Friends,
The Chinese Communist Party will hold its long-awaited “Third Plenum” July 15-18. The purpose of this meeting is to “further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization.”
In other words, the Party will try to fix the train-wreck that is the Chinese economy.
A “plenum,” or plenary session of the CCP’s Central Committee, is usually held once a year meaning that there are five plenums during a five-year term of a particular Central Committee. The “third” plenum is traditionally focused on economic policy and held in the fall of the year following the start of a new Party Congress. The current Party Congress, the 20th Party Congress, started in October 2022, when Xi began his third term as Party Secretary, which means this Third Plenum was expected to be held in the fall of 2023.
The PRC’s dismal economic performance and collapse of consumer and investor confidence likely forced Xi to delay this plenum for nine months in the hopes that the economy would get better on its own.
It hasn’t.
Foreign direct investment in the PRC fell nearly a third in the first five months of this year, some of the most important multinational companies are pulling researchers and business units out of the PRC, and few have confidence that Beijing can resolve the country’s real estate crisis, a sector that once made up a third of the Chinese economy.
Beijing’s preferred tactic to fix the economy (manufacture as much as possible and dump it on foreign markets) has predictably forced other countries to erect trade barriers. Newsflash - enacting blatant ‘beggar thy neighbor’ trade policies does not help re-establish confidence and only worsens the country’s prospects.
The other metric that must be flashing red inside the Party’s leadership compound in Zhongnanhai is the flight of China’s most talented individuals. Wealthy Chinese are heading for the exits, with their money, and more modest, but driven, Chinese are looking to start their lives over in countries like the United States.
From NBC News.
These are some really, really bad trends for the Chinese Communist Party.
When the rich, the poor, and the middle class are all looking for ways to leave and start their lives over somewhere else, it is going to be extremely difficult to regain the kind of confidence that Chinese citizens and foreigners once had for Beijing’s economic competence.
As these negative trends continue and the implications sink in (slower or zero growth), perspectives about the PRC’s future will harden, making it even more difficult for Beijing to turn this situation around. It didn’t have to be this way and that is what has made so many Chinese citizens and foreign business leaders so disappointed and angry.
The Party has squandered an incredible asset over the past decade. Not too long ago, nearly everyone believed in a handful of basic assumptions:
Assumption #1 – The Chinese leadership was supremely competent in managing economic affairs, meaning that investors inside and outside the PRC could depend on them to make the right decisions.
Assumption #2 – Even though the PRC faced some difficult economic challenges as they transitioned from a low-income economy into a middle income economy, China would successfully navigate those obstacles because of #1.
Assumption #3 – Chinese leaders would achieve their announced objectives around the “Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation” and in doing so, the PRC would inevitably become the world’s largest and most important economy. In essence, the 21st Century would be the Chinese Century.
Well, we don’t see magazine covers like this anymore.
***
Tale of Two Generals
This week the Chinese Communist Party formally announced the expulsion of two former Defense Ministers for corruption, General Wei Fenghe and General Li Shangfu. General Wei served as Defense Minister from 2018 to 2023 and General Li was his immediate successor. Li disappeared last summer amidst rumors that he was tainted by corruption. And while Wei was also implicated, this was the first official announcement he was also in trouble.
It appears that Li was guilty of paying bribes for promotion and accepting them, while Wei may only have been guilty of accepting them.
If these two former defense ministers were involved in promotion bribes, despite a 10-year long anti-corruption campaign, it begs the question: how many more PLA officers are guilty of the same offenses?
I’m deeply skeptical that these are isolated cases.
We still have not heard an official explanation for the disappearance of Qin Gang, the former Foreign Minister. He disappeared without warning shortly before General Li disappeared.
Thanks for reading!
Matt
MUST READ
1. Philippines warns of region-wide conflict over South China Sea reef dispute
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, June 25, 2024
The Philippine ambassador to Washington has warned that a conflict with China over a contested reef in the South China Sea could engulf countries across the Indo-Pacific, raising the spectre of a possible nuclear war.
Jose Manuel Romualdez said the dispute with China over the Second Thomas Shoal had created an incendiary situation. In recent months, the Chinese coast guard has violently blocked Philippine boats from carrying out supply missions to marines stationed on the Sierra Madre, a marooned ship on the reef.
“It’s the most dangerous time . . . weapons of mass destruction are very real,” Romualdez told the Financial Times in an interview. “You have several countries, major powers that have large arsenals of nuclear power.”
“If anything happens, the entire Asian region will be completely included,” he added.
The Second Thomas Shoal has become the most dangerous flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific as China employs increasingly aggressive measures — including firing water cannons, dangerously ramming vessels and wielding weapons — to disrupt Philippine efforts to resupply the marines.
