China Articles - May 30, 2021
Friends,
As many of you have likely noticed, there has been a significant uptick in attention on the likelihood that COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. President Biden directed the U.S. Intelligence Community to focus its resources on determining the cause of the Pandemic and multiple media outlets are directing resources to explore a theory that was dismissed a year ago by many as a conspiracy theory.
As the world becomes increasingly skeptical of the PRC’s narrative over the Pandemic, the European Parliament voted to freeze passage of the EU-PRC Comprehensive Investment Agreement that Xi, Merkel and Marcon pushed through in December over the objections of many EU members and the United States.
As always, thanks for reading!
Matt
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MUST READ
1. Statement by President Joe Biden on the Investigation into the Origins of COVID-19
The White House, May 26, 2021
2. Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin
Michael R. Gordon, Warren P. Strobel, and Drew Hinshaw, Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2021
Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that could add weight to growing calls for a fuller probe of whether the Covid-19 virus may have escaped from the laboratory.
3. EU parliament ‘freezes’ China trade deal over sanctions
Vincent Ni, The Guardian, May 21, 2021
The European parliament has voted overwhelmingly to “freeze” any consideration of a massive investment deal with China, following recent tit-for-tat sanctions over Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur population in Xinjiang province.
4. China Disappeared H&M from Its Internet, Splitting Fashion Industry Group
Stu Woo, Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2021
5. Deafening Whispers: China’s Information Operation and Taiwan’s 2020 Election
Lilly Min-Chen Lee, Po-Yu Tseng, Shih-Shiuan Wilson Kao, et al., Doublethink Lab, May 24, 2021
Evidence shows that China launched both online and offline attacks during the 2020 Taiwan general election and COVID-19 pandemic.
Authoritarianism
6. China’s Communist Party chips away at Hong Kong business houses
The Economist, May 20, 2021
7. China Looks to Take the Lead in Digital Currencies
Edmund L. Andrews, Stanford Graduate School of Business, April 29, 2021
But the real digital currency to watch, says Darrell Duffie of Stanford Graduate School of Business, may be the one that China’s central bank is now testing.
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On the international level, Duffie says, China could reap commercial advantages as well as increased influence. By leaping ahead of the rest of the world, China could be in a position to dictate international standards for digital currency transactions. It could even make its platform available to other nations, which might bolster the international importance of the renminbi.
8. ByteDance Investors Say CEO Change Is Reaction to Beijing’s Tech Crackdown
Juro Osawa, Yunan Zhang, and Shai Oster, The Information, May 20, 2021
9. Canada's new immigration path for Hong Kongers attract strong interest
Sarah Wu, Reuters, May 20, 2021
10. Hong Kong Protests, Silenced on the Streets, Surface in Artworks
Mike Ives, New York Times, May 20, 2021
Even as the authorities restrict speech in the Chinese territory, local artists are subtly rendering the 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations in paintings, installations and other media.
11. Xi Jinping Stresses His Historical Preeminence in Preparation for the CCP Centenary
Willy Wo-Lap Lam, The Jamestown Foundation, May 17, 2021
12. Stay or Move to U.K.? Hong Kong Locals Face Hard Choice as China Reshapes City
Josie Wong, Kari Soo Lindberg, Iain Marlow and Shawna Kwan, Bloomberg, May 20, 2021
13. Inside the Race to Avert Disaster at China’s Biggest ‘Bad Bank’
Zheng Wu, Evelyn Yu, Dingmin Zhang, Rebecca Choong Wilkins, and Tongjian Dong, Bloomberg, May 23, 2021
14. #MeToo Supporters in China Discouraged as Accuser Faces Court Delay
Chao Deng, New York Times, May 22, 2021
Natalie Wong, Gary Cheung, and William Zheng, South China Morning Post, May 24, 2021
16. ‘Lab leak’ Covid fear as US says Wuhan scientists were taken to hospital
Alistair Dawber, Times of London, May 25, 2021
Environmental Harms
Bo Kong and Kevin P. Gallagher, Energy Policy, August 2021
This study aims to explain why China has become a new coal champion of the world. From 2006 to 2019, our new data set shows that China has financed 14 percent of the newly installed coal fired power plants across 17 countries around the world. We deploy a ‘push and pull’ analytical model and combine both qualitative and quantitative analysis to examine the political economy of Chinese overseas finance for coal. Our analysis shows that the globalization of Chinese official development finance for coal-fired power is a function of both the pull by the demand from the 17 countries, which have turned to the Chinese policy banks for financial backing to build coal-fired power plants, and the push by the coal-fired power equipment manufacturing sector in China and the central government in Beijing, which have been confronted with a set of structural challenges following the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. Our findings carry some worrisome policy implications for the global effort to reduce CO2 emissions resulting from coal burning in the electric sector. Without changes on the demand side, and a profound re-alignment of forces within China, Chinese development finance for coal-fired power may prove relatively resilient.
18. Analysis: China’s carbon emissions grow at fastest rate for more than a decade
Lauri Myllyvirta, Carbon Brief, May 20, 2021
China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have grown at their fastest pace in more than a decade, increasing by 15% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, new analysis for Carbon Brief shows.
