De Chinese Wouden, woensdag 12 maart: Twee Zittingen afgelopen
De Twee Zittingen zijn afgelopen. Het werkrapport is aangenomen – ik heb niks gelezen over grote veranderingen. Het meest interessante is dat parlementsvoorzitter Zhao Leji de laatste dagen afwezig was vanwege een luchtweginfectie. Het is zeldzaam dat er details vrij worden gegeven over de gezondheid van hoge leiders. Het is ook lang geleden dat een lid van het Politburo afwezig was bij de sluiting – de laatste keer betrof een terminale ziekte.
Er zal genoeg speculatie zijn – Zhao was voorheen invloedrijk als corruptiejager voor Xi. Misschien is complottheorieën tegengaan juist een reden dat er iets meer details vrij werden gegeven.
Naast het werkrapport zijn plannen voor het komende jaar ook aangenomen. Nu is het afwachten hoe de implementatie onderweg gaat. Eerst kan iedereen weer bijkomen!
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
„De Tibetanen bevinden zich al 75 jaar in de frontlinie tegen China” – NRC: „Eerder bezocht [Richard] Gere op uitnodiging van Jan Paternotte (D66) de Tweede Kamer, waar hij over de mensenrechtensituatie in Tibet sprak. Ook Tencho Gyatso, president van de International Campaign for Tibet, was lid van de delegatie.” 🇳🇱
Coalitie van EU-landen maakt zich sterk voor onafhankelijke chipindustrie – NRC: „Deze ‘Semicon Coalition’ wil dat Europa zijn eigen broek gaat ophouden als het gaat om de productie van chips en bepleit extra innovatie en scherpe opvolger van de huidige Chips Act.” 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Why Germany’s Merz (CDU) could take ‘more rational’ [sic] approach to China, according to former ambassador Wú Kěn 吴恳 – SCMP: ‘The chance of the China-critical Green Party securing a position in the new leadership, […], appears slim.’ 🇩🇪
Des Ouïgours portent plainte en France pour « génocide et harcèlement moral » de la part de la Chine – Le Monde 🇫🇷
Chinese carmaker Geely 吉利 sells stake in Denmark’s Saxo Bank to Swiss private bank – FT: ‘ending an eight-year joint venture that bet on Chinese capital markets opening up to the west.’ 🇩🇰
China’s foreign ministry voices support for peaceful settlement of Ukraine crisis as US and Ukrainian officials set to meet – Xinhua: ‘hopes all parties can reach a just, lasting and acceptable solution’ 🇺🇦🇺🇸
‘Spain has denied extradition to🇨🇳 of the Oriental Overseas International Limited 東方海外 CFO (Tianjin office). She was accused by Tianjin State Security Bureau (formerly Tianjin Public Sec Bureau) of embezzling 125.000€. National Court ruled statute of limitations has run out’ – Xiani P.Ch. 鄭夏霓 🌻, Twitter 🇪🇸
Human Rights: EU and Taiwan hold consultations in Taipei – EU EEAS: ‘The EU reaffirmed its longstanding position on the death penalty’ 🇪🇺
Twee Zittingen 两会
What slowdown? Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 says China must win the global tech race – The New York Times: ‘he wants nothing to hold back his plans for China to march past its rivals by becoming a technological superpower.’
„China gemotiveerd om onafhankelijker te worden van landen zoals de VS” – BNR
Two Sessions 2025 — what did we learn? : ‘The key governmental conference, which brings thousands of lawmakers to Beijing, is a time of great importance … and very little news.’ – Too Simple, Sometimes Naive
Infection blamed for top Chinese lawmaker Zhào Lèjì 赵乐际’s absence from key parliament session – Reuters: ‘the first time in almost two decades that a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s top echelon, was not at the high-profile event.’
‘The announcement was a departure from the Communist Party’s customary secrecy regarding the health of senior leaders.’
‘a trusted confidant of President Xi Jinping who served five years as the head of the Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog’
’Zhao was absent from a January 2022 study session of the 24-member Politburo chaired by Xi, state media footage showed.’
