De Chinese Wouden, woensdag 29 mei: handel, halfgeleiders, protesten Taiwan
Fijne dag.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
Kamer wil studenten weren met beurs uit China – De Telegraaf: „Chinese studenten die een beurs krijgen van de Chinese overheid en verplicht rapporteren aan hun thuisland, moeten worden geweerd bij gevoelige onderzoeksgebieden op Nederlandse universiteiten.” 🇳🇱
Opnieuw vlakt groei buitenlandse studenten in het Nederlands hoger onderwijs af – NRC: „Vooral het aandeel Chinese studenten steeg afgelopen collegejaar met bijna een kwart, wat de grootste toename betekent in bijna twee decennia.” 🇳🇱
China’s Fosun 复星 to sell German private bank HAL to ABN Amro for €672m – Nikkei Asia 🇳🇱🇩🇪
China could benefit from rise of extreme left and right parties in Europe elections, according to AMO report – SCMP: ‘factions in both groupings have consistently voted against legislation and resolutions targeting China, and that Beijing is increasingly targeting relations with erstwhile fringe parties in a bid to increase its influence in European politics.’ 🇪🇺
From the Fringes to the Forefront: How extreme parties in the European Parliament can shape EU-China relations – Kara Němečková and Ivana Karásková for AMO 🇪🇺
Estonia’s state prosecutor says China has not responded to six-month-old subsea cables probe request – Reuters: ‘Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation told Reuters last month it has “cooperated with Chinese authorities in solving” the damage to the pipeline, adding, “there is progress in the investigation”.’ 🇪🇪🇫🇮
Speciale handelsoperatie
Antwoord op vragen van het lid Boswijk over de prognose dat dit jaar een kwart van alle in Europa verkochte elektrische auto’s uit China afkomstig zullen zijn – Minister Schreinemacher, Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal: „Aan de handelsdefensieve kant wordt door de Europese Commissie reeds actie genomen door middel van het ingestelde anti-subsidieonderzoek naar elektrische auto’s uit China. Tegelijkertijd verkent Nederland momenteel bij andere EU lidstaten die onderdeel zijn van de toeleveringsketen, of zelf een sterke auto-industrie hebben, wat hun positie ten aanzien van het vraagstuk is hoe de Europese sector beter in positie gebracht zou kunnen worden om met aanbieders uit derde landen te concurreren.”
„Het kabinet hecht groot belang aan een gelijk speelveld. Vanuit dat perspectief verwelkomt het kabinet het antisubsidieonderzoek naar de import van elektrische auto’s uit China.” 🇳🇱
Staatsmedia hinten op tegenmaatregelen van Beijing, in reactie op EU-onderzoek naar Chinese autosector – de Volkskrant: „De suggesties van geplande tegenmaatregelen zijn telkens gebaseerd op anonieme ‘insiders’ of experts, zodat de Chinese overheid elke betrokkenheid kan ontkennen. Maar na drie berichten op rij is het duidelijk dat Beijing een boodschap wil afgeven in aanloop naar 5 juni.” 🇪🇺
China dreigt met wraakmaatregelen door Europees staatssteunonderzoek – NRC 🇪🇺
Is the EU already in a trade war with China? – POLITICO Europe 🇪🇺
EU-China EV tariffs: German carmakers fear backlash – DW: ‘German carmakers, who are extremely reliant on the Chinese market, are particularly vociferous in their opposition to EU countermeasures out of fear they could prompt swift Chinese retaliation.’ 🇩🇪
China’s Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 cautions against new energy sector investment overload at meeting – SCMP: ‘as the transformation of traditional industries can also develop “new productive forces”’
Solve China’s ‘overcapacity problem’ by helping developing nations go green, central bank adviser urges – SCMP: “[…] You can think of it as a Chinese version of the Marshall Plan in the green economy era,” he said.’
China’s robust exports give auto parts industries a leg-up – Xinhua: ‘“The global automobile industry chain mix is changing, providing the perfect timing for domestic enterprises to join the supply chain of multinationals,” Zhou said’
No, trade surpluses aren’t caused by comparative advantage – Michael Pettis for FT: ‘confusing comparative advantage with weak domestic demand.’
