China Articles - September 12, 2021
Friends,
This week I read Desmond Shum’s new book ‘Red Roulette: An Insider’s Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today’s China.’ Its an excellent book that I recommend everyone read. The first two pieces in the Must Read section provide some background on the book and the ordeal that Desmond, his ex-wife and son have been through at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
Thanks for reading!
Matt
MUST READ
1. AUDIO – ‘Red Roulette’ Reveals the Inside of China’s Wealth-Making Machine
Steve Inskeep and Desmond Shum, NPR, September 6, 2021
Steve Inskeep interviews Desmond Shum about his new book and how the Chinese Communist Party is coercing him to withdraw the book by threatening his ex-wife, their son and himself.
Desmond Shum
The Wire China, September 5, 2021
Editor’s Note: Just after The Wire published this story, Desmond Shum said in an interview with NPR that Whitney Duan, his ex-wife who he had not heard from in four years, called to press him not to go ahead with publication of his book, Red Roulette. She had disappeared and had likely been arrested by the state on corruption charges. Their 12-year-old son had not heard from his mother in four years, until the call over the weekend. Desmond suspects she is still in detention but is being pressured by the Chinese government to stop publication of his book. Here is Desmond’s story.
On September 5, 2017, Whitney Duan, age 50, disappeared from the streets of Beijing. She was last seen the day before in her sprawling office at Genesis Beijing, a development project she and I had built that was worth more than $2.5 billion. There, cocooned in a work space that visitors reached after running a gauntlet of security guards, meticulously landscaped gardens, and a dozen varieties of Italian marble, Whitney had masterminded real estate projects worth billions more. And now suddenly she was gone.
George Soros
Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2021
4. The AI Revolution and Strategic Competition with China
Eric Schmidt
The Wire China, September 5, 2021
Ryan Serabian and Lee Foster
Fire Eye Research, September 8, 2021
6. AUDIO – “How Xi Jinping’s New Era Should Have Ended U.S. Debate”
Tanner Greer and Peter Mattis, The Scholar’s Stage, August 8, 2021
Authoritarianism
7. Chinese Essayist Revives Worries About a New Cultural Revolution
Wenxin Fan
Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2021
8. China’s Educational Crackdown Hits Apartment Prices in Its Biggest Cities
Jonathan Cheng
Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2021
9. Chinese Ride-Hailing Giant Didi Could Get State Investment
Quentin Webb and Lingling Wei
Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2021
10. An Insider Details the Chinese Communist Party’s Disdain for ‘Expendable’ Entrepreneurs
Chun Han Wong
Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2021
11. Party inspectors say ‘deep-seated’ political problems in China’s schools
William Zheng
South China Morning Post, September 7, 2021
12. Xi Jinping Thought, for children
The Economist, September 4, 2021
13. China’s bid to stabilise its property market is causing jitters
The Economist, September 4, 2021
14. China warns of ‘malicious’ capital outflows amid expectation of US tapering
Frank Tang
South China Morning Post, September 6, 2021
15. New Details Emerge About Coronavirus Research at Chinese Lab
Mara Hvistendahl
The Intercept, September 7, 2021
16. China’s anti-corruption probe finds ‘fabricated’ economic data fraud
Ji Siqi
South China Morning Post, September 3, 2021
17. Beijing city denies it is advising companies to invest in Didi
Reuters, September 6, 2021
18. Xi's common prosperity becomes financial black box
Robyn Mak
Reuters, September 3, 2021
19. Warning of Income Gap, Xi Tells China’s Tycoons to Share Wealth
Chris Buckley, Alexandra Stevenson, and Cao Li
New York Times, September 7, 2021
20. Chinese social media site Weibo suspends 22 K-pop accounts
Mark Savage
BBC, September 7, 2021
21. Hedge Funds Slash Exposure to U.S. Stocks That Count on China
Bloomberg, September 4, 2021
Environmental Harms
22. China Is Laying Climate Traps for the United States
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson
Foreign Policy, September 8, 2021
23. Climate Change Is ‘Not a Geostrategic Weapon,’ Kerry Tells Chinese Leaders
Chris Buckley and Lisa Friedman
New York Times, September 2, 2021
24. Fish and ships: Chinese fishing and Europe’s Indo-Pacific strategy
Frédéric Grare
European Council on Foreign Relations, August 24, 2021
Foreign Interference and Coercion
25. BGI prenatal gene test under scrutiny for Chinese military links
Clare Baldwin and Kirsty Needham
Reuters, September 7, 2021
