China Articles - June 5, 2022
Friends,
This week’s issue is a bit shorter than usual as I have spent the last two weeks in Europe at conferences and meetings.
In nearly every one of those events, individuals from across governments and businesses discussed the threats posed by Beijing and Moscow to the liberal international order. Consensus seems to be forming that we need to make significant changes in how we view the world, how we protect democracies and open societies, and the business models we adopt for our economic prosperity.
Perhaps the most surprising event for me this week was Berlin’s decision to decline a request by Volkswagen to renew the risk insurance that the company maintains for its automobile manufacturing operation in the PRC (#4). As some of you may remember, Volkswagen’s CEO, Herbert Diess, claimed three years ago he had no knowledge of the concentration camps in Xinjiang (#5). Now it appears that the German Government is following through on its promises to be more critical of authoritarian governments and set out to make German companies less dependent on Beijing.
Yesterday marked the 33rd anniversary of the massacre of Chinese students by the Chinese Communist Party in Tiananmen Square. In observation of that terrible event, the first two pieces this week provide an insider’s look at the “extraconstitutional” activities of the CCP’s most senior officials as they removed the moderate CCP leader, Zhao Ziyang, and committed one of history’s most brutal crackdowns against citizens who wanted their government to better serve them.
Zhao, who had been seeking a compromise with those who wanted further political reforms, was removed from power days before the massacre, and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life (he died in 2005). I recommend reading Zhao’s memoir that was smuggled out of the PRC after his death, Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang.
I recommend everyone read #15 and the drama surrounding the Jerusalem Post’s interview with the Taiwanese Foreign Minister. JPost’s decision to interview Joseph Wu drew a harsh response and threats from the PRC Embassy in Israel. To their credit, the Jerusalem Post’s editors refused to back down or submit to Beijing’s demands for censorship.
Given all the countries that are pursuing strengthened relations with Taiwan, while Beijing makes shrill demands to cease and desist, it seems to me only a matter of time before countries start re-establishing formal relations with the island nation. After Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, Beijing’s neo-imperialist claims of “ownership” over Taiwan seem increasingly illegitimate.
It is probably time for policymakers to rethink the Faustian Bargain they made with the CCP all those years ago around acknowledgement of Beijing’s “One China” principle. The idea that a former imperial colony somehow “belongs” to the imperial successor, over the objections of that nation’s own citizens, is an anachronism. Whatever the history of Taiwan’s founding, it is now an independent country whose citizens determine its future. Self-determination should be the principle that we follow and the CCP should no longer receive an exception to that rule.
And one last thing, over the weekend my boss, Alex Karp (CEO of Palantir Technologies) traveled to Kyiv to meet with President Zelenskyy and begin opening our new office in the city.
Needless to say, I’m quite proud of the work we are doing.
As always, thanks for reading!
Matt
MUST READ
1. WAY BACK MACHINE – The Tiananmen Papers
Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs, January 2001
For the first time ever, reports and minutes have surfaced that provide a revealing and potentially explosive view of decision-making at the highest levels of the government and party in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The materials paint a vivid picture of the battles between hard-liners and reformers on how to handle the student protests that swept China in the spring of 1989. The protests were ultimately ended by force, including the bloody clearing of Beijing streets by troops using live ammunition. The tragic event was one of the most important in the history of communist China, and its consequences are still being felt.
The materials were spirited out of China by a sympathizer of Communist Party members who are seeking a resumption of political reform. They believe that challenging the official picture of Tiananmen as a legitimate suppression of a violent antigovernment riot will help unfreeze the political process. The extensive and dramatic documentary picture of how China's leaders reacted to the student protests is revealed in The Tiananmen Papers: The Chinese Leadership's Decision to Use Force Against Their Own People—In Their Own Words. This article is adapted from the extensive narrative and documents in that book.