China’s top legislature NPC concludes annual session – Xinhua
China’s top political advisory body CPPCC holds closing meeting of annual session – Xinhua
Xinhua Commentary: Why China's economy deserves your confidence – Xinhua
Cover Story: China plans fiscal overhaul to fix crisis in local government finance – Caixin Global: ‘expand local governments’ financial autonomy, adjust tax-sharing mechanisms and increase the central government’s spending share.’
China’s ‘Two Sessions’: PLA deputies call for more civilian tech inputs in military modernisation – SCMP
Agriculture chatter at China’s ‘Two Sessions’ – Dim Sums
Wereldhandelsoorlog 📉💥
Why there cannot be a US–EU–China triangle – François Godement for Institut Montaigne: ‘it is simply impossible to identify from any public or off-the record source any concession, major or minor, which might have been made by China on any issue of concern to Europe.’ 🇪🇺
Russia imposes fees to stem flood of low-cost Chinese cars – FT: ‘A Russian inquiry also recently found three major Chinese truckmakers violated safety standards’ 🇷🇺
Techoorlog 💽💥
Undocumented commands found in Bluetooth chip by Chinese manufacturer Espressif 乐鑫 used by a billion devices – Bleeping Computer: ‘The undocumented commands allow spoofing of trusted devices, unauthorized data access, pivoting to other devices on the network, and potentially establishing long-term persistence.’
DeepSeek 深度求索, Huawei 华为, export controls, and the future of the US-China AI race – Gregory C. Allen for CSIS
Nieuw rapport van de expert die volgens berichtgeving het doelwit was van een poging van de halfgeleiderlobby in Washington DC om hem te laten ontslaan.
China’s top universities expand enrolment to beef up capabilities in AI and strategic areas – Reuters
Trump claims US talking to four different groups on sale of ByteDance 字节跳动’s TikTok – Reuters 🇺🇸
Chipmaker TSMC 台積電’s sales quicken in first 2 months of 2025 in upbeat note for AI – SCMP
Hon Hai (Foxconn) 鴻海 unveils new traditional Chinese language AI model – Focus Taiwan
China’s COSCO teams with Germany’s BLG to ship cars to Europe – Nikkei Asia 🇩🇪
Mercedes to develop smart cars for global markets with China’s Hesai 禾赛 lidar – Reuters 🇩🇪
Chinezen dumpen Volkswagen en Toyota 豊田: dealers buitenlandse auto’s vallen massaal om – FD 🇩🇪🇯🇵
Honda 本田 to halve engine production capacity at southern China plant – Kyodo News 🇯🇵
China’s EV battle heats up in Indonesia: Wuling 五菱 overtakes BYD 比亚迪 in surprise shake-up – China Global South Project
Chinese food delivery giant Meituan 美团 dishes out deep Keeta discounts to win Saudi customers – Rest of World 🇸🇦
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
China is pursuing a relentless campaign of expansion, operating in the hazy zone between war and peace to extend its power across Asia – WSJ: ‘The Wall Street Journal reviewed years of ship-movement data, satellite images, flight-tracking information and other measures of Chinese activity. Taken together, it shows a clear intensification of tactics meant to intimidate rivals and deepen China’s control.’
China and India have been locked in a decades-long battle for economic and military control over the Indian Ocean – Bloomberg: ‘Over more than a decade, China has built up economic and military ties across the Indian Ocean’
Panama speelbal in machtsstrijd tussen de VS en China – FD 🇵🇦
Will Trump defend Taiwan? US defence perimeter appears to shrink – Nikkei Asia herinnert aan de ‘Acheson Line’ 🇺🇸🇹🇼
‘We are not Ukraine’: Top Taiwan officials temper comparisons after US U-turn – The Japan Times 🇺🇸🇹🇼
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
Donald Trump may meet Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 in China as soon as April despite escalating trade war, insiders say – SCMP: ‘It is unclear how far discussions about a potential trip have progressed.’ 🇺🇸
Washington and Beijing have begun discussions about a potential ‘birthday summit’ in June in the US between President Trump and Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 – WSJ: ‘discussions, which the people say are in the early stages’ 🇺🇸
Begin mei gaat Xi op bezoek bij Poetin voor de 80ste WOII-overwinningsparade. De vraag is dus niet alleen in welk land Trump en Xi elkaar treffen, maar ook of het voor of na Poetin wordt.