Foreign Interference and Coercion
19. British Steel’s Chinese owner sets sights on Gupta’s UK plants
Sylvia Pfeifer and Jim Pickard, Financial Times, May 19, 2021
20. China to Try Australian on Spy Charge, Adding to Diplomatic Tensions
Chris Buckley, New York Times, May 21, 2021
21. Biden to push South Korea to take tough line on China at summit
Demetri Sevastopulo and Edward White, Financial Times, May 20, 2021
22. PetroChina ships jet fuel to junta-ruled Myanmar, data shows
Florence Tan, Reuters, May 20, 2021
23. Welsh chip maker Newport Wafer Fab fears Chinese takeover by stealth
Jamie Nimmo, Times of London, May 23, 2021
24. ‘A matter of time’: New Zealand’s foreign minister warns China ‘storm’ could be coming
Tess McClure, The Guardian, May 24, 2021
25. China, the United States, and the Gaza Crisis: Israel for Xinjiang?
Eyal Propper, Institute for National Security Studies, May 25, 2021
26. Steve Wynn May Face Justice Department Action for Role in China’s Push to Expel Businessman
Aruna Viswanatha, Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2021
27. Australia shrugs off China trade dispute and opens new markets
Jamie Smyth, Financial Times, May 25, 2021
Human Rights and Religious Persecution
28. Lithuanian Parliament Condemns “Uyghur Genocide”
Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter, May 21, 2021
Lithuania joins its voice to the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom that have already used the G-word. Beijing is not pleased.
Lithuania, which suffered itself Communist persecution, is the third country in Europe after the Netherlands and the United Kingdom whose Parliament has officially declared the horrors China is inflicting on the Uyghurs a “genocide.” Outside Europe, similar declarations came from the United States and Canada.
29. AUDIO — Apple and Uyghur Labor — The Information’s 411
Cory Weinberg, The Information, May 14, 2021
30. Chinese authorities order video denials by Uyghurs of abuses
Dake Kang, Associated Press, May 20, 2021
China has highlighted an unlikely series of videos this year in which Uyghur men and women deny U.S. charges that Beijing is committing human rights violations against their ethnic group. In fact, a text obtained by the AP shows that the videos are part of a government campaign that raises questions about the willingness of those filmed.
31. Dubai arrests, to deport teen wanted in China over border clash comments: report
Apple Daily, May 22, 2021
A Chinese teenager wanted by authorities over comments made on the country’s fatal border clash with India last year has been arrested while in transit at Dubai airport and will be sent home, according to a media report.
Wang Jingyu, 19, who has been living in the United States, was arrested in Dubai’s airport on May 4 and had been detained there since then, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle said, citing Wang’s friend. The teenager was in transit for the U.S. at the time, it said.
32. China’s Tibet Communist Party chief targets religion and separatism
Catherine Wong, South China Morning Post, May 22, 2021
33. AI emotion-detection software tested on Uyghurs
Jane Wakefield, BBC News, May 26, 2021
Industrial Policies and Economic Espionage
34. Foreign Intelligence Entities’ Recruitment Plans Target Cleared Academia
Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, April 2021
35. The China Scholarship Council: An Overview
Ryan Fedasiuk, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, July 2020
36. Senate panel backs funding ban on U.S. researchers in Chinese talent programs
Jeffrey Mervis, Science Magazine, May 16, 2021
37. Alberta asks universities to stop pursuing partnerships with links to Chinese government
Rob Drinkwater, National Post, May 24, 2021
38. China’s Foreign Technology Wish List
Ryan Fedasiuk, Emily Weinstein, and Anna Puglisi, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, May 2021
National Counterintelligence and Security Center, February 2021
Would you want your DNA or other healthcare data going to an authoritarian regime with a record of exploiting DNA for repression and surveillance? For years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has collected large healthcare data sets from the U.S. and nations around the globe, through both legal and illegal means, for purposes only it can control. While no one begrudges a nation conducting research to improve medical treatments, the PRC’s mass collection of DNA at home has helped it carry out human rights abuses against domestic minority groups and support state surveillance. The PRC’s collection of healthcare data from America poses equally serious risks, not only to the privacy of Americans, but also to the economic and national security of the U.S.
Cyber and Information Technology
40. China could have ordered Huawei to shut down Australia’s 5G
Peter Harcher, Sydney Morning Herald, May 21, 2021
41. Whose News?
Didi Kirsten Tatlow, The Wire China, May 23, 2021
News Break is America’s hot new app for news aggregation. But with roots in China, is the self-proclaimed hyper local outlet really immune from CCP influence?
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Of course, connections to China do not make a company Chinese. Many American companies have offices in China, as well as Chinese citizens serving in senior leadership positions. But while the concerns about TikTok and WeChat mostly centered on American users’ data going back to China, analysts say a news app like News Break merits a closer look because it highlights the potential for political influence or manipulation. The U.S. is particularly sensitive about foreign influence and misinformation campaigns after Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, but experts say that hasn’t stopped China from ramping up its own foreign propaganda efforts.
