Matt Turpin's China Articles - June 11, 2023
Friends,
Yet another eventful week in the world of watching the Chinese Communist Party and the ways in which countries, companies and individuals around the world are adapting to the Party’s efforts to make the world safe for authoritarianism.
Let’s get to it and thanks for reading!
Matt
MUST READ
1. France objects to NATO plan for office in Tokyo
Demetri Sevastopulo, Kana Inagaki, Henry Foy, and Leila Abboud, Financial Times, June 5, 2023
French president Emmanuel Macron has objected to a NATO proposal to open an office in Tokyo because he believes the transatlantic security alliance should remain focused on its own north Atlantic region.
The resistance from France has complicated months of discussion within NATO to create the alliance’s first outpost in the Indo-Pacific region, according to eight people familiar with the situation.
The push to open a small office in Tokyo comes as the US and Japan urge Europe to become more involved in Asia security issues, particularly as concern mounts about possible Chinese military action against Taiwan.
But the decision has coincided with Beijing slamming US efforts to create what it describes as anti-China coalitions in the Indo-Pacific, which it compares to an “Asian NATO”.
One French official said Paris believed NATO’s charter required the alliance to limit its geographic reach to the “north Atlantic”. But the official also suggested it could undermine European credibility with China in regard to the war in Ukraine, particularly in terms of asking Beijing not to supply arms to Russia.
COMMENT – It might seem odd that the only Member of the European Union with territory in the Indo-Pacific region would object to the opening of a NATO Office in Tokyo.
But this move by Macron makes sense within the wider grand strategy he has pursued for years.
For years, Paris has pursued its own, independent Indo-Pacific strategy (the latest published in September 2021), which blames both Washington and Beijing for “the breakdown of the international order” (see page 10 of the French Indo-Pacific Strategy). From the perspective of Paris, the solution to this geopolitical challenge is NOT to cooperate with its long-time treaty ally, but to pursue a strategy of triangulation and build a French sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific.
French military presence in the Indo-Pacific from the September 2021, “France’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.”
Marcon’s objections to the NATO office in Tokyo makes it sound as if he thinks Europe shouldn’t be involved in security and defense matters in the Indo-Pacific. But the first pillar of his own strategy is “Security and Defense” and it calls for a “European strategy for the Indo-Pacific,” as well as for “reinforcing the commitment of the European Union in the Indo-Pacific.” His objection is NOT to European involvement in the security and defense of the region, his objection is to the involvement of an organization that includes the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Coordinating through NATO would require Paris to adopt a multilateral strategy, rather than impose a French strategy on the rest of the European Union.
If NATO were to establish even a small presence in the region, then it would likely derail Macron’s grand design to turn his strategy of triangulation into a broader European strategy… this is the real reason for Macron’s intransigence over this office in Tokyo (and his outrage over AUKUS).
2. Cold War II Is All About Geopolitics
Jo Inge Bekkevold, Foreign Policy, June 3, 2023
Foreign Policy’s article that discusses Michael Doyle's book, "A Cold Peace: China, Geopolitics, and the International Relations of East Asia." Doyle examines the complex dynamics between the PRC and its neighbors, focusing on the challenges of maintaining stability and peace in the region.
3. Watching China in Europe – June 2023
Noah Barkin, GMF, June 6, 2023
For months, when asked about looming government consultations between Germany and China, officials in Berlin have made one thing clear: The meeting would have a different feel than previous gatherings of its kind. It would be scaled down to a handful of ministers on either side, focused on the issues that are important to Berlin, and stripped of the pomp and circumstance that characterized these high-level gatherings in the Angela Merkel era. The consultations would also have a European dimension to them.
After all, Germany’s ruling parties promised in their coalition agreement, sealed in late 2021, to inject a European element into talks that for years were laser-focused on German economic interests. Weeks before the meeting is due to take place, however, the noble ambitions of some German government officials appear to be crumbling in the face of Chinese pressure and the conflicting priorities of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s advisers. “We were trying to keep it small, but the Chinese side is intent on going big,” one German official told me. “I’m not sure we will have the strength to resist.”
COMMENT – Solid insight from Noah Barkin in Berlin on the fierce debates over China policy within the German Government.
After months of effort to keep the Sino-German government consultations small, it appears that Beijing will bring over 100 officials to Berlin forcing the German Government to turn the “consultations” into the kind of performance that Beijing wants.
