Matt Turpin's China Articles - April 23, 2023
Friends,
This week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivered a major speech on the Biden’s Administration’s policy towards the People’s Republic of China.
Depending on which recap of the speech you read, it was either a clear statement that the U.S. would put national security before the U.S.-PRC economic relationship OR the opposite.
If you’re confused, you’re not alone.
I’m certain her speech was meant to be a clear summary of the Administration’s policy, but the only clarity it provided was of the fault lines within Biden’s Cabinet.
Yellen lays out three objectives for America’s economic strategy towards the PRC: 1) secure our national security and protect human rights; 2) pursue healthy economic engagement that benefits both countries; and 3) cooperate on global challenges.
The speech portrays the first objective (national security and human rights) as the priority and one that the United States will not compromise on:
“Let me speak to our first objective: securing our national security and protecting human rights. These are areas where we will not compromise.”
She then goes on to list, in detail, all the compromises they will make in “securing” that first objective, suggesting that this objective is not the priority she implies that it is.
“[W]e will take narrowly targeted actions.”
“As we take these actions, let me be clear: these national security actions are not designed for us to gain a competitive economic advantage, or stifle China’s economic and technological modernization.”
“There are key principles that guide our national security actions in the economic sphere. First, these actions will be narrowly scoped and targeted to clear objectives. They will be calibrated to mitigate spillovers into other areas. Second, it is vital that these tools are easily understood and enforceable.”
“China’s “no limits” partnership and support for Russia is a worrisome indication that it is not serious about ending the war. It is essential that China and other countries do not provide Russia with material support or assistance with sanctions evasion. We will continue to make the position of the United States extremely clear to Beijing and companies in its jurisdiction. The consequences of any violations would be severe.” [NOTE: the PRC is already providing material support and there appears to be an incredible unwillingness of the part of the Administration to impose “severe” consequences]
Her second and third objectives undercut the first:
“As we protect our security interests and human rights values, we will also pursue our second objective: healthy economic engagement that benefits both countries.”
This desire to have ‘one’s cake and eat it too’ makes the overall strategy incoherent. It allows departments and agencies to pick and choose the objectives they pursue, creating contradictions that are nearly impossible to resolve. It allows businesses and investors to avoid difficult decisions and kick-the-can-down-the-road. It sends conflicting signals to both friends and rivals: friends are unsure of Washington’s intentions and overall objectives, while rivals perceive fractures that can be exploited.
Despite the October 2022 publication of the National Defense Strategy which centered around the concept of “integrated deterrence,” (the concept that “[c]ollective cost imposition approaches increase the expectation that aggression will be met with a collective response”), Secretary Yellen makes no reference to this idea and her assurances that the U.S. “will not suppress or contain the PRC economy” nullifies the entire logic of “integrated deterrence.” I suspect no one in the Treasury Department has ever bothered to read the National Defense Strategy.
Her remarks also undercut the White House’s own February 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy which describes the overall American objective as:
“Our objective is not to change the PRC but to shape the strategic environment in which it operates, building a balance of influence in the world that is maximally favorable to the United States, our allies and partners, and the interests and values we share.”
Yellen’s speech, when compared with other speeches and documents from the Administration, suggests that Jake Sullivan and the Cabinet (and ultimately President Biden) has been unable to drive a real decision on the strategic approach towards the PRC. This “strategy by committee” approach creates real problems.
For example, Yellen makes a version of this statement on multiple occasions:
“A growing China that plays by the rules can be beneficial for the United States.”
This is a perfectly acceptable affirmation of how Washington would “like” the world to work and it has been the bedrock of decades of American policy towards the PRC. But the question we are grappling with today is: what if the PRC does NOT play by the rules, is a growing China still beneficial to the United States? Ignoring this most obvious question suggests that there are still deep divisions within the Administration over Beijing’s intentions and America’s capability to shape Chinese actions.
Strategies are future-looking and based upon a clear-eyed assessment of reality, they are the heuristics to solve problems. If a strategy cannot contend with the world as it is, or rests on assumptions that aren’t true, or cannot adapt to the likely countermoves by rivals, then it isn’t a well-suited strategy: no matter how much we might “like” that strategy.
