de ‘Greater Benevolence’ (大仁政 dà rén zhèng) waar Rennie naar verwijst ernaast te lezen. Dat ondergeschikt maken van het individuele belang aan het grotere belang kan ook op andere beleidsterreinen consequenties hebben.
💡 The Chinese Communist Party plans to avoid a zero-covid reckoning: Like Chairman Mao, Xi Jinping seems to believe that China’s rise trumps individual suffering – The Economist’s Chaguan: ‘Zero-covid was, in essence, a giant utilitarian experiment.’ ‘The best explanation for zero-covid’s unplanned end involves a similar weighing of numbers.’ ‘Mr Xi’s insouciance about suffering in a great cause is chilling, for the same logic might be used to justify any autocrat’s cruellest whim. It is also a bet that China’s national rise, his core claim to legitimacy, will continue.’
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Kuipers wil dat Eerste Kamer terugkomt van reces om coronamaatregelen China – NOS 🇳🇱
Minister Kuipers vraagt OMT om spoedadvies over vluchten uit China – RTL Nieuws 🇳🇱
Ik weet werkelijk niet wat het nut is van het testen van vluchten uit één land, terwijl we elders en binnenlands de boel de boel laten.
Universiteit Leiden nam in stilte afscheid van haar omstreden Confucius Instituut – Follow the Money 🇳🇱
Jammer dat duidelijkheid over een verhaal dat veelzeggend is, maar waar niet veel spannends aan is, via de Woo moest worden afgedwongen.
FDP-Politiker reisen kommende Woche nach Taiwan – Zeit Online 🇩🇪
Ex-chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls on NATO to help Taiwan train and hold joint drills in Europe – Focus Taiwan 🇪🇺
Rasmussens Alliance for Democracy is al een tijdje Taiwan aan het supporten.
Hong Kong cardinal, Taiwan at papal funeral, but not China – AP 🇻🇦
China covid 🦠
Een miljoen? Twee miljoen? China is het zicht op het aantal covidbesmettingen en -doden kwijtgeraakt – De Volkskrant
China is overwhelmed, yet an even bigger covid wave may be coming – The Economist
These Chinese medics caught covid. They still had to show up for work – The Economist’s 1843 Magazine
China says it had been open in sharing coronavirus data with the World Health Organization, countering criticism that it hasn’t provided enough information about the Covid surge within its borders – Bloomberg
China urges WHO to take ‘just position’ on Covid-19 after data criticism – AFP
Gallery: Shanghai’s hospitals overflow – Caixin Global
NB: dit is wat Chinese media kunnen publiceren, uit het rijkste deel van het land.
Censorship instructions: publishing articles on ‘pandemic-fighting spirit’ is prohibited – China Digital Times: ‘apparent effort to avoid further backlash’
German expats in China receive first foreign covid vaccines – Reuters
💡 Tracked, detained, vilified: How China throttled anti-covid protests – The Washington Post: ‘Police procurement documents issued in the years and months leading up to and immediately after November’s protests shed light on how these technologies were used during them.’
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平’s strict lockdowns came at a high cost. What pushed him to finally reverse his stance? – WSJ: ‘As late as mid-November, [Xi] was wavering on whether and how to unwind a policy with which he had so closely associated himself, according to the officials and advisers.’
Zeitentechwarwende ⏱️💽
💡 Japanese official signals that Tokyo will join US in chip ban against China – SCMP
De andere belangrijke partner die Washington over wil halen is Den Haag. Maar er is nog geen nieuws geweest sinds Bloomberg berichtte dat Nederland ook op een manier mee zou gaan doen.
China’s return incentive scheme lures young scientists—superstars not so much – SCMP
China Direct: 7 things to watch — COVID measures — TikTok’s EU tour – POLITICIO Europe: ‘TikTok, the popular video-app under intense scrutiny from the West, is sending its CEO Shou Zi Chew in January on the road to appease EU executives, our tech reporter Pieter Haeck writes in to report.’ 🇪🇺
Dell looks to phase out ‘made in China’ chips by 2024 – Nikkei Asia
De VVD-woordvoerder buitenlandse zaken in de Tweede Kamer met een iets minder krachtige oproep tot navolging dan in zijn eerdere, verwijderde tweet:
Weekend
Achtergrond en longreads
Between Brussels and Beijing: The Transatlantic Response to the Chinese Presence in the Baltic Sea Region – Olevs Nikers and Otto Tabuns eds.