I don’t mean to point out the obvious, but if the German Government really did want to keep the consultations small, they could simply issue only a few visas… there is nothing “forcing” Berlin to accept this coercion by Beijing.
4. Sequoia Is Splitting into Three VC Firms
Alex Konrad, Forbes, June 6, 2023
In separate interviews with Forbes, the three investment heads said the decision to split up Sequoia’s global brand was a gradual discussion that intensified over the last several months. They cited conflict between the funds’ respective startup portfolios, brand confusion as they diverged in strategies and increasing complexity of maintaining centralized regulatory compliance as factors — while acknowledging, but attempting to downplay — a frostier geopolitical environment.
COMMENT – While Sequoia’s public statement asserted that this decision to split the company was just a natural progression, there is no mistaking that after years of strife between the partners, Sequoia China and the rest of Sequoia simply could no longer pretend that they were one united firm.
In many ways, Sequoia China had become the venture investment arm of the Chinese Communist Party, focusing on sectors that the Party prioritized in its increasingly heated geopolitical struggle with the United States and other G7 countries. Sequoia’s American founders simply could not turn a blind-eye to this forever. I’m sure the rumors of investment restrictions by Washington helped force this issue to a head.
5. Trudeau’s ‘special rapporteur’ on foreign interference calls it quits
Kyle Duggan, Zi-Ann Lum, and Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Politico, June 9, 2023
Former governor general David Johnston blamed ‘highly partisan atmosphere’ for his decision to leave his investigation of Chinese meddling.
Canada’s special investigator into foreign interference has resigned amid mounting pressure from opposition political parties in Parliament protesting his appointment.
The move deals a fresh blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has struggled to maintain credibility on national security after a series of intelligence leaks to the media revealed China’s plans to interfere in Canada’s political system.
The ensuing political controversy exposed an intelligence briefing system for Cabinet that was in omnishambles and MPs being targeted for foreign interference.
David Johnston, who served a seven-year stint as Queen Elizabeth’s appointed representative in Canada, was tapped to study classified documents on Chinese interference in Canada following major alleged intelligence leaks to the media.
Johnston said in a statement Friday that he took the job believing he would improve trust in Canada’s democratic institutions — and blamed his decision to quit on politics.
“I have concluded that, given the highly partisan atmosphere around my appointment and work, my leadership has had the opposite effect,” Johnston said in a resignation letter addressed to Trudeau, promising to leave before the end of June.
Johnston promised to deliver a “brief final report” before his shortened tenure ends.
He gave a piece of advice to the prime minister to get ahead of the potential politicization of his successor: “Ideally, you would consult with opposition parties to identify suitable candidates to lead this effort.”
COMMENT – No doubt Canada has become more partisan over the last few years, but David Johnston was put in an impossible position by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau’s refusal to allow for a public inquiry into allegations that the Chinese Communist Party has sought, over the last two election cycles, to advantage the Canadian Liberal Party (Trudeau’s ruling party) has eroded trust across the political spectrum in Canada that even someone as respected as David Johnston couldn’t repair.
This commentary from the former leader of Canada’s Conservative Party and the spate of articles that followed on its heels (like this in the National Post, Erin O'Toole — the man China wanted to take down) has made it almost inevitable that this controversy would continue to metastasize. (for readers of this newsletter, we have been following this for months)
Had Trudeau moved aggressively to counter Chinese Communist Party political interference in 2019 and spoken to the Canadian people openly about the threat, it would have likely led to much less partisan division and real protection for the integrity of Canadian elections… unfortunately, that wan’t the path Trudeau picked.
6. Cuba to Host Secret Chinese Spy Base Focusing on U.S.
Warren Strobel and Gordon Lubold, Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2023
Beijing agrees to pay Havana several billion dollars for eavesdropping facility.
China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for China to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island, in a brash new geopolitical challenge by Beijing to the U.S., according to U.S. officials familiar with highly classified intelligence.
An eavesdropping facility in Cuba, roughly 100 miles from Florida, would allow Chinese intelligence services to scoop up electronic communications throughout the southeastern U.S., where many military bases are located, and monitor U.S. ship traffic.
Officials familiar with the matter said that China has agreed to pay cash-strapped Cuba several billion dollars to allow it to build the eavesdropping station and that the two countries had reached an agreement in principle.