Glen Owen and Jake Ryan, Daily Mail, May 22, 2021
Military and Security Threats
43. China could soon outgun the U.S.
Jacqueline Deal, Politico China Watcher, May 27, 2021
The People’s Liberation Army is the oft-cited but poorly understood “pacing threat” during U.S. debates about the defense budget, which the White House will release Friday. Though Pentagon officials since the Obama administration have called the Chinese military the U.S.’s most capable rival, data about what China has actually been spending, or what it’s bought, remains scarce. Research into Chinese defense investments since 2000 reveals that, compared with the United States, China has prioritized purchasing weapons and equipment over spending on personnel salaries or on operations and maintenance. As a result, the U.S. military is on track to be outgunned — potentially in quantity and quality of armaments — by the end of President Joe Biden’s first term.
The lack of data on Chinese defense spending reflects the notorious unreliability of official releases from Beijing. Annual People’s Republic of China Finance Ministry announcements of the defense budget diverge from Defense Ministry disclosures, and have historically omitted cost categories that other countries include, such as weapons imports. “No data concerning the actual breakdown of China’s military budget by-service or within-service are presently available,” Andrew Erickson, a U.S. Naval War College professor and PLA expert, told the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission.
44. Russia–China: An Unholy Alliance?
Ian Hill, Lowy Institute, May 14, 2021
45. Kiribati’s China-backed airstrip upgrade fuels political divisions in Pacific nation
John Power, South China Morning Post, May 21, 2021
46. Chinese Army returns to exercise areas near eastern Ladakh; Indian troops keep close watch
Manjeet Negi, India Today, May 18, 2021
47. China-India border tension: PLA’s modified rocket launchers filmed on plateau facing India
Liu Zhen, South China Morning Post, May 10, 2021
48. Unmasking China’s Maritime Militia
Zachary Haver, Radio Free Asia, May 18, 2021
49. Japan to scrap 1% GDP cap on defense spending: Minister Kishi
Junnosuke Kobara, Nikkei Asia, May 20, 2021
50. Chinese Surveillance-Gear Maker Hikvision Has Ties to Country’s Military, Report Says
Dan Strumpf, Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2021
51. F-35 Sale to U.A.E. Imperiled Over U.S. Concerns About Ties to China
Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef, Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2021
One Belt, One Road Strategy
52. Sri Lanka OKs commission to oversee Chinese-built port city
Krishan Francis, Associated Press, May 21, 2021
53. VIDEO — Hearing on "China in Latin America and the Caribbean"
U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission, May 20, 2021
54. Samoa to scrap China-backed port project under new leader
Jonathan Barrett, Reuters, May 19, 2021
55. U.S.-China Tech Fight Opens New Front in Ethiopia
Stu Woo and Alexandra Wexler, Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2021
56. China’s Bid to Dominate Electrical Connectivity in Latin America
R. Evan Ellis, The Jamestown Foundation, May 21, 2021
On March 31, Chilean regulators unconditionally approved the $3 billion sale of Chile’s Compañía General de Electricidad (CGE) to the Chinese state-owned electric utility company State Grid (InfoBae,March 31). The deal follows China Southern Power Grid’s 2018 purchase of a 27.7 percent interest in Transelec for $1.3 billion; China Water and Electric (CWE)’s purchase of Atiaia Energy and State Grid’s $2.23 billion acquisition of Chilquinta Energia, giving Chinese companies control of 57 percent of total electricity transmission in the country (Transelec, March 15, 2018; CWE, June 26, 2018; La Tercera, June 24, 2020; El Mercurio, November 13, 2020).
These acquisitions are part of a broader pattern that has accelerated in recent years, in which companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have expanded their control over Latin American energy generation, transmission and distribution through acquisition and infrastructure construction. China’s expanding control may be understood as an additional dimension of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a wide-ranging foreign policy strategy in which the PRC employs the combined tools of statecraft, state-directed finance and state-owned or state-subsidized companies to build physical and other networks within the global economy in ways that serve the accumulation of wealth and power by the Chinese state.
China’s advances in electricity infrastructure are consistent with, and complementary to, its better-known building and operation of physical infrastructure such as roads, ports and—more recently—“Digital Silk Road” infrastructure such as telecommunications and e-commerce. Such projects generate business for Chinese companies and banks, facilitate access to markets and products and create leverage for the PRC to advance its commercial interests in other areas.
57. China-Backed African Payment Startup OPay Raising $400 Million to Fuel Expansion
Juro Osawa, The Information, May 26, 2021
Opinion Pieces
The Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2021
So much for being a global financial center based on the rule of law.
The powers that be in Hong Kong keep assuring the world that nothing has changed regarding its status as a financial center since the Chinese Communist Party imposed its national security law. Tell that to Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned media owner whose assets have now been frozen by the Hong Kong police.
59. Universities shouldn’t wait for Marise Payne’s axe to fall on China-funded institutes
Salvatore Babones, Sydney Morning Herald, May 10, 2021
60. Roger Garside on Strategy, Sanctions and the “China Coup”
David Barboza, The Wire China, May 23, 2021
61. The Electric-Car Lesson That China Is Serving Up for America
Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, May 21, 2021