💡 The end of China’s magical credit machine – Logan Wright for Rhodium Group
Cover Story: China’s road to economic recovery faces post-covid speed bumps – Caixin Global
With ‘Zero Covid,’ China proved it’s good at control. Governance is harder. – The New York Times
China’s online nationalist army: How social media users weaponised patriotism – Nikkei Asia: ‘Now individuals play a more prominent role, Nikkei Asia data analysis has found.’
專訪烏克蘭最大軍事NGO:從支援前線到國防改革,民間如何迅速支持軍隊? – 報導者 🇺🇦
Podcasts
China-Ukraine relations, with Yurii Poita – MERICS China Podcast 🍎
China and the Middle East, with Jonathan Fulton – GMFUS China Global 🍎
A conversation with Nicola Casarini on Italy’s policies toward Taiwan and China – GTI Insights 🍎
Dictatorships and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China – Pekingology interviewt Martin K. Dimitrov. 🍎
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China gaat Taliban helpen bij winnen van olie, maar dat is geen garantie voor succes – Trouw
Turkey won’t extradite Uyghurs to China, foreign minister says – RFA
Owner of suspected Chinese secret police station in Seoul denies forcing people to return home – Korea JoongAng Daily
Te midden van de spanningen rond de Zuid-Chinese Zee lonkt de Filipijnse president Ferdinand Marcos jr. naar Oost en naar West – De Volkskrant
China and Philippines agree on new channels to resolve South China Sea maritime disputes among their 14 new deals – SCMP
India-China border clash spotlights New Delhi’s trade conundrum – Nikkei Asia: ‘India with a record US$92.4 billion trade deficit with China in the first 11 months of the year, the largest of any partner.’
US moves to reopen Solomon Islands embassy to counter China – AP
US warship Chung-Hoon sails through international waters of sensitive Taiwan Strait – Reuters
China economie
Corona raakt Chinese economie hard: grootmacht zet geen reuzenstappen meer – AD
China’s December services sector extends declines as covid cases surge, according to Caixin PMI – Reuters
China’s debt risks on the rise as Beijing vows ‘appropriate spending intensity’ to bolster economy – SCMP
Standard Chartered becomes first foreign bank to trade bond futures in China – Reuters
China binnenland
China to further ensure supply and stable prices of essential necessities and energy to meet residential and corporate needs – Xinhua: ‘policies for addressing the difficulties of coal-fired power plants implemented, to ensure safe and normal production of energy enterprises during holidays’
Blijkbaar zijn er problemen.
Gas cutoffs in China’s rural Hebei set off chilling complaints that put the heat on local officials – SCMP
Hong Kong
Hong Kong to reopen 4 border checkpoints on Sunday, as mainland China scraps most Covid travel rules – HKFP
Hong Kong delivery worker jailed for 8 months over seditious posts calling for independence, boycott of Covid-19 curbs – HKFP
Justice minister vows to defend Hong Kong’s legal system from any ‘escalated attacks’ by Western nations ahead of key national security court cases – SCMP
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
Chinese embassy in Seoul lodges ‘strong protest’ over South Korean lawmakers’ visit to Taiwan – Yonhap
Former vice president Chen Chien-jen 陳建仁 (Chén Jiànrén) attends Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral as presidential envoy – Focus Taiwan
Taiwan’s military says capacity sufficient to train one-year conscripts – Focus Taiwan
緊盯共軍潛艦動態 台美簽署P-3C反潛機技術支援14.8億元合約 – 自由時報
Taiwan en de VS hebben een onderhoudsdeal van NT$1,48 miljard [€45,9 miljoen] getekend voor P-3C anti-onderzeebootvliegtuigen.
Taiwan binnenland en economie
DPP and KMT rally in final days of by-election race ahead of Sunday vote – Taipei Times
Taiwan exports seen declining for fourth straight month in December, according to Reuters poll – Reuters
Taiwan posts record foreign fund outflow; forex reserves hit new high – Focus Taiwan
The nuclear dump that created a generation of indigenous activists – The New York Times in Lanyu.