2. WAY BACK MACHINE – Why I Published ‘The Tiananmen Papers’
Zhang Liang, Project Syndicate, January 5, 2001
The Chinese leadership’s penchant for secretiveness is proverbial. But the veil that exists over how that omnipotent party makes important decisions is being lifted somewhat because a volume of unique materials about the behind-the-scenes events surrounding the infamous Tiananmen massacre of 1989 is being published this month.
The materials contained in that book, which I brought out of China and decided to make public, consist of hundreds of documents, including minutes and transcripts of meetings at which the most important leaders of the People’s Republic deliberated on how to handle the Tiananmen demonstrations; key speeches; notes on crucial telephone conversations between leaders; classified reports from security agencies; and dispatches from the police and military. Taken as a whole, these documents provide a rare glimpse into the modus operandi of China’s leaders.
3. Watching China in Europe - June 2022
Noah Barkin, German Marshall Fund, June 1, 2022
I have always believed that Europe’s quest for a common, more clear-eyed policy toward China begins and ends with Germany—the country with the most to lose from a rupture with Beijing. As long as Berlin is wavering, the broader European effort to end an era of diplomatic naivety in relation to China will rest on shaky ground. If Germany charts a clear path forward, however, other countries in Europe will follow. Today, there are still questions about how far the country is prepared to go, largely because Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sent confusing signals on China since coming into office in December. He has voiced support for deeper economic ties with China, at a time when the tide of opinion in Germany, Europe and among democratic allies around the world is pointing firmly in the opposite direction. And he has conspicuously avoided making a link, as other senior members of his government and party have, between the threat emanating from Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the far bigger systemic challenge posed by Xi Jinping’s China.
But Scholz’s caution notwithstanding, the ball is moving in Berlin. And it is moving fast. Lost somewhat in the news flurry over the past week were two developments that underscore this. The first was a decision by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck to reject an application from Volkswagen for government investment guarantees tied to projects in China. The carmaker has operated a factory in China’s western region of Xinjiang since 2013 and has vigorously defended its presence there despite evidence of horrific human rights abuses targeting the Uyghur population. This week, VW CEO Herbert Diess rebuffed mounting pressure to shutter the plant even as he admitted that it was “economically unimportant” for the firm. Now the government is saying enough is enough. Habeck’s decision, which he linked directly to human rights concerns, is a signal to all German companies operating in China that a new era of closer political scrutiny is dawning (more on this below). For Germany, whose political establishment is not accustomed to pushing back against powerful business interests, this is a big step. And it may be just a taste of what is to come.
The second signal, somewhat surprisingly, came from Scholz. During last year’s election campaign and in his first months as chancellor, his message on China could be summed up in two words: “no decoupling.” But last week, in remarks at an event hosted by the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper, Scholz went off-script, accusing German companies of putting too many eggs in the China basket and urging them to diversify their supply chains and export markets. This is also significant. It was the first time since Scholz took office that he openly questioned the nature of Germany’s business relationship with China. Coming on the heels of a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in which he publicly criticized China for its actions in Xinjiang, the comments suggest that Scholz is aligning himself, belatedly, with those in his government who see the need for a fundamental rethink of Germany’s relationship with China. As one veteran diplomat with ties to Scholz’s Social Democrats told me: “He will not lead on China, but neither will he resist the tide. Scholz will be pulled along, just like he has been on Ukraine”.
As I have written in recent months, addressing the dependency conundrum is now at the heart of the China debate in Berlin.
4. Germany Spurns VW’s Guarantee Request in China, Citing Human Rights
William Boston, Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2022
Berlin’s move in response to alleged Chinese abuses of Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province marks a shift in its approach to Beijing
Germany’s government has declined a request by Volkswagen AG to renew risk insurance for the car maker’s operations in China, marking an inflection point for a country that has long put trade ahead of politics in international relations.
The move, which Berlin justified by citing Beijing’s treatment of the Muslim Uyghur minority in western China, makes good on a pledge by Germany’s recently elected government to take a more critical approach to authoritarian governments, including China’s, Germany’s largest trade partner.
