De Chinese Wouden, woensdag 6 december: top EU-China, COP28
Wang Yi riep de Europese diplomatieke vertegenwoordigers in Peking op tot de Drie Verlichtingen in de betrekkingen met China, waartoe onder andere ‘kalm blijven’. De constante oproepen tot rationaliteit en beschuldigingen door Amerika gebruikt te worden zijn neerbuigend.
De Chinese onwil of onkunde om de Europese zorgen in te zien zorgt voor het gebrek aan hoop over de uitkomst van de EU-China top later deze week in Noah Barkins laatste stuk. China is volgens hem procedureel wel welwillend, alleen weigert het de grote, structurele zorgen te erkennen. Brussel is er nu klaar mee.
Peking ziet de bui al hangen volgens POLITICO: de gastheer heeft geen aanzet voor een gezamenlijke verklaring gedaan. Er zal daar ook wel frustratie bestaan dat wij China niet ‘begrijpen’. Misschien hopen ze ook wel dat de tegenstelling tussen de Raad van Michel en de Commissie van Von der Leyen in hun voorstel wordt beslist naar de Europese verkiezingen.
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
UK’s Sellafield nuclear site hacked by groups linked to Russia and China – The Guardian 🇬🇧
China and Belarus renew strategic ties as Xi Jinping and ‘old friend’ Lukashenko meet in Beijing – SCMP 🇧🇾
Chinese and Belarusian presidents pledge to enhance ties – Xinhua: ‘firmly supports Belarus in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, and opposes external interference in Belarus’ internal affairs, Xi said.’
‘The two heads of state also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis.’ 🇧🇾🇺🇦
France’s foreign minister Catherine Colonna urges Beijing to help avert ‘crisis’ in South China Sea – AFP: ‘“We are of course concerned by what happened a few days ago to the Australian navy, as well as what happened to the Philippines a few weeks ago,” she said.’ 🇫🇷
UK’s Cameron and China’s Wang discussed intention to have ‘constructive relationship’ – Reuters 🇬🇧
Taiwan awards visiting Czech senator Pavel Fischer friendship medal – Focus Taiwan 🇨🇿
Top EU-China 🇪🇺🇨🇳
China and EU should push relations to ‘a new level with new prospects’, Wáng Yì 王毅 tells European envoys in Beijing – SCMP
Chinese foreign minister Wáng Yì 王毅 meets diplomatic envoys from EU and member states – Xinhua: ‘He said that China-EU relations should follow three enlightenments. First, the two sides should adhere to mutual respect. Second, the two sides should stay calm and focus on pragmatic cooperation. Third, the two sides should view bilateral relations from a strategic perspective.’
‘Echoing Wang's remarks, head of the EU delegation to China and diplomatic envoys of EU member states to China said […]’
Europa vertellen dat ze zich ‘verlicht’ moet gedragen door o.a. ‘kalm te blijven’: enigszins badinerend. Hetzelfde kun je zeggen van het schrijven van persberichten waarin de EU-diplomaten braaf Wang ‘echoën’.
Irritaties en geopolitieke geschillen spelen de hoofdrol op China-EU-top – Trouw
EU duo’s full day with Xi & Co. after a four-year wait – POLITICO’s China Watcher: ‘This time, EU officials were slightly taken aback when Beijing never came to them with a draft joint statement, a move typically expected of the host country. Even though EU officials would possibly have declined that draft, Beijing’s move still speaks volume to how little hope it has in trying to seek common language with Brussels.’
EU expected to issue veiled warning to China over supply of cut-cost goods – The Guardian
December 2023: Denial to Acceptance – Noah Barkin’s Watching China in Europe: ‘In preparatory talks, EU officials say Beijing has also shown a readiness to move on procedural matters. Expect a proliferation of market-access working groups to be rolled out, on everything from cosmetics and wine and spirits to financial services. But there is little hope that Beijing will move on the bigger issues—and so the EU is preparing its response. I am told that the European Commission has completed all the preparatory work needed to launch a case against discriminatory procurement practices in the medical devices sector in China. […] the wind sector, […]’ ‘And Chinese entities that the EU accuses of circumventing its sanctions against Russia could find their way into the bloc’s next sanctions package.’