Tech War 💽💥
EU clears law to increase domestic green tech production – Reuters: ‘a new law designed to ensure the bloc produces 40% of its solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps and other clean tech equipment and to help European industry compete with U.S. and Chinese rivals.’ 🇪🇺
China sets up third fund with CN¥344 billion [€43.8bn] to boost semiconductor sector – Reuters: ‘The third phase will be the largest of the three funds launched by the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, known as the “Big Fund.”’
‘One of the major areas the third phase of the fund will focus on is equipment for chip manufacturing, Reuters reported in September.’
China wil niet afhankelijk zijn van de VS en steekt daarom opnieuw tientallen miljarden in zijn chipsector – NRC
China stopt nog eens €44 mrd in chipontwikkeling – FD
China zet aanval in op VS en EU met eigen chipfonds – BNR
China wil niet afhankelijk zijn van de VS, en steekt daarom opnieuw tientallen miljarden in zijn chipsector – De Standaard
Malaysia to train 60,000 engineers in bid to become chip hub – Nikkei Asia: ‘Under the National Semiconductor Strategy announced Tuesday, the government will allocate at least 25 billion ringgit ($5.33 billion) over the next five to 10 years to foster talent and grow local companies, with funds supplied by Malaysian sovereign wealth funds such as Khazanah Nasional.’ 🇲🇾
Australia and the EU have struck an agreement to boost cooperation and investment in critical minerals – Bloomberg 🇪🇺🇦🇺
Post-Covid, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals – Reuters: ‘the data reveals a more complex relationship, one that is still largely extractive and has so far failed to live up to some of Beijing's rhetoric about the Belt and Road Initiative’
A planned move by TSMC 台積電 to locate some of its chipmaking facilities abroad will be ‘very beneficial’ for Taiwan, according to new economic affairs minister – Bloomberg
Eerder liet de nieuwe minister voor wetenschap en technologie al geruststellende geluiden horen in een interview met Bloomberg.
China’s BOE 京东方 chases South Korean rivals in OLEDs with new factory – Nikkei Asia 🇰🇷
China’s C919, after a year of domestic flights, preps its pitch for Western endorsement – SCMP
Taiwan protesten 🇹🇼🇳🇫
Taiwan opposition passes contentious bill to empower legislature – Nikkei Asia: ‘The president does not have veto power, but there are calls from the legal community that his government under Premier Cho Jung-tai should return the bill to parliament for reconsideration. According to the constitution, the executive can do this once.’
‘The Control Yuan, Taiwan’s supervisory and auditory body, responded to the passage by saying the bill violates the separation of powers and is “unacceptable.”’
‘In a joint statement released on Monday, more than 60 Taiwanese legal experts demanded that the opposition immediately halt their sweeping changes’
‘Under the legislation, government officials could be jailed for up to a year for making remarks that lawmakers deem to conceal facts or be false, and as much as six months just for replying with their own questions.’
Third reading of major part of ‘legislative reform’ bills passed – Focus Taiwan
KMT vows to step up anti-corruption efforts with law revisions – Focus Taiwan: ‘The party and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) will create an “opposition counterpart to the Special Investigation Division” to crack down on corruption’
De oppositie geeft aan een speciale onderzoeksgroep op te richten die de vermeende corruptie van de Tsai-regering moet aanpakken met het nieuwe gereedschap. Gaan we straks Tsai Ing-wen of andere DPP-politici uit haar regering in het parlementaire beklaagdenbankje zien?
Het Groene Kamp moet vast terugdenken aan het moment waarop President Ma (KMT) het stokje overnam van President Chen (DPP) in 2008. Naast de bekende corruptiezaak tegen Chen en zijn familie volgde er onder Ma ook een lawine aan meer kwestieuze vervolgingen van DPP-politici die onder Chen gediend hadden.