The US has repeatedly warned Beijing that the 1951 US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the vessel and its crew.
COMMENT – If Beijing wanted to, it could deescalate the situation. The fact that Beijing continues to push this issue closer and closer to open conflict suggests that the Party is fairly certain Manila and Washington will blink first.
2. The new money laundering network fuelling the fentanyl crisis
Joe Miller and James Kynge, Financial Times, June 26, 2024
US officials say Chinese organised crime groups are laundering much of the cash accumulated by Mexican drugs cartels.
In January 2021, US Drug Enforcement Administration agents watched a man drop off a large white bag with “Happy Birthday” written on the side at an office complex in Downey, California. It contained $226,000 in cash.
Three months later they witnessed the same man leave a Fruity Pebbles cereal box full of almost $60,000 in cash at a house in Temple City, California.
The DEA initially thought the cash deliveries were the routine result of the soaring sales of fentanyl in the US. But during the course of their investigation, they suspected the drop-offs were also part of a sophisticated and growing form of illicit finance that involves so-called Chinese underground banks and the Mexican drugs cartels.
In an indictment unveiled in a California court last week that provides an unprecedented insight into the allegedly evolving global network, prosecutors accused Edgar Martinez-Reyes, who was present at the two cash drop-offs, and a group that included nine Chinese nationals of laundering $50mn for the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.
Martinez-Reyes, a Mexican national who lives in Los Angeles, has pleaded not guilty, as have the other 11 defendants who have so far been arraigned. The case is likely to go to trial.
For the law enforcement agencies grappling with the fentanyl crisis, the indictment represents anything but an isolated incident. They claim the alleged offences are part of a process where over the past decade Chinese organised crime groups have moved in to launder the earnings of the Mexican cartels.
The money laundering groups are made up of networks of Chinese nationals living in the US and Mexico as well as individuals in China. As fentanyl revenues have surged over the past few years, the officials say, their relationship with the Mexican cartels has expanded dramatically.
COMMENT – I covered this issue last week.
3. VIDEO – Chairman Moolenaar Discusses Chinese Communist Party Subsidizing Fentanyl, Drones, Chips and Ships
Rep. John Moolenaar, News Nation, June 26, 2024
Rep. Moolenaar: “We have a team of investigators that looked at public information websites in Mandarin Chinese, places that online were offering to sell these drugs, we actually found their tax incentive plan that gives rebates to these companies.
Again, these are Chinese companies making a product that's illegal in China, it's also illegal in America, but they are getting a direct rebate, a financial incentive, to export these products that they can't sell it in their own country but they get rewarded for exporting it to countries like America.”
COMMENT – Approximately 200 American die each day to fentanyl and the PRC incentivizes the production and export of the precursors that cause these deaths.
4. Huawei’s Secret Ally in the US-China Tech War: A Science Nonprofit Based in DC
Kate O’Keeffe, Bloomberg, June 25, 2024
When Optica Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Rogan traveled to China in November, the prestigious US scientific society she runs promoted the trip internally and on social media. But it omitted a key stop: her visit to Huawei Technologies Co.’s headquarters, according to communications and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News.
By April, Rogan’s under-the-radar meetings at Huawei had become part of a whistleblower complaint about her nonprofit’s growing partnership with a Chinese telecommunications giant that’s in the crosshairs of US national-security officials.
A review of internal Optica corporate records shows the alliance ran far deeper than publicly known, blossoming over decades even as US-China tensions over technology soared.
The findings expand on a Bloomberg News report in May that Huawei was secretly sponsoring a research competition run by Optica’s foundation. That arrangement enabled Huawei to fund millions of dollars worth of cutting-edge studies at US universities without their knowledge, including at schools that ban their researchers from taking Huawei money.
The revelations prompted a congressional investigation and a decision by Washington-based Optica to return the funds Huawei had committed to the program and to remove the company’s representation on the panel of judges.
Scrutiny over the funding arrangement has dealt a blow to a partnership that effectively helped Huawei preserve access to a pipeline of top-notch US scientists despite its pariah status in Washington. For example, according to Bloomberg’s latest findings, at least three of the six US researchers Huawei secretly sponsored through the Optica competition won Pentagon funding around the same time.
An April 4 complaint, filed to Optica’s general counsel by an employee citing the group’s whistleblower policy, flagged Rogan’s “undisclosed” visit to Huawei’s headquarters and raised concerns about the company’s role in choosing which scientists would receive funding through the competition. The whistleblower also alleged the contest risked compromising US-government-funded work, including efforts backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.
“I believe that research that is funded by DARPA and other agencies and patents to which the U.S. government has certain rights have been willfully exported to Huawei and therefore the Chinese government” through the competition, the complaint says, without elaborating on that allegation.