The revelation about the planned site has sparked alarm within the Biden administration because of Cuba’s proximity to the U.S. mainland. Washington regards Beijing as its most significant economic and military rival. A Chinese base with advanced military and intelligence capabilities in the U.S.’s backyard could be an unprecedented new threat.
7. Pentagon dismisses WSJ report on China spy station in Cuba
Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali, Reuters, June 8, 2023
The Pentagon on Thursday dismissed a report in the Wall Street Journal about Chinese plans to set up an electronic eavesdropping facility in Cuba, saying it was not aware of any such effort and characterizing the report as "inaccurate."
"I can tell you based on the information that we have, that that is not accurate, that we are not aware of China and Cuba developing a new type of spy station," said Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder.
"In terms of that particular report, no, it's not accurate."
8. China using secret base in Cuba to spy on U.S., Biden admin official confirms
Alexander Ward, Politico, June 10, 2023
China has been spying on the United States from a base in Cuba, a Biden administration official said on Saturday, claiming that “this is an issue that this administration inherited.”
The Wall Street Journal, followed by POLITICO and other outlets, reported on Thursday that China had been in conversations with Havana to establish a new spy base in the island nation. That same day, the White House and the Pentagon said the reporting was “inaccurate,” without going into details.
On Saturday, an administration official clarified by saying that the Chinese base in Cuba has already been established, noting that it didn’t happen on their watch.
The administration official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject, said the Chinese spying effort has been an ongoing concern and that the U.S. has been taking steps to deal with it.
“When this administration took office in January 2021, we were briefed on a number of sensitive PRC efforts around the world to expand its overseas logistics, basing, and collection infrastructure globally to allow the [military] to project and sustain military power at greater distance,” the official said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“This effort included the presence of PRC intelligence collection facilities in Cuba,” the official confirmed. “In fact, the PRC conducted an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019. This is well-documented in the intelligence record.”
President Joe Biden directed his administration to address the issue. “Within months, we did so,” the official said, noting that the thrust of the engagement with Beijing over the spy post has been through diplomacy.
The official would not go into detail, but said the engagements have brought “results” and that “our experts assess that our diplomatic efforts have slowed the PRC down.”
“We think the PRC isn’t quite where they had hoped to be,” the official said. “The PRC will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba, and we will keep working to disrupt it.”
COMMENT – I included the three articles above to show the fast-changing developments at the end of last week on this story about a PRC intelligence collection station in Cuba. On Thursday, the Department of Defense denied that the PRC was developing a “new type of spy station” in Cuba and by Saturday, the National Security Council was confirming there was one.
For background, there has been a Wikipedia page since about 2014 about the Lourdes SIGINT station near Havana that both Russia and the PRC use to collect intelligence about the United States (the Soviets built the station in 1962 and had hundreds of analysts there, there is unverified reports that the PRC started operating there in 2000 with reports of an expansion of the intelligence site in 2014). I’m not sure the Lourdes site is the same one referred to in the Wall Street Journal story from Thursday, but the knowledge of the PRC using Cuba to spy on the United States is not “new.”
Regrettably, some of the same missteps that happened in February over the PRC spy balloon seem to be popping up again: initial denials, then admit it is happening and downplay the threat, and finally blame the last Administration for not doing enough.
Setting aside the lack of coordination with the U.S. Government, the big take-away is that for nearly a decade or more, Beijing has aggressively waged an intelligence collection campaign, alongside Moscow, in ways that mirror the First Cold War. It provides even more evidence that the ‘post-cold war era’ is over.
9. The Pentagon Is Freaking Out About a Potential War with China
Michael Hirsh, Politico, June 9, 2023
Long piece on the challenge faced by the United States that lacks the industrial base to develop sufficient deterrence against the PRC.
10. Janet Yellen tells top CEOs the US wants to work with China to tackle urgent global challenges
Matt Egan, CNN, June 8, 2023
During a closed-door meeting with business leaders on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed that the United States wants to work with China on urgent global challenges, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
The comments by Yellen signal increased efforts by US officials to lower the temperature in the complicated and intertwined relationship between the United States and China, the first- and second-biggest economies in the world, respectively.
COMMENT – Mixed messages by the Treasury Secretary compared with efforts by the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the National Security Council to deal with multiple, urgent national security challenges CAUSED by the PRC.