The entire second objective of pursuing “healthy economic engagement that benefits both countries” is entirely dependent on the Chinese Communist Party’s willingness to “play by the rules.” If one were to pull apart the assumptions at the foundation of Yellen’s policy speech, she seems to conclude that Beijing WILL play by the rules.
But, but…
Later in the speech she reveals that she assumes the opposite about the PRC:
“But this type of healthy competition is only sustainable if it is fair to both sides. China has long used government support to help its firms gain market share at the expense of foreign competitors. But in recent years, its industrial policy has become more ambitious and complex.”
*********
Why is the Biden Administration still struggling with these most basic strategy and policy questions after two years in office?
It seems clear that the Administration refuses to come to grips with the role of the Chinese Communist Party, the Party’s worldview, its intentions, and the implications of just how much the world has changed in two decades. Some members of the Administration have not woken up from our vacation from history and find it hard to accept that a deep ideological division separates Washington and Beijing.
In what was supposed to be the Administration’s main speech on its China policy, Yellen does not even mention the Chinese Communist Party (in 12 pages, single-spaced, not even one utterance). And her remarks highlight how little she understands about what motivates the Party:
“The irony is that the open, fair, and rules-based global economy that the United States is calling for is the very same international order that helped make China’s economic transformation possible. And the inefficiencies and vulnerabilities generated by China’s unfair practices may end up hurting its own growth.”
For Yellen and others, they simply cannot comprehend why China hasn’t embraced the “open, fair, and rules-based global economy.” She fails to comprehend the most basic elements of a Leninist Party-State and how an “open, fair, and rules-based” system poses an existential threat to the Party’s rule. This blindness to the Party’s internal logic, its organization, and its worldview makes folks unable to empathize with what their Chinese counterparts believe.
The Party fully understands the implications of embracing an “open, fair, and rules-based global economy”: the implications are that the Party would be driven from power. From our perspective, those transitions to economic and political liberalization are positive, these are trends to be embraced by everyone. From the Party’s perspective, the twin viruses of ‘historical nihilism’ and ‘western liberalization’ are what led to the collapse of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of their empire. These are ideas that must be resisted at all costs… for the Party those transitions would mean their destruction.
Folks fail to see these dynamics BECAUSE they refuse to understand the Leninist nature of the Party.
“The United States believes that responsible economic relations between the U.S. and China is in the self-interest of our peoples.”
When Yellen refers to “responsible economic relations,” she means that the Party should willingly accept limits on its own power for the benefit of its own citizens. I agree that this would be in the interest of both the American and Chinese people… but it is NOT in the interest of the Party. It is why the Party wants to build an alternative international system that safeguards and legitimizes the Party’s interests. And it is why the Party seeks willing partners to join them, namely other authoritarian leaders in places like Tehran, Riyadh, and Moscow who also want to place their narrow interests above that of their broader populations.
At this point, everyone should buy themselves a copy of Philip Selznick’s classic, The Organizational Weapon: A Study of Bolshevik Strategy and Tactics. In it, he details from a sociological perspective, how Leninist parties employ their organization as a tool to achieve “the central aim of Leninism: the concentration of total social power in the hands of a ruling group.”
Selznick goes on to explain:
“This is not the only goal of bolshevism, but this search for unlimited power decisively shapes the behavior of the communist parties. Whether or not we say that bolsheviks seek power for its own sake, or in order to further some more ultimate aims, makes little difference. For these distant goals do not restrain the power-seeking activities of the movement.
Moverover, since the goal of total power necessarily entails the overthrow of a constitutional system granting only limited and temporary power to an elected government, there can be no question of absorbing communism into the established framework.” (pages 3-4)
Written in 1951, these observations ring true today.
By refusing to acknowledge the Party’s indispensable role in the PRC and its Leninist DNA, folks like Secretary Yellen maintain the magical thinking that Beijing will see the error of its ways and accept the limitations inherent in our “established framework” of an “open, fair, and rules-based global economy.” This thinking relies on the “hope” that China’s leaders will intentionally undermine their own organizational imperatives.