5. In Rare Rebuke, U.S. Ambassador Accuses China of Undermining Diplomacy
Jonathan Cheng, Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2024
Beijing has been stirring up anti-American sentiment and preventing people from attending embassy events, Nicholas Burns says in an interview.
In November last year, President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to boost engagement between ordinary Chinese and Americans, part of an effort to repair fraying ties ahead of a tense election year in the U.S.
Instead, says Nicholas Burns, Washington’s ambassador in Beijing, China has actively undermined those ties, interrogating and intimidating citizens who attend U.S.-organized events in China, ramping up restrictions on the embassy’s social-media posts and whipping up anti-American sentiment.
“They say they’re in favor of reconnecting our two populations, but they’re taking dramatic steps to make it impossible,” Burns said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
The 68-year-old Burns, a veteran diplomat who took up his post in March 2022, used unusually forceful language to criticize what he described as an effort by Beijing to weaken America’s standing and disrupt its diplomatic activities in China.
The remarks by Burns show that, behind a fragile detente reached last year, there has been growing concern among U.S. officials about Beijing’s sincerity in improving relations.
Burns, who spoke to the Journal at his embassy office in the Chinese capital, also took aim at Beijing for what he described as efforts to stir up anti-American sentiment domestically, saying that he was particularly concerned about the recent stabbing of four Iowa college instructors in northeastern China.
COMMENT – Make no mistake, the relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic has NOT improved, it is getting worse.
6. Microsoft Bing’s censorship in China is even “more extreme” than Chinese companies’
Joanna Chiu, Rest of the World, June 27, 2024
Bing’s censorship rules in China are so stringent that even mentioning President Xi Jinping leads to a complete block of translation results, according to new research by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab that has been shared exclusively with Rest of World.
The institute found that Microsoft censors its Bing translation results more than top Chinese services, including Baidu Translate and Tencent Machine Translation. Bing became the only major foreign translation and search engine service available in China after Google withdrew from the Chinese market in 2010.
“If you try to translate five paragraphs of text, and two sentences contain a mention of Xi, Bing’s competitors in China would delete those two sentences and translate the rest. In our testing, Bing always censors the entire output. You get a blank. It is more extreme,” Jeffrey Knockel, senior research associate at Citizen Lab, told Rest of World.
Citizen Lab’s report found last year that alongside Bing’s translation service, its China-based search engine also censors more extensively than Chinese firms’ services do. The studies challenge the popular belief that U.S. tech giants might resist Chinese censorship demands more strongly than their Chinese counterparts. Microsoft has not responded to Rest of World’s requests for comment.
Microsoft’s practices “harm people’s ability to communicate with an entire demographic of people,” Knockel said.
COMMENT – Be better Microsoft.
7. The Martyrdom of Liu Xiaobo
Orville Schell, China Book Review, June 27, 2024
China’s dissident writer was an exemplar of iconoclastic intellectual spirit, pursuing a more humane society despite state repression. A new biography draws the arc of his rebellion and untimely death.
When Liu Xiaobo died in 2017, he had become China’s most fiercely principled and iconoclastic public voice. Possessing an almost allergic reaction to autocracy, he ardently opposed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s rule and hoped passionately to see his country become a more open, humane and just place. His life and work are reminders that despite the well-manicured exterior of political life that the CCP tries to project, its despotic political system has generated deep wellsprings of opposition to its Leninist state. Although difficult to measure, sometimes even to see, these wellsprings have pooled over the last century to form subterranean aquifers of dissenting thought that keep surfacing.
During my many decades of studying and writing about China, I’ve digested thousands of novels and works of non-fiction in the field. But I cannot think of a book about contemporary Chinese political thought that has so drawn me into the narrative of one thinker’s life as I Have No Enemies: The Life and Legacy of Liu Xiaobo (2023, Columbia University Press) by Perry Link and Wu Dazhi — the latter a pseudonym adopted to avoid a punitive response from the CCP for deigning to research such a politically sensitive topic. A definitive biography of Liu’s life, based on the authors’ meticulous research, it offers readers an illuminating tour of China’s intellectual underbelly, while at the same time infusing the period of contemporary Chinese history in which Liu lived with a deeply human dimension.
The title shares a quote — “I have no enemies, and no hatred” — with a previous collection of Liu’s essays and poems, No Enemies, No Hatred (2013, Harvard University Press), that Perry Link edited along with Tienchi Martin-Liao and Liu Xia. Now, ten years later, Link and Wu have given us a full narrative of Liu Xiaobo’s life, his intellectual journey, and his death while still in detention.
Liu Xiaobo was born in the Manchurian city of Changchun in 1955 into a family where, like Mao Zedong, Liu found himself constantly at odds with, and regularly beaten by, his tyrannical father. Growing up in such a state of antagonism seems to have steeled him to bear, and sometimes even to embrace, such adversity.