The decision, which wasn’t announced officially but was confirmed by several people familiar with the situation, is unlikely to stop German companies from doing business in China but it raises the risks of doing so. It also sets a precedent that for the first time links support for German companies investing in China with Beijing’s treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang province.
“In the face of forced labor and abuse of the Uyghurs we cannot provide insurance for any projects in the Xinjiang region,” German Economics Minister Robert Habeck said over the weekend.
5. WAY BACK MACHINE – VIDEO – Volkswagen CEO Diess 'not aware' of China's Uighur camps
Deutsche Welle, April 17, 2019
Herbert Diess, CEO of one of the world’s most well-known car companies, Volkswagen, claims not to know of the detention in China of up to a million Uighurs and other Muslim ethnicities in so-called re-education camps. Set up, in the north-west in Xinjiang, a UN panel has called them ‘internment camps.’ Former inmates have alleged being tortured in them. Volkswagen runs a plant in Xinjiang, where the camps are located.
6. How the U.N. became a tool of China’s genocide denial propaganda
Josh Rogin, Washington Post, May 29, 2022
Before U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet made her long-awaited trip to China last week, the Biden administration and the human rights community urged her not to let Beijing turn the visit into a propaganda win for the Chinese Communist Party. But Bachelet ignored those warnings. Her trip ended up helping China deny its genocide against Uyghur Muslims and other repressive policies, harming the cause of human rights accountability in the process.
On Saturday, Bachelet completed her six-day trip to China, the first in 17 years by someone with her title, with a statement to the media that summed up a visit many observers view as a tragic failure. As Human Rights Watch U.N. director Louis Charbonneau rightly observed, she grotesquely praised China’s “tremendous achievements” in human rights by pointing to poverty alleviation — which is exactly how Beijing defines human rights these days. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Bachelet is supposed to be following, calls for a higher standard.
After a two-day visit to the Xinjiang region, Bachelet failed to clearly condemn the government’s campaign of repression there, which the Uyghur community and two successive U.S. administrations have said amounts to genocide. She acquiesced to Beijing’s framing of the issue there as “counterterrorism and radicalization.” She also reported without skepticism that Chinese officials in Xinjiang claim to have closed the “reeducation centers” where an estimated 2 million innocent people have been imprisoned.
7. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Loses Chinese Investor Due to Pro-U.S. Messaging
Erich Schwartzel, Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2022
Tencent Holdings pulled out of financing the film over concerns about Chinese officials’ reaction
In an entertainment industry full of uncertainty, few movies seemed as sure a bet as a sequel to the 1986 classic “Top Gun.”
The Chinese tech firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY 3.00% in 2019 signed on to co-finance the film, which the Shenzhen-based conglomerate hoped would yield a windfall at the box office. Yet when “Top Gun: Maverick” hits theaters this weekend, it will do so without any financing from Tencent, and without any mention of the Chinese firm that had once boasted of its involvement in the film.
The reason: Tencent executives backed out of the $170 million Paramount Pictures production after they grew concerned that Communist Party officials in Beijing would be angry about the company’s affiliation with a movie celebrating the American military, according to people familiar with the matter.
Association with a pro-American story grew radioactive as relations between the U.S. and China devolved, the people added. The about-face turned “Top Gun: Maverick” from a movie that once symbolized deepening ties between China and Hollywood into a fresh example of the broader tensions forming between the U.S. and China.
In less than three years, Chinese executives have gone from rushing toward financing opportunities in Hollywood to steering clear, at the same time that other Western businesses have shifted their perception of China from an attractive growth market of 1.4 billion consumers to a thicket of uncertainty.
“Top Gun: Maverick” hasn’t been approved for release in China, making it the latest in a string of major Hollywood releases not screening in the market.