US investigation into global antidoping agency continues under Trump – The New York Times: ‘into whether the global antidoping authority and China covered up the positive tests of Chinese Olympic swimmers’ 🇺🇸
China’s foreign ministry hopes international community will join voices denouncing and resisting disinformation campaigns by anti-China institute in Australia ASPI, spokesperson says – Xinhua: ‘Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to reports that the head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) wrote on social media that because of the U.S. funding freezing, the institute lacks anti-China materials and cannot produce contents attacking China, urging the U.S. or other organizations to immediately fund relevant anti-China agenda.’ 🇦🇺🇺🇸
China’s falling arms imports signal massive growth in military self-reliance – SCMP: ‘dropped by nearly two-thirds over the past five years’ ‘driven by the growth in China’s domestic weapons industry’ 🇷🇺
De verwevenheid tussen defensiebedrijven in Europa en de VS „zal Trump overleven” – en vier andere trends in de wapenhandel – NRC: „China haalde in het verleden veel wapens uit het buitenland, maar voorziet inmiddels bijna geheel in zijn eigen behoefte, daartoe gedwongen doordat de VS niet leveren en de kwaliteit van Russisch wapentuig achterbleef.” 🇷🇺🇺🇸
ICC should prevent politicisation or double standards, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson says – Xinhua: ‘when asked to comment on the fact that former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was taken into police custody’
‘reiterated China’s consistent view that the ICC should strictly follow the principle of complementarity’ 🇵🇭
De familie Duterte heeft goede, sommigen zouden zeggen kwestieuze, banden met China.
Alleged Chinese spy took 35 days to survey 120 critical spots in the Philippines’ Luzon – Rappler: ‘a grueling 35 days of driving around most of mainland Luzon to survey roads and critical infrastructure — military camps, sites where the United States military could preposition assets, energy and power hubs, and air and sea ports, among others.’ 🇵🇭
Families of MH370 victims in China seek end to decade of ‘torment’ – AFP: ‘The grieving families also gathered Saturday at an intersection in front of the Malaysian embassy in Beijing, the road to which was sealed off by at least 20 police officers.’ 🇲🇾
China economie
Doubts over US exceptionalism are giving China a much needed break from strongly defending its currency – Bloomberg
China’s delivery platforms compete to offer better worker benefits – FT: ‘as the government presses for improved conditions in an industry criticised in the past for harsh treatment of its bike riders and drivers.’
Are China’s biggest firms turning the page on 996-style work culture? – SCMP
Was sudden death of top Chinese materials scientist due to ‘insane’ workload? – SCMP
China binnenland
Dalai Lama says his successor to be born outside China in ‘the free world’ – Reuters: ‘Beijing insists it will choose his successor, but the Dalai Lama has said any successor named by China would not be respected.’
China’s energy supply ‘quite secure’ amid diversified imports, expert contends – SCMP
Hong Kong
Flurry of pledges to align Hong Kong’s development with China’s reflects pressure from Beijing – The Straits Times: ‘to signal to Beijing that they have received, understood and will carry out its directives with urgency.’
Hong Kong social worker Jackie Chen found guilty of rioting during 2019 protest after retrial – HKFP: ‘barrister Hector Pun argued that the social worker was speaking through a loudspeaker to police and asking them to act with restraint.’