Charles Michel to cut China trip short as Orbán issues fresh threat over Ukraine’s EU bid – POLITICO Europe
China could help fight illegal arms trade fuelling conflict in Africa, experts say – SCMP
Opinion: EU must stand up for Taiwan at China summit – Anders Fogh Rasmussen for FT
COP28 Dubai 🇦🇪🗻
How China-Russia relations are impacting COP28 – Daria Kurushina for The Diplomat
Mag China in Dubai tenminste worden omarmd? – Peter de Waard in de Volkskrant}
Beetje kort door de bocht stuk (mensenrechten! vervuiling! dit is niet nieuw), maar inderdaad kunnen we voor veel technologieën niet zonder het land.
Tech War 💽💥
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said her department needs more money to stop China from catching up on cutting-edge semiconductors – Bloomberg: ‘Raimondo called out Nvidia Corp., which designed chips specifically for the Chinese market after the US imposed its initial round of curbs in October 2022.’
United Arab Emirati technology firm G42’s ties to China run deep – The Wire China: ‘may be seeking to act as a conduit for China to obtain sensitive technology.’ ‘That role could cause concern for U.S. partners of G42 such as OpenAI and Microsoft’
China issues safety guidelines for autonomous public transport vehicles – Reuters
Taiwan outlines five critical tech fields under its protection – Nikkei Asia: ‘The manufacturing of integrated circuits smaller than 14 nanometers, chip security, post-quantum cryptography protection, cyber defense and wafer-level advanced chip packaging technologies are among those listed.’
Taiwan lists critical technologies to face stringent controls – Focus Taiwan
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
‘Mariniers bespreken samenwerkingsmogelijkheden en ontwikkelingen met collega’s uit Indo-Pacific’ – Korps Mariniers, LinkedIn 🇳🇱
The US Navy plans to begin arming submarines next year with ship-targeting versions of the widely used Tomahawk missile – Bloomberg: ‘part of Washington’s push to ramp up military capabilities to challenge Chinese maritime forces, particularly around Taiwan.’
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
China says Afghan Taliban must reform before full diplomatic ties – AFP
Islamic State Khurasan promises to escalate war against China –
Satellite images show China’s greed for more land in Bhutan – India Today: ‘Satellite images from September reveal that China is persisting with its unsanctioned settlement construction along the disputed border in Bhutan's northern Himalayan region.’
China’s military claims US Navy ship ‘illegally’ entered adjoining waters of Second Thomas Shoal – Reuters
Singapore DPM Lawrence Wong to co-chair top-level bilateral meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang during 4-day official visit to China – The Straits Times: ‘This is the first time the two men will be co-chairing the JCBC’
China’s top diplomat Wáng Yì 王毅 visits US embassy to honour Henry Kissinger – SCMP
China and Mexico officials vow to strengthen cooperation – Reuters
China could help fight illegal arms trade fuelling conflict in Africa, experts say – SCMP
China says visa-free travel policy has boosted tourism – Reuters
China economie
Peking reageert humeurig op kredietwaarschuwing Moody’s – FD
A few hours before Moody’s announced it had cut the outlook for China’s credit rating, the news was being circulated on social media – Bloomberg
China’s state banks seen supporting yuan as Moody’s cuts outlook, according to sources – Reuters
Annual policy-setting conference due this month expected to signal how much help Chinese government is prepared to give – FT
Two meetings of China’s top officials this month will be scrutinized by analysts and investors for signs the world’s second-largest economy is set to be more aggressive with its growth goal for 2024 – Bloomberg: ‘Expectations are high the nation’s leaders will discuss setting a new economic expansion target similar to this year’s goal of about 5%.’
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 is asserting tighter control of finance in China – The New York Times
China’s credit reshuffle aims to squelch risk, restore confidence as recovery lags – SCMP
Chinese investors drive rally in local government dollar bonds – FT
China homebuyers shun presale deals on non-delivery fears – Nikkei Asia
China binnenland
Xi Focus: Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 calls for giving better play to Constitution's role in governance – Xinhua: ‘The Constitution stands as the fundamental legal basis for the Party’s governance of the country and the supreme legal norm for the country's political and social life, Xi said.’