I described some of these conditions in my testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee:
“The Chinese Communist Party is attacking this dynamic system with its comprehensive campaign of forced technology transfer and economic espionage. Beijing seeks to rob the United States and its allies of these economic and national security advantages. In doing so, the PRC abuses its access to a globalized economic system, which is “expressly based on the principles of non-discrimination, market access, reciprocity, fairness and transparency” to create opportunities for itself at the expense of the United States and other open societies. These opportunities provide Beijing with the means to remake the international system into one that protects the interests of authoritarian regimes and undermines those countries committed to democratic principles and market economies.”
This refusal to acknowledge the role and influence of the Chinese Communist Party, and what the Party wants to achieve, sits at the heart of the Administration’s confused strategic approach towards the People’s Republic.
I know there are officials inside the Administration that “get it,” but the fact that we are halfway through Biden’s term and Cabinet Secretaries like Janet Yellen, don’t seem to understand these most basic motivations of the Party suggests a failure in analysis and implementation.
Fundamentally, we don’t have a “China problem,” we have a “Communist problem.”
Thanks for reading!
Matt
MUST READ
1. China’s Ambassador to France Says Ex-Soviet States Lack Basis for Sovereignty
Stacy Meichtry and Laurence Norman, Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2023
France and countries across Eastern Europe condemned remarks by China’s ambassador in Paris claiming that post-Soviet states lack a firm basis for their sovereignty under international law.
Ambassador Lu Shaye made the comments during an interview late Friday on French TV, in which he was asked whether he considered the peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, part of Ukraine under international law.
“Even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have effective status, as we say, under international law because there’s no international accord to concretize their status as a sovereign country,” Mr. Lu said.
Mr. Lu’s comments appeared to brush aside the sovereignty of countries, including Russia, that formally recognized each other after the Soviet Union’s dissolution and are represented at the United Nations and in European security organizations. The ambassador’s comments drew a swift reaction in parts of Europe, with the three Baltic states saying they would summon China’s top officials in a coordinated move on Monday for an explanation.
France’s Foreign Ministry said that it took note “with consternation” of Mr. Lu’s remarks and that it was incumbent on Beijing “to say if these comments reflect its position, which we hope not to be the case.”
“We stress our full solidarity with all of our allies and partners concerned, who have gained their long-awaited independence after decades of oppression,” a French foreign ministry spokeperson said. “The annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 is illegal under international law.”
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said the Chinese ambassador’s comment were “completely unacceptable.”
“We expect [an] explanation from the Chinese side and complete retraction of this statement,” he said on Twitter.
The comments appeared to contradict longstanding official Chinese policy. China, in 1994, recognized the Budapest memorandum agreement under which Russia accepted Ukraine’s borders and Kyiv agreed to hand over its Soviet-era nuclear weapons. Beijing also offered its own security assurances to Ukraine at the time.
“There’s no place for ambiguity. Crimea is Ukraine. The Soviet empire no longer exists. History moves on,” said Vadym Omelchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to France, in a Twitter post.
COMMENT – We are quite lucky that the Party still employs ‘diplomats’ like Ambassador Lu Shaye, pictured here in his former role as PRC Ambassador to Canada where he was also extremely effective at “making friends.” If the Party’s representatives ever learned to not say the quiet part out loud, we would be in real trouble.
2. More Americans View China as ‘Enemy’ as Trust in Xi Deteriorates
Bloomberg, April 12, 2023
A new poll from Pew Research shows that a growing number of Americans view the People’s Republic of China as an enemy, with the percentage rising from 40% in 2022 to 55% in 2023. Trust in Chinese leader Xi Jinping has deteriorated even more among Americans, with only 4% of respondents saying they have a lot or some confidence in him.
3. Leaked Files Show China and Russia Sharing Tactics on Internet Control, Censorship
Daniil Belovodyev, Andrei Soshnikov, and Reid Standish, Radio Free Europe, April 5, 2023
As far back as 2017, newly leaked documents and recordings reveal that Chinese and Russian cyber regulators have been coordinating closely detecting dissent and controlling discourse on the Internet.