It strikes me that we are a long way from realizing the Administration’s own concept of “integrated deterrence.” As a reminder, this is how Secretary of Defense Austin describes “integrated deterrence” in his cover letter of the 2022 National Defense Strategy:
“Our central charge is to develop, combine, and coordinate our strengths to maximum effect. This is the core of integrated deterrence, a centerpiece of the 2022 National Defense Strategy. Integrated deterrence means using every tool at the Department’s disposal, in close collaboration with our counterparts across the U.S. Government and with Allies and partners, to ensure that potential foes understand the folly of aggression.”
It appears to me that there is very little “collaboration” or “integration” happening between the Treasury Department and the Defense Department. This lack of integration and collaboration between those responsible for economic policy and those responsible for national security policy allows Beijing to split the Administration internally.
IMHO, the Biden Administration must overcome this lack of collaboration and integration, it is the most important problem for them to address.
Beijing’s strategy is to divide its adversaries both internally (just look at what is happening in Canada) and among themselves to ensure that “we” cannot execute our own strategies effectively… the Party seeks to accentuate fractures and fissures to isolate those who it believes pose the greatest threat to the Party’s interests, while elevating those who it believes will be friendly to the Party’s interests.
Authoritarianism
11. China may face succession crisis
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios, June 6, 2023
12. Former ByteDance executive says Chinese Communist Party tracked Hong Kong protesters via data
Zen Soo, Associated Press, June 7, 2023
13. Republicans urge DoJ probe of TikTok CEO for ‘lying’ to Congress
Matthew Foldi, The Spectator, June 8, 2023
14. Beijing welcomes ‘correct position’ on Taiwan by UN civil aviation body
Cyril Ip, South China Morning Post, June 7, 2023
15. Enforcers of China’s One-Child Policy are Now Cajoling People to Have Three
Liyan Qi, Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2023
China takes efforts to address its declining birthrate and promote a pro-birth culture. Despite the country's relaxation of its one-child policy in 2016, China has been facing challenges in encouraging couples to have more children.
The government has implemented various measures, including financial incentives and propaganda campaigns, to encourage childbirth, but cultural and economic factors continue to hinder their success.
16. China’s Communist Youth League gets new leader, aged 52
Jane Cai and William Zheng, South China Morning Post, June 6, 2023
17. VIDEO – Pro-Beijing ‘Carnival’ Replaces Tiananmen Crackdown Vigil in Hong Kong
Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2023
18. Former ByteDance Executive Claims Chinese Communist Party Accessed TikTok’s Hong Kong User Data
Georgia Wells, Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2023
19. U.S. Leans on Economic Strategy to Achieve Geopolitical Ends in the Middle East and Asia
Narayanappa Janardhan and Gedaliah Afterman, Arab Gulf States Institute, June 6, 2023
20. Arctic chill: western nations fear China and Russia will exploit regional tensions
Richard Milne, Financial Times, June 4, 2023
21. Chinese censors remove protest site Sitong Bridge from online maps
Amy Hawkins, The Guardian, June 2, 2023
22. People in China are so worried about the economy they’re asking for divine intervention
Laura He, CNN, June 9, 2023
China’s post-Covid reopening was supposed to be the stimulant that the world needed. But after an early burst of activity, growth in the world’s second largest economy appears to be stalling.
Disillusioned by the deteriorating economic outlook, young people are flooding to Buddhist and Taoist temples to pray for divine intervention in securing jobs, getting into good schools or becoming rich overnight.
Data released this week showed Chinese exports fell 7.5% in May from a year ago, much more than expected, as global demand waned. Factory activity contracted again last month, and youth unemployment stands at a record high.
23. CEO of Germany's Merck: decoupling from China would be at huge economic cost
Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss, Reuters, June 6, 2023
The CEO of German technology group Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) said that unravelling trade ties with China would come at great economic cost and she was banking on dialogue to ease tensions between Beijing and Western powers.
Belen Garijo, the Spanish CEO of the German drugmaker and manufacturer of lab equipment and semiconductor chemicals, said late on Monday that dependencies between the powers were huge, speaking at a journalist club event in Frankfurt.
Over the weekend, a Chinese warship crossed in front of a U.S. destroyer in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, raising the prospect of future face-offs. But the two sides on Tuesday described meetings between senior U.S. and Chinese officials after the incident as constructive.
For months, U.S. and German lawmakers have called for a reduction in trade to cut dependency on China.
"When I hear politicians say we have to decouple, I don't think this is feasible ... it will take 20 years to decouple, and for what?" said Garijo.
"We are risking a global world that has brought wellbeing, more innovation, more collaboration."