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
The US is trying to speed up arms shipments to Taiwan, according to the de facto ambassador to Taipei – Bloomberg: ‘particularly for equipment related to asymmetric warfare’ 🇺🇸
US collaborating on UAVs, defence minister Koo says – Taipei Times 🇺🇸
Opinion: KMT committed to strong defence – KMT international affairs assistant director Howard Shen for Taipei Times: ‘In this budget cycle, the KMT only cut 1.01 percent of the proposed defense budget, […]. None of the cuts related to US foreign military sales and direct commercial sales were untouched.’ 🇺🇸
Reactie op beschuldigingen aan het adres van de KMT tijdens de hoorzitting voor de benoeming van Elbridge Colby als Amerikaanse onderminister voor defensie.
Taiwanese military proposes punishing personnel who swear allegiance to China – Focus Taiwan: ‘According to the MND, the CCP regularly uses coercion and promises of high monetary rewards to induce active-duty Taiwanese soldiers into swearing allegiance to the CCP’ 🇨🇳
China’s foreign ministry vows utmost efforts for ‘peaceful reunification’ with Taiwan – Reuters: ‘ but will take all necessary steps to safeguard China's territorial integrity’ 🇨🇳
‘Taiwan as province of China’ is UN’s consistent position, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson – Xinhua 🇨🇳
Wat de VN-resolutie betreft is het Chinese standpunt regelrechte geschiedsvervalsing. Over het standpunt van de VN zijn ze dichter bij de waarheid, gezien de enorme vooruitgang die Peking heeft geboekt bij het naar de hand zetten van de VN-bureaucratie op dit onderwerp.
Military drills to focus on underwater cable safety – Taipei Times
Taiwan binnenland en economie
KMT denies report vote of no confidence against Cabinet under consideration – Taiwan News: ‘after witnessing the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) success in recall efforts.’
Als de premier succesvol wordt verwijderd door het parlement, heeft de president de keuze om het parlement te ontbinden en nieuwe verkiezingen uit te schrijven. Dat zou juist slecht uit kunnen pakken voor de KMT en TPP.
注意！可疑人士出沒連署點 罷免志工：明顯有中國腔！ – 自由時報：「新竹市議員鄭美娟昨天（10日）深夜發文指出，最近出現自稱記者的可疑人士說要拍照採訪，且有些明顯說話帶有中國腔，提醒投入罷免的志工多注意。」
De KMT heeft voor de recall elections al de gebruikelijke beschuldigingen van stal gehaald dat de centrale kiesraad partijdig zou zijn – negerend dat de centrale kiesraad slechts de beslissingen heeft bevestigd van lokale kiesraden, die vaak onder overheden vallen onder KMT bestuur. Eerder beschuldigden DPP politici en activisten die bezig waren met het verzamelen van de benodigde handtekeningen dat ze werden tegengewerkt door lokale overheden in KMT gebied. Nu zeggen enkele DPP’ers verdachte mannen met Chinees accent te hebben gezien.
Former TPP leader Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 leaves prison to attend father’s funeral – Focus Taiwan: ‘Former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the DPP and former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT also attended the public memorial service.’
DPP legislator Puma Shen 沈伯洋 accuses opposition of targeting civil defence group Kuma Academy with disinformation – Taipei Times: ‘Taipei City Councilor Hou Han-ting (侯漢廷) of the New Party last week called for an investigation into Shen, saying that he had received financial support from the American Institute in Taiwan to organize a training program.’
De New Party (NP) is een China-vriendelijke partij die voor uiteindelijke hereniging is. Raadslid Hou is in het verleden in verband gebracht met geldstromen uit China.
Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 (KMT) attends National Immigration Agency hearing on Chinese delegate’s ‘China, Taipei’ remark – Taipei Times
Immigration agency to revoke spousal residence permit of Chinese influencer – Focus Taiwan: ‘reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan.’
Premier Cho reaffirms green energy push, leaves door open to nuclear – Focus Taiwan
Use of mobile devices to be forbidden in schools – Taipei Times
Police chief and 10 officers suspected of helping cigarette smugglers – Focus Taiwan
Uber ends Foodpanda Taiwan acquisition after regulatory hurdles – Reuters