De Chinese Wouden, woensdag 18 september: Chinese ambassade niet blij, Duitsland
中秋節快樂！
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Comments of the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands on Dutch Parliament passing a Taiwan-related motion – Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of the Netherlands: ‘China urges the Netherlands to abide by the one-China principle [sic], avoid sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” forces, and maintain the development of Sino-Dutch relations through practical actions.’
De leugens over de desbetreffende VN-resolutie en de internationale consensus in de verklaring van de Chinese ambassade hierboven laten alleen maar het nut van de kamermotie zien.
US and Japan near deal to curb chip technology exports to China – FT: ‘The White House wants to unveil new export controls before November’s presidential election, including a measure forcing non-US companies to get licences to sell products to China that would help its tech sector.’ 🇯🇵🇳🇱🇺🇸
Top EU Commission team that may shape China policy revealed by Ursula von der Leyen – SCMP: ‘Letters from von der Leyen to her proposed leadership team suggest the trend will continue.’ 🇪🇺
‘Reading the letter of mission to Commissioner-designate for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič, it's clear the Brussels wind is blowing in the same direction on economic foreign policy towards China, but with stronger gusts’ – Mathieu Duchâtel, Twitter 🇪🇺
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson’s Remarks on the Situation in the Kosovo Region – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China: ‘On the Kosovo issue, China respects Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and believes that the security and lawful rights and interests of ethnic Serbs in the Kosovo region [sic] should be upheld. Unilateral moves do not help address the issue and disrupt regional security and stability.’ 🇽🇰🇷🇸
De vraag betrof acties van „the police of the temporary institutions in Pristina”. Het Chinese BZ plaatst niet vaak zo’n aparte Q&A op de eigen website.
‘we must call it what it is: cultural erasure! The decision to rename “Tibet” as “Xizang” in French museums is nothing short of historical manipulation!’ – འོད་ཟེར།唯色Woeser😷💙💛🎗️, Twitter 🇫🇷
Het lijkt erop dat de Parijse museums Guimet en Quay Branly mee zijn gegaan met de Chinese uitwissing van Tibet en vervanging door het Mandarijnse ‘Xizang’.
Britain warms to Chinese takeovers – The Telegraph: ‘Ministers blocked zero Chinese takeovers on national security grounds last year in a sign that officials may be easing restrictions on foreign investments.’ 🇬🇧
Delegations from Canada and Germany meet officials in Taipei – Taipei Times: ‘Michael Muller, a member of the German parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), visited Taiwan with fellow SPD and Bundestag member Andreas Larem’ 🇩🇪
Rusland 🇷🇺
Poetins ‘As van Beroering’ leidt tot nieuwe zorgen in het Westen – de Volkskrant: „steeds innigere banden tussen Rusland en zijn drie voornaamste externe leveranciers van wapens, munitie en onderdelen om wapens mee te bouwen: Iran, China en Noord-Korea.” 🇷🇺🇮🇷🇰🇵
Why Russia’s increased co-operation with China and Iran spooks Europe – FT: ‘US and European officials have shared intelligence on how much military knowhow and defence insight Russia is providing China and Iran, with potentially major ramifications for the two countries’ future military capabilities.’ 🇷🇺🇮🇷
China and Russia coast guards to start joint North Pacific exercises – Nikkei Asia 🇷🇺
US probes uranium imports from China to prevent circumventing Russian ban – Reuters: ‘probing whether China is supporting Russia’s nuclear industry by importing enriched uranium from its neighbor and exporting its own production to the U.S.’ 🇷🇺🇺🇸
Kazakh leader urges Scholz to support China’s peace plan for Ukraine – Reuters 🇰🇿
Solidifying China-Russia strategic cooperation a security risk, Taiwan’s MAC says – Taipei Times 🇷🇺
Handel 🚗🇪🇺
Germany lobbies fellow EU members to vote against tariffs on Chinese EVs – SCMP: ‘Berlin has been phoning other capitals in a late bid to get them to oppose the duties during a vote planned for September 25. The development comes as Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao makes his way around Europe’ 🇩🇪🇪🇺
Germany’s Habeck calls for political solution to EV tariff dispute with China – Reuters: ‘“We want to avoid a trade conflict with spiraling tariffs that ultimately harms both sides at all costs,” Habeck said in a statement.’ v
Duitsland werkt hard aan het ondermijnen van de Europese onderhandelingspositie… Brussel wilde helemaal niet per se eindigen met zware heffingen en is in gesprek met Peking over andere oplossingen, maar door zo opzichtig met de Chinese kant mee te roepen helpt Berlijn niet mee om een gunstige uitkomst te krijgen voor Europa.