Merck has said its roots in China go back nearly 90 years. Last year the country accounted for 3.2 billion euros ($3.4 billion) of 22.2 billion euros in group sales, with products including bioreactor gear as well as chemicals for making microchips and flat screens.
The company's finance chief last month said that Merck would further invest in China and would build domestic supply chains there to curb imports of key raw materials that could be disrupted in any trade row.
CEO Garijo said the company would look closely into "different scenarios on the basis of the potential escalation of the conflict", but such an escalation was not likely.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck in March suggested that Berlin could impose export restrictions on China to prevent Germany from losing its technological edge, and the government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz's is working on a strategy paper on China to be rolled out this year.
COMMENT – Belen Garijo’s plan for Merck is to hope that geopolitical tensions ease so that her company doesn’t have to adapt to a changing world (“banking on dialogue”).
I’m reminded of that old saying: “hope is not a plan.”
Investors in Merck should be asking tough questions like: if tensions do get worse and your hopes for dialogue aren’t successful, then what? How is Merck preparing for major disruptions to its business model?
Environmental Harms
24. China is acutely vulnerable to rising sea levels
The Economist, June 5, 2023
Foreign Interference and Coercion
25. South Korea Chastises Chinese Envoy Over Warning on US Ties
Jon Herskovitz, Bloomberg, June 8, 2023
South Korea summoned China’s ambassador to express concern over the envoy’s warning that Seoul’s embrace of pro-US policies could bring it harm.
First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin issued a stern warning to Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming in a meeting Friday over what Seoul saw as “provocative” remarks, the ministry said in a statement. Chang called Xing’s language unacceptable and an interference in the domestic politics of South Korea.
26. Pirelli’s Italian CEO Seeks to Curb China’s Grip on Tiremaker
Eric Sylvers, Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2023
27. Three accused of harassing Chinese dissident stand trial in ‘Fox Hunt’ case
Joe Miller and Stefania Palma, Financial Times, May 31, 2023
28. Pope to visit Mongolia at end of summer in visit rich in geopolitical significance
Associated Press, June 3, 2023
29. Southeast Asia Aid Map
Alexandre Dayant, Grace Stanhope, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute
30. America Is Winning Against China in Oceania
Derek Grossman, Foreign Policy, June 1, 2023
31. China's 100-plus 'secret police stations' span from NY to Tokyo
Kenji Asada, Yukio Tajima and Soma Kawakami, Nikkei Asia, June 6, 2023
32. Bank of China chairman visits PNG amid Sino-U.S. rivalry
Reuters, June 2, 2023
33. ‘Make rational decisions’: Chinese envoy warns Japan on copying US chip curbs
Orange Wang, South China Morning Post, June 6, 2023
34. ‘Very, very false’: Dutch minister quashes Beijing view on Ukraine at top security forum
Stuart Lau, Politico, June 3, 2023
35. Antony Blinken to visit China this month in sign of easing tensions
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, June 7, 2023
Human Rights and Religious Persecution
36. AUDIO – Drum Tower: The cage–part one and The cage—part two
Drum Tower Podcast, June 6, 2023
In a two-part series by Alice Su, the Drum Tower episode sheds light on China's oppression of Uyghurs both within its borders and beyond. The focus is on how the Chinese government exerts control over Uyghur individuals living abroad through their families. Su interviews Nigara and Kewser, two Uyghurs who escaped China, delving into their difficult decision-making process: choosing between their families and their quest for freedom.
37. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t: Chinese Companies’ Vanishing Acts in Xinjiang
Magnus Fiskesjö, The Diplomat, June 8, 2023
There is a recurring pattern of Chinese firms attempting to hide branches in the Uyghur region, seeking to avoid association with human rights abuses.