Legislative reforms will strengthen Taiwan’s democracy, says Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 (TPP) – Focus Taiwan
DPP may seek constitutional interpretation on legislative reform bills – Focus Taiwan
‘Bluebird Movement’ draws 30,000 outside legislature, though third reading of controversial bill takes place – New Bloom
Photo Essay: Rallies against legislative reform bills held around Taiwan – Focus Taiwan
What next for the Bluebird Movement? – New Bloom
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
How China uses Russia as a wrecking ball: China stands back, as Russia threatens to paralyse the UN Security Council – The Economist’s Chaguan 🇺🇳
Opinion: We must strengthen European sovereignty – Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz in FT 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇩🇪
Van links tot radicaal-rechts: alle partijen zien de noodzaak van meer geld voor Europese defensie – NRC 🇪🇺
Large number of Russian experts enter North Korea to help spy satellite launch efforts, according to source – Yonhap News 🇷🇺🇰🇵
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China–Japan–Zuid-Korea 🇨🇳🇯🇵🇰🇷
China’s premier hails ‘new beginning’ with US-allied South Korea and Japan – Reuters: ‘Regardless of the agreements signed during the talks, the meeting itself is being seen as a mark of progress in relations between three countries whose relations are marked as much by suspicion and rancour as constructive engagement.’ 🇯🇵🇰🇷
South Korea, China, Japan joint declaration after first summit in four years – Reuters 🇯🇵🇰🇷
China, Japan, and South Korea to revive FTA talks – Nikkei Asia: ‘For example, in the market access part of the deal, the countries will aim to fully abolish tariffs on automobiles and their components, which the RCEP did not.’ 🇯🇵🇰🇷
Full Text: Joint Declaration of the 9th ROK-Japan-China Trilateral Summit – Xinhua 🇯🇵🇰🇷
Full Text: Joint Statement on a 10 Year Vision for Trilateral IP Cooperation – Xinhua 🇯🇵🇰🇷
Full Text: Joint Statement on Future Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response – Xinhua 🇯🇵🇰🇷
Japan spots China ships near Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands for record 158th day – Kyodo News: ‘One of the four [coast guard] vessels was equipped with what is believed to be a cannon, according to the Japanese coast guard.’ 🇯🇵
Chinese WL-10 drone spotted over East China Sea; New model seen in Japan’s ADIZ for first time – The Yomiuri Shimbun 🇯🇵
Noord-Korea en Taiwan onderwerp van gesprek op top tussen China, Japan en Zuid-Korea – Reformatorisch Dagblad 🇰🇵🇹🇼🇯🇵🇰🇷
‘Strait stability important,’ Kishida says to China’s Li – Taipei Times 🇹🇼🇯🇵
overige
China’s outspoken foreign ministry press department chief Huà Chūnyíng 华春莹 promoted to vice-minister – SCMP: ‘According to the foreign ministry website, she still leads the press department, although it is not clear whether she will retain this position following her promotion.’
Interview: Palestinians appreciate Chinese support for their national rights, says diplomat – Xinhua 🇵🇸
Chinese foreign minister Wáng Yì 王毅 meets with Yemeni counterpart – Xinhua: ‘The tense situation in the Red Sea is a prominent manifestation of the spillover from the Gaza conflict, and the urgent task is to promote an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. China calls for an end to the harassment of civilian vessels and to ensure the safety of waterways in the Red Sea, Wang said.’ 🇾🇪
Philippines protests China’s annual fishing ban – Reuters 🇵🇭
Myanmar quietly announces plans to study controversial Chinese dam project suspended 13 years ago – AP 🇲🇲
Cambodia and China hold joint naval drill as US eyes Beijing’s clout – Kyodo News 🇰🇭
China deploys robot dogs during military exercise with Cambodia – Kyodo News 🇰🇭
China and US agree to manage maritime risks through continued dialogue – Reuters 🇺🇸
University of Florida employee, students implicated in illegal plot to ship drugs and toxins to China – AP 🇺🇸
US sanctions Chinese individuals over Covid-related fraud and bomb threats – Reuters 🇺🇸
China economie
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 issues call to arms: China must cultivate new job sources, quell ‘chaos’ in employment market – SCMP: ‘He also called for a change of mindset, as well as education and guidance, to cultivate “correct views of employment” so that a world of employment opportunities can be opened up with new concepts underpinning career selections.’