AUTHORITARIANISM
8. Winning the Web: How Beijing Exploits Search Results to Shape Views of Xinjiang and COVID-19
Bret Schafer and Elen Aghekyan, Alliance for Securing Democracy, May 27, 2022
As the war in Ukraine unfolds, Russian propaganda about the conflict has gotten a boost from a friendly source: government officials and state media out of Beijing. In multiple languages and regions around the world, China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats and state media routinely amplify Kremlin conspiracy theories rationalizing President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and undermining the credibility and appeal of the United States, NATO, and independent media — even as China declines to endorse the Kremlin’s adventurism wholesale. This spring, for example, China’s messengers promoted the baseless Russian claim that the United States has been supporting a biological weapons program in Ukraine — at times, more aggressively than Russia itself.
Because Russian state media have been deamplified or banned by multiple Western social media platforms, Beijing’s messaging could play an outsized role in channeling Kremlin talking points to audiences around the world. These narratives do not just spread on social media. Beijing’s state-funded publishers have considerable success in a domain that has received comparatively little attention: search results.
For months, our team has been tracking how China has exploited search engine results on Xinjiang and COVID-19, two subjects that are geopolitically salient to Beijing — Xinjiang, because the Chinese government seeks to push back on condemnation of its rights record; COVID-19, because it seeks to deflect criticism for its early mishandling of the pandemic. In both cases, Beijing is quite focused on positioning itself as a responsible global leader and softening perceptions to the contrary. To evaluate these concerns, we compiled daily data over a 120-day period on 12 terms related to Xinjiang and COVID-19 from five different sources: (1) Google Search; (2) Google News; (3) Bing Search; (4) Bing News; and (5) YouTube.
9. China and Russia veto new UN sanctions on North Korea
Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, May 27, 2022
10. Russia and China block UN statement on Myanmar crisis
Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, May 28, 2022
11. China’s Economic and Trade Ties with Russia
Karen Sutter, Congressional Research Service, May 24, 2022
China has partnered with Russia to launch new global trade, finance, and technology frameworks while relying on the current trading system, the U.S. dollar, and access to G-7 export markets. These efforts include a global payment system, a One Belt, One Road trade network that ties supply chains to China, and global satellite positioning (e.g., BeiDou and GLONASS) and smart device operating systems (e.g., Harmony and Aurora). Congress might consider what closer China-Russia ties and competitive approaches imply for the U.S. posture vis-a-vis China, including whether and, if so, how to sustain and develop critical U.S. advantages and points of leverage over China.
ENVIRONMENTAL HARMS
12. As China mines more coal, levels of a more potent greenhouse gas soar
Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, May 27, 2022
China’s ramping up of its reliance on coal-fueled power plants over fears of an energy crunch already had climate experts worried, but now a study shows that the renewed mining will boost levels of a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide — methane.
The increased production and expanded capacity from mines is on track to add 10 percent to worldwide emissions of coal-mining methane, threatening to undermine international efforts to tackle global warming, according to the estimate released this week by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based nongovernmental organization that tracks fossil fuel projects.
13. Why China’s Coal Mine Boom Jeopardizes Short-Term Climate Targets
Global Energy Monitor, May 2022
China’s surge in new coal production at the end of last year may have emitted 2.5 million tonnes of methane - and even more developments are underway.
14. Zijin’s difficult days in Buriticá
Maria Paula Lizarazo, Dialogo Chino, May 23, 2022
What seemed to be a perfect business has ended in a series of complaints and stoppages that have complicated the work of Chinese multinational Zijin, owner of one of Colombia’s largest gold mines.
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE AND COERCION
15. Chinese attempt to influence JPost is 'blatant' free speech violation
Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2022
The Chinese embassy demanded that The Jerusalem Post remove an exclusive interview of Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and threatened that it may affect China-Israel relations.
The Chinese ambassador's attempt to influence The Jerusalem Post's coverage of its policies on Taiwan are "chutzpah of the first degree" and "a blatant attempt to damage freedom of speech and press freedom in Israel," MK Moshe Arbel (Shas) wrote in a query to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu warned Israel in an exclusive interview with the Post's Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz on Monday that Israel was relying too much on China and that Beijing was readying to invade his country.