38. Chinese policemen are gaslighting Uyghurs in exile
The Economist, June 6, 2023
39. Hong Kong's loss of rights looms as Taiwan commemorates Tiananmen
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios, June 4, 2023
40. Hongkongers struggle to have voice heard on Tiananmen Square anniversary
Chan Ho-him and Joe Leahy, Financial Times, June 1, 2023
Industrial Policies and Economic Espionage
41. Aluminum Foiled
Grady McGregor, The Wire China, June 04, 2023
42. China to account for less than half of low-cost US imports from Asia
Primrose Riordan, Chan Ho-him, and Joe Leahy, Australian Financial Review, June 5, 2023
43. Morgan Stanley Joins Goldman in Cutting China Index Targets
John Cheng, Bloomberg, June 4, 2023
44. Chinese companies switch auditors to avoid U.S. delisting risk
Echo Wong and Kenji Kawase, Nikkei Asia, May 16, 2023
45. China's top VCs warn dollar fundraising will only get tighter
Echo Wong, Pak Yiu and Kenji Kawase, Nikkei Asia, June 6, 2023
46. Tapped Out
Allen Feng and Logan Wright, Rhodium Group, June 1, 2023
47. Venture-Capital Firm Sequoia to Separate China Business as Political Tensions Rise
Jing Yang and Eliot Brown, Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2023
48. Chinese universities raise tuition fees by as much as 54%
Ella Cao and Ryan Woo, Reuters, June 5, 2023
49. Don’t Bet on Strong Medicine for Chinese Housing
Jacky Wong, Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2023
50. Canadian pension fund CDPQ puts brakes on China investment
Will Louch and Ivan Levingston, Financial Times, May 31, 2023
Pullback follows similar decisions by GIC and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The second largest Canadian pension fund has put the brakes on its investment in China, making it the latest western investor to pull back from the country amid rising geopolitical tensions. The firm has stopped making private deals in China and is closing its Shanghai office.
Cyber & Information Technology
51. AI frenzy sweeps China as companies search for their own ChatGPT
Cissy Zhou, Nikkei Asia, June 2, 2023
52. UK to strip Chinese surveillance cameras from sensitive government sites
Yuan Yang and Lucy Fisher, Financial Times, June 6, 2023
53. Chinese computer firm Powerleader says its CPU was developed with Intel’s support
Lilian Zhang, South China Morning Post, June 2, 2023
54. EU considers mandatory ban on using Huawei to build 5G
Reuters, June 7, 2023
55. VW Is on a Hunt for Resources to Remove China from Its EV Batteries
William Boston, Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2023
Military and Security Threats
56. US sanctions group of people and firms from Iran, China and Hong Kong tied to Iran ballistic program
Fatima Hussein, Associated Press, June 6, 2023
57. What Are German Fighter Pilots Doing in China?
Maik Baumgärtner, Jörg Diehl, Matthias Gebauer, Spiegel, June 1, 2023
58. Japan’s Enhanced Military Capabilities Will Support U.S. Strategic Interests
Bruce Klingner, The Heritage Foundation, June 5, 2023
59. US prepared to address ‘aggressiveness’ of Chinese military
Felicia Schwartz, Financial Times, June 6, 2023
60. China and U.S. Lay Out Rival Visions for Asia as Ships Nearly Collide
Damien Cave, David Pierson and Chris Buckley, New York Times, June 4, 2023
61. How the US is deepening military alliances in China’s backyard
Demetri Sevastopulo and Kathrin Hille, Financial Times, June 1, 2023
62. US Navy shows Chinese warship's 'unsafe interaction' near Taiwan
Ben Blanchard and Laurie Chen, Reuters, June 5, 2023
One Belt, One Road Strategy
63. Middle East Offers New Opportunities for China’s Belt and Road Investors, Analyst Says
Fan Qianchan and Zhang Yukun, Caixin Global, June 1, 2023
64. Along China's Belt and Road, lenders' problem debt mounts
Iori Kawate, Nikkei Asia, June 1, 2023
Opinion Pieces
65. The ocean paradise that could become the battlefield of a New Cold War
Mark Almond, Daily Mail, May 20, 2023
66. China stands to gain from a weakened Russia. The West should prepare now.
Andrew A. Michta, Atlantic Council, June 1, 2023
67. China’s Military Provocations
Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2023
68. What if Putin Loses His War in Ukraine?
Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2023
69. Jamie Dimon’s Shanghai show points to broader chill in China
Thomas Hale, Financial Times, June 2, 2023
70. China Won’t Save the U.S. From Recession This Time
Joseph C. Sternberg, Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2023
71. How America is reshaping the global economy
Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, June 5, 2023
72. TSMC's fate will indeed be at stake if China attacks Taiwan
Jared M. McKinney, Nikkei Asia, June 2, 2023
73. Germany can ignore anxious CEOs while setting China policy
Max J. Zenglein, Nikkei Asia, June 1, 2023
74. China’s Auto Export Wave Echoes Japan's in the ’70s
Niall Fergusson, Bloomberg, June 3, 2023