4. German foreign minister warns of ‘horror scenario’ in Taiwan strait
Philip Oltermann, The Guardian, April 14, 2023
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, warned that a conflict over Taiwan could result in a "horror scenario." She called for increased diplomatic engagement to prevent such a conflict and advocated for closer cooperation between Germany and other European countries to address the growing influence of China.
5. Forget Macron, Europe and the U.S. See Eye-to-Eye on China’s Threat
Greg Ip, Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2023
The real obstacle to decoupling from Beijing isn’t Western governments but Western companies that have bet heavily on China.
6. Russian-Chinese military-political ties outperform Cold War-era unions – Chinese minister
TASS, April 16, 2023
Russian-Chinese relations are blooming. The countries have scheduled talks to discuss advancing important initiatives, among which they mention raising the well-being of people, bilateral cooperation in defense, and current issues in global and regional security.
7. China vows not to sell arms to any party in Ukraine war
Associated Press, April 14, 2023
China addressed the western concerns about the possibility of military assisting Russia. The Chinese government maintains a neutral stance and vows to refrain from providing weapons to either party.
Authoritarianism
8. China’s internet watchdog to boost tip-offs to stamp out ‘illegal’ content
Sylvie Zhuang, South China Morning Post, April 18, 2023
9. A hospital fire killed 29 in Beijing, but residents were kept in the dark for hours | CNN
Nectar Gan and Wayne Chang, April 19, 2023
10. China punishes citizens for sharing information on Xinjiang: top security body
Vanessa Cai, South China Morning Post, April 14, 2023
11. Protester breaks silence on China's crackdown on COVID demonstrators
Oliver Denzer and Laurie Chen, Reuters, April 19, 2023
12. China’s Three Roads to Controlling Taiwan
Dan Blumenthal and Frederick W. Kagan, American Enterprise Institute, March 13, 2023
13. China Rolls Out Electromagnetic Weapon to Quell Violent Protests
Low De Wei, Bloomberg, April 17, 2023
14. Singapore asks banks to keep quiet on wealth inflows during China boom
Leo Lewis,Financial Times, April 14, 2023
15. Can Xi Jinping control AI without crushing it?
Economist, April 18, 2023
16. VIDEO – Why China's Billionaires Keep Disappearing
CNBC, Youtube, April 13, 2023
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, made headlines when he was recently spotted at Yungu School in Hangzhou, where the company is headquartered. He had rarely made a public presence since he irked the Chinese Communist Party for criticizing the country's financial regulatory system in 2020.
"He described them as having a 'pawnshop mentality,' and that really ruffled a lot of feathers," said Dexter Roberts, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Indo-Pacific Security Initiative and author of The Myth of Chinese Capitalism. "Also, just the brash character of Jack Ma rubbed a lot of regulators and very powerful people in China the wrong way."
Jack Ma wasn't the first billionaire who mysteriously disappeared from public view. In 2015, Guo Guangchang, who is known as China's Warren Buffet, went missing. The company later said he was assisting authorities with an investigation.
In 2017, Xiao Jianhua, a Chinese-Canadian billionaire, was abducted by Chinese security agents from Hong Kong. In 2022, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for fraud and corruption.
The mysterious disappearance of China's billionaires hasn't stopped yet. In February, Bao Fan, a renowned investor banker, became the latest name on the list of 'vanishing billionaires.' However, a few days later, his company said he was "cooperating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities in the People's Republic of China."
"When someone like Bao Fan disappears, someone that high profile who suddenly vanishes without explanation, that inevitably sends a chilling kind of feel through the rest of the market," said Nick Marro, lead analyst for global trade at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "I mean, how can you feel like you can do business in a place where, you know, an important leader of the industry can suddenly disappear?"