‘This is confusing: It appears that some Chinese airports have resumed PCR testing for inbound travelers even though China officially dropped the requirements in August.’ – Yanzhong Huang, Twitter
Former ‘white paper’ protester describes torture in Chinese police custody – RFA
China’s top corruption-buster warns of ‘risk of rebound’ in cases as festive season approaches – SCMP
Hong Kong
South China Morning Post pulls another op-ed over inability to ‘independently verify the author’s credentials’ – HKFP: ‘a reverse image search revealed that the headshot used in the bio was generated by artificial intelligence.’ ‘In July 2020, SCMP [also] pulled op-eds from “Lin Nguyen,”’
In Singapores The Straits Times (en de Chinese staatsmedia) is ook wel eens een China-vriendelijk opiniestuk verschenen onder een kwestieuze naam. Is dit een routine van de Chinese propagandadiensten?
Self-exiled Agnes Chow 周庭 ‘will be pursued for life’, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee 李家超 vows – Nikkei Asia
Hong Kong takes on rich-gone-rogue in illegal building crackdown – Bloomberg Businessweek
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
Taiwans Aussenminister: „Peking will einen hybriden Krieg gegen uns führen“ – FAZ
Some Taiwanese visitors being detained for interrogation on arrival in China, according to source – Taipei Times
No report on writer Liao Meng-yen 廖孟彥 missing in China, Taiwan’s SEF says – Taipei Times: ‘Liao moved to China following the collapse of the Taiwanese adult book market in the early 2000s, but ran afoul of local authorities, the PTT post said.’
Taitung resumes exports of custard apples to China – Focus Taiwan: ‘without holding negotiations with Taiwan’s central authorities as required by a cross-strait agreement involving cooperation on the quarantine and inspection of agricultural produce.’
Taiwanese local officials only broke China ban if travel agencies used – Taipei Times
Taipei’s new envoy to US may be less effective than his predecessor, analysts say – SCMP
De kop is minder genuanceerd dan het artikel.
Taiwan opens 4th representative office in Canada, in Montreal – Focus Taiwan
President Tsai attends groundbreaking at new aerospace and drone facility – Focus Taiwan: ‘expected to boost Taiwan's asymmetric combat power’
Taiwan verkiezingen
Is the Green Camp still bigger? – Nathan Batto’s Frozen Garlic: ‘it looks to me like the most likely outcomes are either a hung parliament in which the TPP holds the balance of power or an outright KMT majority.’
The wild card in Taiwan’s election: frustrated young voters – The New York Times: ‘“This idea that the D.P.P. and K.M.T. are both equally bad seems to have taken hold among a lot of younger voters,” Professor Nachman said’
Opinion: Heed voice behind Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 (TPP)’s popularity – Chiu Chien-cheng for Taipei Times: ‘Ko, an opportunist, attracts support from young people because he not only criticizes the DPP’s handling of domestic issues, especially income disparity, but also offers a new vision of a more equal society.’
KMT-TPP alliance talks under judicia probe – Taipei Times: ‘complaints filed by Taipei Republic Office‘ ‘Ko’s claim last month that he was offered US$200 million to drop out of the presidential race’
KMT en TPP beschuldigen de regering ervan dat ze wat in andere landen normale coalitiebesprekingen zouden zijn politiek vervolgen voor het DPP-belang. Het gaat om onderzoek door de openbare aanklagers naar een ingediende klacht en een uitlating van de TPP-kandidaat zelf.
Three presidential candidate duos all eligible for 2024 election, interior ministry says – Focus Taiwan: ‘Wu, the TPP’s vice presidential candidate, has been recently dogged by allegations that she had not relinquished her United States citizenship.’ ‘Questions had also arisen over whether the DPP's Hsiao, who was born in Japan and lived in the U.S. for some of her childhood, had always been an ROC citizen’
Taiwan binnenland en economie
Foxconn (Hon Hai 鴻海) raises sales growth target – Taipei Times
Annual exports to be third-highest on record, according to finance ministry – Taipei Times
Taipower and European Chamber of Commerce release net-zero report – Focus Taiwan