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 calls for quality jobs for youth instead of ‘bitterness’ – FT: ‘Xi told the politburo to “give top priority to the employment of college graduates and other youth groups”.’
China’s Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 cautions against new energy sector investment overload at meeting – SCMP: ‘as the transformation of traditional industries can also develop “new productive forces”’
China’s ‘hidden’ defaults reflect weak local government finances – Nikkei Asia: ‘the struggles of local government financing vehicles — investment companies used as an alternative channel to finance infrastructure spending — to repay their massive debts.’
Chinese industrial profits return to growth – FT: ‘But Yu added that domestic demand remained “insufficient” and that the development of new productive forces — a widely used term in China for its recent focus on manufacturing — still needed to be “accelerated”.’
Ex-China central bank chief Zhōu Xiǎochuān 周小川 ‘optimistic’ on ending property slump – Nikkei Asia
China property: Shanghai relaxes home buying restrictions, grants subsidies for new flats to revive sector – SCMP
AIA eyes more property assets in mainland China to house operations as insurance business charts strong growth – SCMP
Uniqlo confronts China’s newly thrifty middle class – FT
In China, Starbucks tries to avoid price war but gets dragged into discounting – Reuters
The iPhone staged a rebound in China last month with shipments rising 52% during a flurry of discounts – Bloomberg
China unveils plan to keep officials’ noses clean in campaign to control financial risk – SCMP: ‘blueprint for how to keep financial actors like watchdogs, state-owned financial institutions and local cadres more accountable’
CCP leadership reviews measures to further energise central region and provisions to defuse financial risks – Xinhua
China binnenland
In Xinjiang, China’s security chief Chēn Wénqīng 陈文清 calls for ‘normalisation of counterterrorism’ – SCMP
Senior CCP official Chēn Wénqīng 陈文清 highlights counter-terrorism and social stability in Xinjiang – Xinhua: ‘put social stability as a top priority’ ‘strike a balance between maintaining law and order and releasing social vitality’
China dismisses as ‘preposterous’ claims of entry checks of phones for all arrivals – Reuters
Luxury influencers vanish from Chinese social media in wealth crackdown – AFP
Hong Kong
Hongkongse politie arresteert voor het eerst critici op grond van nieuwe veiligheidswet – de Volkskrant
Rights activist Chow Hang-tung 鄒幸彤 among 6 arrested over alleged sedition under Hong Kong’s new security law – HKFP: ‘the arrests were made in connection with a Facebook group that called for support for barrister and human rights activist Chow’
Hong Kong green groups ‘disappointed’ by further delay of waste charge scheme – HKFP
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
Taiwan president Lai Ching-te 賴清德 thanks pilots who scrambled against China drills – Reuters 🇨🇳
21 Chinese planes detected by Taiwan days after drills – AFP 🇨🇳
Australian MPs push back against China over consulate-general letter criticising attendance at Taiwanese function – ABC News 🇦🇺
European countries and diplomatic allies express support for Taiwan as WHA opens – Focus Taiwan 🇺🇳
International commitment to one-China principle [sic] unshakable, [Chinese] spokesperson says – Xinhua 🇺🇳
Taipei sees New Zealand in sync with like-minded democracies, envoy says – Nikkei Asia 🇳🇿
Taiwan binnenland en economie
TVBS民調／未來兩岸走向？6成4民眾支持賴清德「兩岸互不隸屬」 – TVBS
Volgens een peiling van het KMT-vriendelijke televisiestation TVBS steunt 64% de uitspraak van President Lai in zijn inaugurele rede dat de Volksrepubliek China en de Republiek China niet onderhorig zijn aan elkaar, 22% is steunt de uitspraak niet en 14% heeft geen mening.