26. Namewee banned from Weibo over Taliban remark
Rahimy Rahim and Fatimah Zainal, The Star Malaysia, August 24, 2021
27. China shuts American Chamber of Commerce in Chengdu, organisation says
Andrew Galbraith and Gabriel Crossley
Reuters, August 31, 2021
28. China's 'political pressure' on Australian economy isn't working, treasurer says
Ben Westcott,
CNN, September 6, 2021
29. California's State Pension Invests Millions in Chinese State-Owned Companies
Matthew Foldi
Washington Free Beacon, September 2, 2021
30. How Beijing’s New Maritime Rules in the South China Sea Will Affect India and Others
Manoj Joshi
Observer Research Foundation, September 6, 2021
Human Rights and Religious Persecution
31. China’s Xinjiang Policy and the Silence of Islamic States
Ayjaz Wani
Observer Research Foundation, August 26, 2021
32. U.S. cracks down on imported goods made by Uyghurs and other victims of forced labor
Adiel Kaplan
NBC, September 6, 2021
33. Families mark 1,000 days since China's detention of Canadians Spavor, Kovrig
Christian Paas-Lang
CBC Canada, September 5, 2021
34. Missing Chinese entrepreneur briefly surfaces on eve of book’s publication
Tom Mitchell
Financial Times, September 7, 2021
35. 65,000 Hongkongers apply for British visas over five months
Matt Dathan
Sunday Times, August 31, 2021
36. Mass Resignations at Scientific Journal Over Ethically Fraught China Genetics Papers
Mara Hvistendahl
The Intercept, August 4, 2021
37. Kazakhstan: Researcher on Xinjiang Crimes Banned
Human Rights Watch, September 8, 2021
38. Hong Kong democracy activists jailed for illegal assembly in 2019 protests
The Guardian, September 1, 2021
39. Labour says PPE orders must not go to Xinjiang firms that use forced workers
Peter Walker
The Guardian, August 22, 2021
40. Australian Senate passes bill banning imports made using forced labour
Daniel Hurst
The Guardian, August 23, 2021
41. Former “Anti-Cult” Top Bureaucrat Peng Bo Is in Jail
Gao Zihao
Bitter Winter, September 1, 2021
Industrial Policies and Economic Espionage
42. China’s Industrial Planning Evolves, Stirring U.S. Concerns
James T. Areddy
Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2021
43. UK orders national security review of graphene firm’s takeover by Chinese scientist
Jasper Jolly
The Guardian, September 7, 2021
44. China’s SMIC to invest $8.87 bln for new chip plant in Shanghai
Reuters, September 3, 2021
45. China determined to build iron ore hub in Africa as Australia goes Quad
Ken Moriyasu
Nikkei Asia, March 31, 2021
46. In the driver's seat: China's electric vehicle makers target Europe
Gregor Sebastian
Mercator Institute for China Studies, September 1, 2021
Cyber & Information Technology
47. China’s New Data Security Law Will Provide It Early Notice of Exploitable Zero Days
Brad D. Williams
Breaking Defense, September 1, 2021
48. TikTok Still Has Key Software Developers in China Despite Effort to Move Offshore
Juro Osawa, Amir Efrati, and Shai Oster
The Information, August 26, 2021
Military and Security Threats
49. Taliban declare China their closest ally
Lucy Fisher and Nick Squires
The Telegraph, September 2, 2021
50. Jessica Drun on Getting the Taiwan Narrative Right
James Chater
The Wire China, September 5, 2021
51. AUDIO — Tanner on Taiwan (and China)
The Pacific Century, August 12, 2021
52. AUDIO — Key Square Part II: A Discussion on Taiwan with Jim Moriarty
The Asia Chessboard, August 9, 2021
53. Hostile Harbors: Taiwan’s Ports and PLA Invasion Plans
Ian Easton
Project 2049 Institute, July 22, 2021
54. China Weighing Occupation of Former U.S. Air Base at Bagram
Paul D. Shinkman
U.S. News and World Report, September 7, 2021
55. Taiwan says 19 Chinese warplanes entered air defence zone
BBC, September 6, 2021
One Belt, One Road Strategy
56. China in Africa: The Role of Trade, Investments, and Loans Amidst Shifting Geopolitical Ambitions
Peter Stein and Emil Uddhammar
Observer Research Foundation, August 25, 2021
57. DiDi and the Risks of Expanding Chinese E-Commerce in Latin America
Evan Ellis
Global Americans, September 2, 2021
58. Israel inaugurates Chinese-run Haifa port terminal, in likely boost for economy
Ricky Ben-David
Times of Israel, September 2, 2021
59. China exerts growing power right on America's doorstep
Ken Dilanian, Joel Seidman, and Gabriel Sanchez
NBC, September 4, 2021
Opinion Pieces
60. There are two Hong Kongs. China is betting one can survive without the other.
Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post, September 5, 2021
61. U.S. Institutions Must Get Smarter About Chinese Communist Party Money
Joshua Eisenman and Michael Sobolik
Foreign Policy, September 8, 2021
62. Xi Jinping is aiming to redraw China’s social contract
The Editorial Board
Financial Times, September 2, 2021