17. Ping On: Hong Kong’s unrelenting independent press
Hsiuwen Liu, Columbia Journalism Review, April 17, 2023
18. The CMP Dictionary: Six Adheres
David Bandurski, China Media Project, April 17, 2023
19. The CMP Dictionary: Transparency
Malin Oud, China Media Project, April 11, 2023
20. Picking the Rose, Leaving the Thorn: Why China’s AI Regulations Are Worth Careful Examination
Johanna Costigan, Asia Society, April 2023
Environmental Harms
21. Natural gas exporters skirt Washington’s scrutiny of China
Ben Lefebvre and Zack Colman, Politico, April 13, 2023
22. The Green Energy Factory Facing a Storm of China Backlash
Phred Dvorak, Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2023
Foreign Interference and Coercion
23. Russian Memo Said War Leaves Moscow Too Reliant on Chinese Tech
Alberto Nardelli, Bloomberg, April 19, 2023
24. 40 Officers of China’s National Police Charged in Transnational Repression Schemes Targeting U.S. Residents
Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice, April 17, 2023
Two criminal complaints filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York were unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging 44 defendants with various crimes related to efforts by the national police of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) – to harass Chinese nationals residing in the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere in the United States. The defendants, including 40 MPS officers and two officials in the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), allegedly perpetrated transnational repression schemes targeting U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government, such as advocating for democracy in the PRC.
In the two schemes, the defendants created and used fake social media accounts to harass and intimidate PRC dissidents residing abroad and sought to suppress the dissidents’ free speech on the platform of a U.S. telecommunications company (Company-1). The defendants charged in these schemes are believed to reside in the PRC or elsewhere in Asia and remain at large.
“These cases demonstrate the lengths the PRC government will go to silence and harass U.S. persons who exercise their fundamental rights to speak out against PRC oppression, including by unlawfully exploiting a U.S.-based technology company,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “These actions violate our laws and are an affront to our democratic values and basic human rights.”
25. Two Arrested for Operating Illegal Overseas Police Station of the Chinese Government
Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice, April 17, 2023
26. Chinese ‘bribed Nigerian militants for access to vast mineral reserves’
Richard Assheton, Lagos, Sunday Times, February 17, 2023
27. Australian man who wrote reports for suspected Chinese spies refused bail in Sydney
Kirsty Needham and Lewis Jackson, Reuters, April 17, 2023
28. Chinese Diplomat Says US Must Change Attitude Before Any Talks
Bloomberg, April 12, 2023
29. Europe presses tough Taiwan stance after backlash against Macron comments
Yew Lun Tian and Liz Lee, Reuters, April 14, 2023
30. Singapore wealth group denies report of directive to keep quiet on China-linked fund inflows
Reuters, April 14, 2023
31. EU Calls for Coherent China Stance After Macron Sowed Doubts
Jorge Valero, Bloomberg, April 18, 2023
32. India shores up China border strategy with 'Vibrant Villages'
Kiran Sharma, Nikkei Asia, April 14, 2023
33. China Tensions High on Agenda as G-7 Diplomats Meet in Japan
Iain Marlow, Bloomberg, April 16, 2023
34. Taiwan to open second representative office in Italy
Thompson Chau, Nikkei Asia, April 17, 2023
35. China stalls Antony Blinken’s Beijing visit over ‘spy balloon’ concerns
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, April 14, 2023
36. G7-Staaten rücken näher zusammen – und senden eine klare Botschaft an China [G7 countries are moving closer together - and are sending a clear message to China]
Dana Heide and Martin Kölling, Handelsblatt, April 17, 2023 – ORIGINAL IN GERMAN
37. Joint Statement from the United States, Japan, and Australia on the United Kingdom Joining the Blue Dot Network
Office of the Spokesperson, US Department of State, April 17, 2023
38. Mixing Media and Statecraft in Latin America
David Bandurski, China Media Project, April 9, 2023
39. Je ne regrette rien: Macron defends his comments on not being US ‘vassal’ over Taiwan
Giorgio Leali, Politico, April 12, 2023
40. Appeasement at the Cineplex
Orville Schell, Politico, April 06, 2023
41. WTA Returns to China, Lifting Suspension on Tournaments
Christopher Clarey, New York Times, April 13, 2023
The New York Times article reports on the controversy surrounding tennis player Peng Shuai's allegations of sexual assault against a former top Chinese government official. The Chinese government attempts to suppress the story and silence Peng, including causing her disappearance from public view and issuing a coerced statement denying the allegations. China experienced international backlash due to mishandling of the situation such as calls to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The controversy underscores concerns about human rights abuses and political influence in China, particularly in relation to the treatment of women and athletes.