"In the State of Israel the government does not dictate to a newspaper what is and what is not approved for publication (besides security censorship), and foreign governments must not be allowed to attempt to dictate to Israeli newspapers and navigate media discourse according to their foreign interest," Arbel wrote.
Arbel then asked whether the Chinese embassy had reached out to the Foreign Ministry regarding the matter and if Lapid was aware of the Chinese embassy's actions. He also questioned why Lapid had not rebuked the Chinese ambassador, and how he was planning to act in order to safeguard press freedom.
The Chinese embassy's spokesperson later sent a letter expressing its "firm opposition and strong condemnation" against the interview of a "Taiwan independence separatist."
"The Chinese Embassy in Israel expresses firm opposition and strong condemnation against The Jerusalem Post for publishing an 'exclusive interview' of Joseph Wu, a "Taiwan Independence" separatist, to spread separatist noises in total disregard of the Embassy's objection," the letter began.
"The Taiwan question, concerning China's core interests and our people's national sentiments, is purely China's internal affair that allows no external interference. The one-China principle is an international consensus and a basic norm governing international relations. The attempts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces to create 'one China, one Taiwan' or 'two Chinas' will never succeed," it said.
"The attempts of foreign anti-China forces to use the Taiwan card to interfere with China's internal affairs and contain China's development will never succeed. The attempts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces and foreign anti-China forces to obstruct and undermine the steady and sound development of China-Israel relations will never succeed," the letter continued.
"We demand The Jerusalem Post to respect China's core interests and the Chinese people's national sentiments, refrain from being manipulated by 'Taiwan Independence' forces and foreign anti-China forces, and take real actions to eliminate the egregious impacts of the interview and contribute to China-Israel relations," the letter concluded.
"Thank you China for the note, but let me clarify that respect – as you ask for – does not include ignoring hard truths and telling stories about Taiwan to the world," Katz responded on Twitter. "That's exactly what the Jerusalem Post will keep doing."
16. China demands US stop trade talks with Taiwan
Joe MacDonald, Associated Press, June 2, 2022
China’s government on Thursday accused Washington of jeopardizing peace after U.S. envoys began trade talks with Taiwan aimed at deepening relations with the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing.
Talks that started Wednesday cover trade, regulation and other areas based on “shared values” as market-oriented economies, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. It did not mention China but the talks add to gestures that show U.S. support for Taiwan amid menacing behavior by Beijing, which threatens to invade.
Trade dialogues “disrupt peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. He called on Washington to “stop negotiating agreements with Taiwan that have sovereign connotations and official nature.”
Mission of the PRC to the European Union, May 19, 2022
The One-China principle is a universally acknowledged basic norm in international relations and the common consensus of the international community. It also serves as the political foundation for establishing and developing diplomatic relations between China and the EU. The commitment to the One-China principle was reiterated by the EU in all documents and statements it jointly issued with China. There is a clear consensus between China and the EU on issues such as unofficial economic, cultural and personnel exchanges between the EU and China’s Taiwan region. We firmly oppose any form of official interactions or any discussion and signing of agreement with implications of sovereignty and of official nature between countries or organizations and the Taiwan region. It needs to be noted that this is not a trade issue, but a serious political issue that concerns the political foundation of China-EU relations. There is no room for compromise for China. We urge the EU side not to gamble on this issue, abide by the One-China principle, earnestly respect China’s sovereignty and honor its political commitments with concrete actions.
COMMENT: If there was a “common consensus of the international community” over the One-China principle and if it was “universally acknowledged,” then the Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t have to constantly repeat itself in the shrillest of tones.