Italy backs EU’s tariffs on Chinese electric cars – Reuters 🇮🇹🇪🇺
EU must find right balance on clean tech trade with China, says Draghi – Reuters 🇪🇺
EU says deadline for submitting Chinese EV price offers has passed – Reuters 🇪🇺
‘NEW European automakers receive an antitrust warning from China. Is it another threat linked to the planned EU countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles?’ – Joanna Sopinska, Twitter 🇪🇺
We don’t want your EVs, Brazil tells EU as trade talks hit crunch time – POLITICO Europe 🇧🇷🇪🇺
Volkswagen is the anti-Tesla and China is to blame – POLITICO Europe: ‘While China is the biggest market for most car brands outside of their home market, it is the biggest market in absolute terms for Volkswagen — nearly half of the 10 million passenger vehicles VW sold in 2017 went to China. Last year, however, its car sales in China were only 3 million — a third of VW’s overall sales.’ 🇩🇪
From steel to kimchi, South Korean exporters face flood of Chinese rivals – FT: ‘Korean companies are increasingly mounting a legal fightback, stepping up anti-dumping and patent infringement complaints against Chinese rivals.’ 🇰🇷
Chiles größtes Stahlwerk schließt wegen Billig-Konkurrenz aus China – AFP 🇨🇱
US officials head to China for talks amid overcapacity concerns – SCMP 🇺🇸
Tech War 💽🇺🇸
Almost 3,000 people hurt and some killed after Hezbollah pagers explode – The Guardian 🇱🇧🇮🇱
Dit gaat niet helpen bij het vertrouwen in elkaars technologie. Gaan de Taiwanezen en Amerikanen nu naar Chinese telefoons kijken? De Chinezen naar Amerikaanse? Supply chain security krijgt een nieuwe dimensie.
China hit hard by new Dutch export controls on ASML chip-making equipment – SCMP: ‘Still, maintenance is a smaller issue compared to the lack of new advanced lithography machines.’ 🇳🇱
Chinese government touts home-grown chip lithography machines amid semiconductor self-sufficiency drive – SCMP
US chokehold on China’s AI progress ‘unlikely to succeed’, says Washington-based think tank ITIF – SCMP 🇺🇸
TikTok warns of ‘staggering’ consequences from US divest-or-ban law – FT 🇺🇸
China safeguards rare earth reserves with discovery of 5 million tonnes of key metals – SCMP
Wird Lithium Europas nächstes großes Problem? – FAZ 🇪🇺
China’s grip on the global supply of rare earth minerals critical to high technology is undercutting projects from the US to Japan – Bloomberg: ‘a slump in prices since 2022 is undermining the business case for those projects.’
Singapore’s electronics shipments gained the most since 2010, fuelled by overseas sales of integrated circuits and disk media products – Bloomberg: ‘“There is market talk that China is frontloading chips in anticipation of potential trade tariffs from the US that are targeted at China,” Selena Ling, chief economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Lt, wrote in a note.’ 🇸🇬
What Malaysia’s Penang is doing to reclaim its title as the Silicon Valley of the East – CNA 🇲🇾
Taiwan chip industry suppliers set sail for Japan’s ‘Silicon Island’ Kyushu – Nikkei Asia 🇯🇵
Intel zet de uitbreiding in Duitsland op pauze. De groei zit elders – niet in China, niet in Europa.
China and Thailand aiming to create ‘ecosystem using digital technologies’ – SCMP 🇹🇭
The Chinese chipmaker at the heart of the US-China tech war: SMIC 中芯 – The New York Times: ‘“The fence has gotten higher, but we’ve decided to leave open the front, side and back gate,” said Jimmy Goodrich’
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
Wat twee Afrikaanse spoorlijnen kunnen vertellen over de kansen van Draghi’s grondstoffenstrategie – NRC 🇪🇺
Chinese deal activity shifts toward emerging markets and into greenfields – Nikkei Asia: ‘Asia becoming the largest recipient of Chinese outbound foreign direct investment since 2017, according to Rhodium Group’
In nauw overleg met het Kremlin ondermijnt dit Russische bedrijf de Europese steun aan Oekraïne – NRC: „Daarbij maakt het bedrijf op grote schaal gebruik van nepnieuws, dat via sociale media wordt verspreid.” 🇷🇺
China, America, and a global struggle for power and influence – Gideon Rachman in FT: ‘But as the US reaches the limits of its security-based diplomacy, China’s trade and investment-based strategy is also running into trouble.’ 🇺🇸
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China wint een slag in strijd met Filippijnen om rif in Zuid-Chinese Zee – NRC 🇵🇭
China betaalt bijna de helft van dit nieuwe kanaal door Cambodja – met welk doel? – NRC: „Vietnam heeft al geprotesteerd tegen de komst van het kanaal. De Mekongrivier loopt nu via Vietnam naar zee.” 🇰🇭
Ik weet niet waar de geciteerde Derek Grossman vandaan haalt dat Chinese marineschepen de Mekong vanaf China af zouden kunnen varen naar Cambodja – de beroemde Khone-watervallen in Laos houden dat tegen. Totdat ik Chinese plannen zie om daar een weg door-/omheen te blazen, lijkt mij dit meer te maken hebben met Cambodjaanse ontwikkeling en loskomen van Vietnam.