Human Rights and Religious Persecution
42. How one man went from China’s Communist party golden child to enemy of the state
Verna Yu, The Guardian, April 16, 2023
43. US 'disappointed' by Chinese court's decision to uphold death sentence for American citizen | CNN
Jennifer Hansler and Nectar Gan, CNN, April 14, 2023
44. Evidence Briefs
Helena Kennedy Centre, Sheffield Hallam University
45. No Time to Lose: Uyghurs Stuck in the United States Asylum System
UHRP, April 11, 2023
46. China turbocharging crackdown on Iranian women, say experts
Joshua Askew, Euronews, April 14, 2023
47. China arrests human rights activists en route to EU embassy in Beijing
Gregorio Sorgi, Politico, April 14, 2023
Industrial Policies and Economic Espionage
48. China's once-sizzling startup boom loses its stride
Noriyuki Doi, Nikkei Asia, April 18, 2023
49. Goldman Banker Quits to Join Biden’s Made-in-USA Chips Push
Sridhar Natarajan and Eric Martin, Bloomberg, April 13, 2023
50. Raytheon, Lockheed executives banned from China
Reuters, April 18, 2023
51. Lawmakers call for more transparency on Xinjiang imports
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios, April 12, 2023
52. Exclusive: Chinese firm imported copper from Russian-controlled part of Ukraine
Filipp Lebedev and Gleb Stolyarov, Reuters, April 14, 2023
53. China condemns US sanctions on those allegedly involved in fentanyl trade
Reuters, April 17, 2023
54. Angry Tesla Shanghai workers vent to Elon Musk over bonus cuts
Reuters, April 17, 2023
55. White House nears unprecedented action on U.S. investment in China
Gavin Bade, Politico, April 18, 2023
56. In China's Shenzhen the migrants are back, the jobs aren't
Iori Kawate, Nikkei Asia, April 18, 2023
57. Australia aims to boost critical minerals processing to hedge against China’s dominance
Jonathan Barrett, The Guardian, April 13, 2023
58. ‘Complex’ reasons for drop in China lending after G20 debt relief plan
Jevans Nyabiage, South China Morning Post, April 15, 2023
59. China starts ‘surgical’ retaliation against foreign companies after US-led tech blockade
Edward White, Financial Times, April 17, 2023
60. What luxury stocks say about the new cold war
Economist, April 13, 2023
61. Brazil’s Lula calls for end to dollar trade dominance
Joe Leahy, Financial Times, April 13, 2023
62. In China verkauft BYD jetzt mehr Autos als Volkswagen [In China BYD sells now more cars than Volkswagen]
Lazar Backovic, Franz Hubik and Roman Tyborski, Handelsblatt, April 19, 2023 – ORIGINAL IN GERMAN
63. China Prepares for a Long “Struggle”
Tuvia Gering, INSS, April 17, 2023
64. Shein, Temu, and Chinese e-Commerce: Data Risks, Sourcing Violations, and Trade Loopholes
Nicholas Kaufman, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, April 14, 2023
65. VIDEO – How China developed its first large domestic airliner to take on Boeing and Airbus
Kris Van Cleave, Chrissy Hallowell, CBS Mornings, April 11, 2023
Cyber & Information Technology
66. Xi Pivot Fails to Stop Exodus by Biggest Investors in China Tech
Jeanny Yu, Jane Zhang and Zheping Huang, Bloomberg, April 13, 2023
67. China chip imports slump in first 3 months amid US sanctions, supply glut
Ann Cao, South China Morning Post, April 13, 2023
68. Apple in talks with suppliers to make MacBooks in Thailand
Lauly Li, Nikkei Asia, April 13, 2023
69. Apple Triples India iPhone Output to $7 Billion in China Shift
Sankalp Phartiyal, Bloomberg, April 13, 2023
70. US Is Buying Chipmaking Machines From Taiwan More Than Ever
Yoshihiro Sato, Bloomberg, April 13, 2023
71. Ukraine calls Xiaomi a ‘war sponsor’ over smartphone sales in Russia
Che Pan, South China Morning Post, April 14, 2023
72. How China plans to get in on US subsidies for clean energy manufacturing
Mary Hui, Quartz, April 18, 2023
73. TSMC zögert beim Bau der eigenen europäischen Chipfabrik [TSMC hesitates to build its own European chip factory]