18. China’s spies are not always as good as advertised
The Economist, June 1, 2022
They are adept at hacking and harassing dissidents. But in other areas they have a lot to learn
19. Why Swiss universities are cooperating with China’s military institutions, and why this is a concern
Katrin Buchenbacher, Julia Monn, Anja Lemcke and Christian Speicher, NZZ, May 24, 2022
20. The British weapons expert cosying up to China
David Rose, Unherd, May 26, 2022
His audience hung on his every word. Here was one of Britain’s foremost weapons experts chairing a prestigious, two-day conference devoted to exploring new ways of making arms more deadly. But the packed conference hall, its walls lined with oak and marble, wasn’t in Britain. It was in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province in eastern China.
Clive Woodley, 67, currently attached to the Department of Shock Physics at Imperial College in London, has worked on high-tech weaponry since his youth. So he had much to say about the conference theme: “New Material Technology for Ammunition.” The event “marked a new chapter in the development of artillery, shells and missiles”, according to an official report issued afterwards.
Most of Woodley’s research has been funded by the Ministry of Defence. A former president of the International Ballistics Society, he served as Chief Scientist at the MoD-controlled company QinetiQ from its inception in 2001 — when the MoD privatised its own labs — to 2018. He has advised the MoD about many of its key lethal systems.
Woodley’s contributions in Jinan followed a grand opening ceremony conducted by Qi Xiaoliang, the Communist Party Secretary of the Shandong Institute, one of China’s top military research centres. Joining him, the conference literature makes clear, was almost every leading figure in the Chinese weapons industry, including key figures from Norinco, a Chinese state-owned giant that makes tanks, fighter jets, drones, missiles, big guns, and bombs. Another sponsor was the China Ordnance Society, which brings together 22,000 researchers from both China’s universities and its arms firms, all devoted to “fostering the development needs of national defence”.
Most extraordinary of all was the timing. In 2012, and for some years afterwards, Britain and China basked in a “golden age” of warm relations initiated under David Cameron. China was not then so widely known for the genocide of its Uighur Muslim minority, nor had it crushed Hong Kong’s freedoms. It was not until 2020 that the UK government decreed that equipment made by the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei must be ripped out from Britain’s 5G networks on grounds of national security.
However, the conference in Jinan took place very recently, on 14 and 15 October 2021. It was supposedly “international”, but in fact, the only non-Chinese delegates were Woodley, a Russian and a Pole. A few weeks later, MI6 chief Richard Moore gave a landmark speech, saying the threat from China was now his agency’s “single greatest priority”, and warning that we must beware of “large-scale espionage operations against us, targeting those in research of particular interest to the Chinese state” — in other words, experts such as Woodley.
21. Outcry as China stops Pacific journalists questioning Wang Yi
Kate Lyons, The Guardian, May 31, 2022
Beijing’s foreign minister signing bilateral deals with leaders but reporters are blocked, sometimes physically, from asking questions.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
22. In China, New Evidence That Surgeons Became Executioners
Jacob Lavee and Matthew P. Robertson, Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2022
Clinical reports recount scores of cases in which organ donors were alive when operations began.
…
This is a well-established medical principle associated with a basic rule of transplant ethics: Donors must be deceased before vital organs are removed.
Yet our research finds scores of reports—over a three-decade period, at 56 Chinese hospitals, involving more than 300 medical workers—in which brain death was described as having been declared before the donor was intubated. They were often intubated immediately before surgery. In the 1994 Wuhan case, intubation took place after the surgery began. In other cases, there was no intubation at all.
23. Advocates denounce UN official's China visit as "ultimate betrayal"
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios, May 31, 2022
Genocide scholars and rights advocates are calling for the resignation of a top United Nations human rights official after her visit to Xinjiang ended with her repeating, rather than denouncing, Chinese government propaganda about an ongoing genocide there.
24. No Justice 33 Years after Tiananmen Massacre
Human Rights Watch, June 2, 2022
25. Journalist detained in China denied calls, partner says
Associated Press, June 2, 2022
The Australian partner of a journalist who has been detained in China for nearly two years said Thursday she is being denied the chance to speak with her family and consular staff, and her health is declining due to a poor prison diet.