Chinese deputy envoy to UN Geng Shuang urges US to push Israel to cease military operations in Gaza – Xinhua: ‘despite strong joint international calls for a ceasefire and the cessation of killings, Israel has not halted its military operations in Gaza, which have led to the death of over 41,000 Palestinian civilians.’ 🇺🇸🇮🇱🇵🇸
Remarks by Ambassador Fu Cong at the UN General Assembly Emergency Special Session on the Palestinian Question – Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the UN: ‘China advocates the convening of a more broad-based and effective international peace conference to revitalize the political prospects of the two-State solution and to work out a timetable and a roadmap for its implementation.’
‘Today is a historic moment. The State of Palestine has taken a seat among Member States and introduced a draft resolution to the General Assembly that focuses on the implementation of the advisory opinion of the ICJ. China will vote in favor of the draft resolution.’ 🇵🇸🇮🇱
China says troops disengaged in 4 places, including Galwan – Firstpost 🇮🇳
Dit schijnt helemaal niet nieuw te zijn.
Chinese embassy pressed University of Ottawa and Global Affairs over academic’s Taiwan trip – The Global and Mail: ‘China opposed his decision to participate as a panelist in an Aug. 21 Taiwanese government-sponsored forum on Indo-Pacific security.
The Chinese embassy arranged a meeting with the University of Ottawa and filed a demarche, or protest, with Global Affairs’ 🇨🇦
US charges employee of Chinese aerospace giant AVIC 航空工业 with hacking Nasa and US military – SCMP 🇺🇸
China-Pakistan defence ties threatened by new US ballistic missile sanctions – Nikkei Asia 🇵🇰🇺🇸
What do Taiwan Strait sightings of Type 094s say about China’s nuclear submarine force? – SCMP: ‘may be a sign that the PLA’s nuclear submarines and missile technology has matured’
China economie
Chinese cities increase consumer subsidies as weak demand and deflationary pressures weigh on economy – The Straits Times
China’s fading hunger for grain spells trouble for world farmers – SCMP: ‘Traders and farmers will need to start adjusting to a very different demand outlook.’
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup cut China’s 2024 growth forecast to 4.7% – Reuters
Start-up funding in China remains weak, but may see a recovery this year – SCMP
Why China is sending southern officials north to its rusting economic front lines – SCMP: ‘Beijing has made it a priority to convert its once-powerful cluster of SOEs by shifting centres of heavy industry to advanced manufacturing.’
China binnenland
How raising China’s retirement age can help Beijing buy time to plug the pension gap – SCMP: ‘For rich regions like Guangdong, the delays to the retirement ages could soothe discontent as their pension surpluses are transferred by Beijing to support the lives of many retirees in other regions, according to a Peking University public administration professor who declined to be named as they are not allowed to speak to the media.’
Typhoon Bebinca lashes Shanghai in strongest storm to hit city since 1949 – Reuters
China’s security chief Chēn Wénqīng 陈文清 calls for ‘resolute crackdown’ on separatists in Tibetan areas during visit – SCMP: ‘Chen also ordered security personnel to carry out more propaganda and education campaigns to increase awareness of national identity among the people of all ethnic groups.’
Kanye West performs in China after rare approval by country’s censors – The Guardian
Hong Kong
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
US approves US$288 million of military equipment sales to Taiwan – Focus Taiwan: ‘aviation-related goods and services’ 🇺🇸
US Navy plane transits Taiwan Strait – Focus Taiwan
Premier Cho Jung-tai 卓榮泰 (DPP) vows speedy review of Chinese boat incidents – Focus Taiwan: ‘after another Chinese national was found arriving on a rubber dinghy in waters near New Taipei last week’ 🇨🇳
How to take Taiwan: Chinese state television show imagines what a PLA attack may look like – SCMP 🇨🇳
US strategy for anti-ship weapons to counter China: plentiful, mobile, and deadly – Reuters
Taiwan’s RF-5 reconnaissance jets to stay in use through next year, source says – Taipei Times: ‘The RF-5s were converted from some of the air force’s F-5E jets that have been in service for nearly 50 years.’
Taiwan binnenland en economie
Core Pacific City 京華城’s board chairman Chen Yu-kun 陳玉坤 questioned – Taipei Times
KMT demurs on legislative motion to address Taiwan’s stance on UNGA resolution 2758 – Taipei Times: ‘saying it could adversely affect cross-strait relations.’
‘the resolution has recently captured the attention of the international community, with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, the Australian Senate and the Dutch House of Representatives successively passing motions in support of Taiwan’
KMT critical of government’s publicity budget – Taipei Times: ‘The DPP engages in political propaganda through the media, sugarcoating its “poor administration,” while using “trolls” to attack opposition parties, he said, adding that Taiwan is becoming a “green party state,” referring to the DPP’s colors.’
Constitutional Court to issue death penalty ruling on Friday – Focus Taiwan: ‘Whether Taiwan should abolish the death penalty has been a topic of intense debate in recent years, and if the court decides to do so by ruling it unconstitutional, such a decision is almost certain to send shockwaves throughout society.’
FSC rejects CTBC Financial 中信’s tender offer to acquire Shin Kong Financial 光金 – Focus Taiwan
Furloughed workers in Taiwan rise as manufacturers’ orders decline – Focus Taiwan
Top parties aligned on legislative schedule – Taipei Times