Martin Kölling, Handelsblatt, April 17, 2023 – ORIGINAL IN GERMAN
74. China’s socialist chatbots
Ian Williams, Spectator, April 12, 2023
75. TikTok and Democrat-aligned PR firm SKDK part ways
Cockburn, Spectator, April 17, 2023
76. Warren Buffett says the threat of war was a ‘consideration’ in his decision to dump the bulk of his $4 billion stake in chipmaker giant TSMC
Chrisitiaan Hetzner, Fortune, April 12, 2023
77. Bringing AI to the Party
David Bandurski, China Media Project, April 14, 2023
Military and Security Threats
78. No evidence yet showing which animal COVID may have come from, says former head of China CDC
Reuters, April 14, 2023
79. US commander pushes back against colleagues ‘guessing’ Taiwan invasion date
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, April 18, 2023
80. Philippines stoking regional tension with US bases pact, China envoy says
Reuters, April 16, 2023
81. BT holds China-Taiwan war game to stress test supply chains
Cheng Ting-Fang, Financial Times, April 16, 2023
82. Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables
Huizhong Wu and Johnson Lai, Associated Press, March 08, 2023
83. Taiwan to buy 400 U.S. anti-ship missiles intended to repel China invasion
Tony Capaccio, Japan Times, April 18, 2023
84. National Security Bill 2022-2023
House of Commons, November 15, 2022
85. In Hong Kong, Learning to Speak Like the CCP
Raphael Chan, China Media Project, April 06, 2023
86. Germany to examine China-made kit in its 5G networks over security concerns
Dan Robinson, Register, April 17, 2023
87. Investigating the Origins of COVID-19, Part 2: China and the Available Intelligence
Committee on Oversight and Accountability, April 18, 2023
88. PODCAST – Drum Tower: Islands in the Strait
David Rennie and Alice Su, Drum Tower, April 18, 2023
One Belt, One Road Strategy
89. Frozen Frontiers China’s Great Power Ambitions in the Polar Regions
Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Aidan Powers-Riggs, CSIS, April 18, 2023
90. US should stop 'encouraging' Ukraine war, Brazilian president says
Duarte Mendonca, CNN, April 15, 2023
Brazilian president, Lula, who adopted a policy of non-intervention in Russia’s war on Ukraine, believes that the US, along with the EU, should focus on starting the talks about peace in Ukraine rather than encouraging the war. He revealed that he discussed the prospects of forming a like-minded peace-oriented alliance with Xi Jinping.
91. India leapfrogs China in Israel's biggest port
Jean-Pierre Filliu, Le Monde, April 17, 2023
92. Uruguayan FM off to China in search of FTA
Mercopress, April 13, 2023
Opinion Pieces
93. China’s hospitality may not be what it seems
Japan Times, March 31, 2023
94. The dollar remains the coin of the realm — and then some
Brad Glosserman, Japan Times, April 18, 2023
95. 'Russia and China are united in an ideological battle against the West, and therefore against Europe'
Alain Frachon, Le Monde, April 18, 2023
96. PODCAST – Hollywood and China: happily ever after?
Cindy Yu, Erich Schwartzel and Chris Berry, Chinese Whispers, April 03, 2023
97. Foreign Companies Should Have to Play by the Same Rules
John Kennedy and Chris Van Hollen, Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2023
The foreign companies from China and Russia face challenges in complying with US rules and regulations. There is a lack of transparency and accountability in these countries, with concerns about audits, disclosure, insider trading, and compliance with international standards like Sarbanes-Oxley. The article argues for the need for foreign companies to play by the same rules as domestic companies to ensure fair competition and a level playing field.
98. The Left, TikTok, and the World’s Biggest Police State
Geoffrey Cain, Persuasion, April 12, 2023
99. Tyrants in Beijing, Moscow are waiting for tired world to give up on freedom: Lindsley
Joe Lindsley, TVP World, April 16, 2023