Journalist Cheng Lei, an Australian who was born in China, was detained in August 2020 on charges of suspicion of sharing state secrets. In March, she was tried in Beijing, but Australian diplomats weren’t allowed inside the courtroom.
Since the trial, Chinese authorities have deferred announcing a verdict. Cheng, 46, had worked as a business journalist for Chinese state broadcaster China Global Television Network.
INDUSTRIAL POLICIES AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE
26. Taiwan is worried about the security of its chip industry
The Economist, May 26, 2022
27. Apple to shift iPad capacity to Vietnam amid China supply chain woes
Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, Nikkei Asia, June 1, 2022
28. U.S.-China Phase One Trade Deal
Karen Sutter, Congressional Research Service, May 27, 2022
CYBER AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Josie-Marie Perkuhn, Tania Becker, Nancy Wilms and Sven Pabis, Goethe Institut, May 2022
30. How censoring China’s open-source coders might backfire
Zeyi Yang, MIT Technology Review, May 30, 2022
Many suspect the Chinese state has forced Gitee, the Chinese competitor to GitHub, to censor open-source code in a move developers worry could obstruct innovation.
MILITARY AND SECURITY THREATS
31. Taiwan FM to ‘Post’: China preps to invade us, Israel can't trust Beijing
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, May 30, 2022
32. VIDEO – China has the power to take Taiwan, but it would cost an extremely bloody price
Brad Lendon and Ivan Watson, CNN, June 1, 2022
33. Canada says Chinese warplanes are buzzing its North Korea reconnaissance flights
Brad Lendon, CNN, June 2, 2022
Canadian surveillance planes helping to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korea are being repeatedly buzzed by Chinese jets that fly so close their crews can see each other, Canada's military has alleged.
In some instances the Chinese warplanes have come so close the Canadian aircraft have had to change course to avoid a collision, the Canadian Armed Forces said Wednesday.
"In these interactions, PLAAF (People's Liberation Army Air Force) aircraft did not adhere to international air safety norms. These interactions are unprofessional and/or put the safety of our RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) personnel at risk," said Dan Le Bouthillier, media relations chief of the Canadian Armed Forces.
34. China sends 30 warplanes into Taiwan air defence zone
Zubaidah Abdul Jalil, BBC, May 31, 2022
35. US senator visits Taiwan as China ups military threat
Associated Press, May 31, 2022
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Tuesday reiterated America’s support for Taiwan on her second visit in a year to the self-governing island claimed by China.
Duckworth, meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, emphasized the close economic, political and security relations between Taipei and Washington.
China sent 30 military aircraft toward the island on Monday in an ongoing campaign of regular flights. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it responded by scrambling jets, putting air defense missile systems on alert and issuing radio warnings.
Duckworth said she wanted to “emphasize our support for Taiwan security.” The former Army helicopter pilot and lieutenant colonel in the National Guard cited strong bipartisan backing for a bill she has put forward promoting cooperation between Taiwan’s armed forces and the National Guard.
“I do want to say that it is more than just about military. It’s also about the economy,” the Illinois Democrat told Tsai.
36. Sea feud with China flares as Marcos prepares for presidency
Jim Gomez, Associated Press, May 31, 2022
ONE BELT, ONE ROAD STRATEGY
37. China funnels its overseas aid money into political leaders’ home provinces
Vincent Ni, The Guardian, May 29, 2022
Schools and airports help the leaders of countries that receive cash from Beijing tighten their grip on power, a new book claims.
China’s financing of overseas projects has disproportionately benefited the core political supporters of incumbent presidents or prime ministers of those countries that receive the funds, according to a new book.
During the 20th century, China was mostly known as a recipient of international development finance. Its overseas development programme was modest – roughly on a par with that of Denmark. But over the course of one generation, as Beijing emerged as the world’s second-largest economy, its footprint began to extend far beyond its borders – often in the form of infrastructure initiatives such as Belt and Road.
Its use of debt rather than aid to bankroll big-ticket overseas projects created new opportunities for developing countries to achieve rapid socio-economic gains, but it also introduced major risks, such as corruption, “political capture” and conflict.
The authors of the new book, Banking on Beijing, published by Cambridge University Press, found that in those countries that receive Chinese aid, funding for the political leader’s home province increased by 52% during the years when he or she was in power. But this political capture effect vanished when the leader left office.
They also found that, in the run-up to elections, these areas often saw sharp increases in Chinese government-backed funding.
“There is rot in the system that Beijing created to fast-track the implementation of development projects,” said Dr Bradley Parks, executive director of the AidData research lab at William & Mary college in Williamsburg, Virginia, and one of the five authors of the book.
“Beijing often asks for project proposals and loan applications from senior incumbent politicians rather than technocrats. And this often leads to projects being green-lit that disproportionately benefit the core political supporters of the president or prime minister.”
In Sri Lanka, for example, during his tenure as president, from 2005-2015, Mahinda Rajapaksa tried to transform the remote Hambantota district at the southern tip of the island – his birthplace and home to only 12,000 residents – into a second capital through Chinese-backed infrastructure building, including a huge international airport.
But questions quickly arose about the cost-effectiveness of these projects. In a 2007 cable from the US embassy in Colombo, the ambassador, Robert Blake, reported: “An empty port, an empty airport, and an empty vast convention centre would not generate the benefits that Hambantota needs, and may, if constructed, be considered the president’s folly.”
In 2014, Sri Lanka’s aviation minister told the parliament that the airport, which cost $210m, had “only earned $123 in revenue in a single month”. And when a visiting journalist asked a senior government official about the airport, he indicated, “when I visited the airport there, I asked the sole immigration officer how many passports she’d stamped that day. She said, ‘One.’ ”
But despite such controversies, Beijing has insisted its China-Sri Lanka cooperation is “mutually beneficial and has been warmly welcomed by all sectors in Sri Lanka”. On his visit to the island in 2014, China’s president, Xi Jinping, signed 20 bilateral co-operation agreements, including a $1.4bn Chinese-funded port city in Colombo. Xi described Sri Lanka as a “splendid pearl”.
38. China falls short on big Pacific deal but finds smaller wins
Aileen Torres-Bennett and Nick Perry, Associated Press, May 30, 2022
China fell short Monday on a bold plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries as some in the region expressed deep concerns.
But there have been plenty of smaller wins for China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi as he continues an island-hopping tour of the region.
Wang was in Fiji to co-host a key meeting with the foreign ministers from the 10 island nations.
At an unusual news conference afterward, Wang and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama spoke for about 30 minutes and then abruptly left the stage as reporters tried to shout out questions. That left many details of what transpired at the meeting undisclosed.
But it was clear the nations hadn’t endorsed China’s plan.
39. While America Slept, China Became Indispensable
Howard W. French, Foreign Policy, May 9, 2022
OPINION PIECES
40. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ proves Hollywood doesn’t need China
Sonny Bunch, Washington Post, June 1, 2022
The resounding success of “Top Gun: Maverick” could represent a tipping point in Hollywood’s relationship to China. The cinematic celebration of U.S. military superiority has been a monster success, even though it wasn’t released in the Middle Kingdom. It’s about time American studios recalibrated their priorities to be less reliant on Chinese censors and Chinese moviegoers.
41. Why China Is Paranoid About the Quad
C. Raja Mohan, Foreign Policy, May 17, 2022
Beijing has long lived with U.S. alliances in Asia, but a realigned India would change the game.
42. China is overplaying its hand in the Pacific Islands
John Lee, Australian Financial Review, May 30, 2022
By abandoning diplomatic caution in the Pacific, China is no longer able to disguise its true intentions.