During the Cultural Revolution, he went with his parents to inner Mongolia before being “sent down” (下放), alone, to rural Jilin province as an “educated youth” (知识青年). However, when Mao died in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping returned to power two years later, he began studying Chinese literature at Jilin University. Already a voracious reader, a lover of poetry and philosophy, and a polymath, Liu was becoming an increasingly iconoclastic, even nihilistic, thinker. At the same time, he was developing a preternatural urge to find new answers to vexing social and political questions in China.
COMMENT – If you haven’t looked into the life and writings of Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Liu Xiaobo, you should.
This is an individual worthy of emulation and admiration. Liu was born two years after Xi Jinping and suffered similar trauma during the Cultural Revolution. But unlike Xi, Liu adopted a deeply humanitarian outlook.
The Party’s efforts to erase Liu and his works does a great disservice to humanity and disrespects the best of what Chinese people have contributed to the world.
Perhaps one day, the Chinese people will be able to honor Liu openly, rather than being propagandized into worshiping in the Cult of Xi.
8. China to see biggest millionaire exodus in 2024 as many head to U.S.
Pak Yiu, Nikkei Asia, June 18, 2024
China saw the world's biggest outflow of high-net-worth individuals last year and is expected to see a record exodus of 15,200 in 2024, dealing a further blow to its economy, a new report says.
Uncertainty over China's economic trajectory and geopolitical tensions are top of mind for many Chinese millionaires, in dollar terms, who choose to leave their country, according to the report by investment migration firm Henley & Partners. The U.S., China's international archrival, stands out as the top destination, according to the researchers.
China last year saw 13,800 high-net-worth individuals depart, mostly to the U.S., Canada and Singapore, the firm found. Such individuals, abbreviated as HNWIs, are defined as those with at least $1 million in assets.
Henley & Partners said it was difficult to know how much wealth was taken with the emigrants, but "in our experience the HNWIs that normally move most are the ones with between $30 million and $1 billion in wealth," said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, a wealth intelligence firm that collaborated with Henley & Partners on the report.
The large number of rich Chinese heading elsewhere could add to the strain on the nation's fragile economy. A prolonged property crisis has sunk large developers and badly dented the country's wealth, while weighing on debt-laden local governments. The International Monetary Fund earlier this year said the China faces "high uncertainty" due to the real estate turmoil. Fitch Ratings downgraded China's sovereign credit outlook to negative in April, following a similar move by Moody's Investors Service last December.
Rich Chinese paused their efforts to move themselves and their fortunes offshore during the COVID-19 pandemic, but quickly resumed their emigration after draconian restrictions on travel were lifted.
The report does not give exact numbers for migration to the U.S. nor the reasons for those who moved there.
Immigration consultants and analysts have also observed a sharp increase in inquiries from Chinese people, both rich and middle class, looking to move to Japan. "The lifestyle in Japan is very appealing with beautiful public gardens and golf courses, plus it's ranked among the safest countries on earth according to the Global Peace Index," Amoils said.
Singapore has traditionally attracted rich Chinese due to its proximity to China, cultural links and use of Mandarin. But the city-state has stepped up scrutiny of inbound Chinese wealth. Singapore recently denied two Chinese individuals permission to set up a family office, a common way to acquire citizenship, after a money laundering scandal.
The United Arab Emirates remains the most attractive destination for the world's rich with its zero income tax, luxury lifestyle and "golden visas" for investors, the investment migration firm said.
As for other places seeing outflows, Hong Kong lost around 500 high-net-worth individuals last year, amid growing concerns over freedom as authorities crack down on dissent. Henley and Partners does not expect much of a change in the trend this year.
The U.K. is expected to see the second-biggest net loss in 2024 after China this year, at 9,500.
South Korea is projected to see a net outflow of 1,200, while Taiwan is forecast to lose 400. Hannah White, CEO of think tank Institute for Government in London and who provided analysis for the report, partly attributes these flows to uncertainty over the U.S. election in November and the potential for a second Donald Trump presidency. His isolationist rhetoric has raised concerns that his administration may be less likely to defend Taiwan in a military crisis with China, or support South Korea in a contingency with North Korea.
Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, said 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate globally in 2024, a record for wealth migration.
"As the world grapples with a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and social upheaval, millionaires are voting with their feet in record numbers," Volek said. "In many respects, this great millionaire migration is a leading indicator, signaling a profound shift in the global landscape and the tectonic plates of wealth and power, with far-reaching implications for the future trajectory of the nations they leave behind or those which they make their new home."
9. VIDEO – Surge of Chinese migrants crossing Southern border into the U.S.
NBC News, April 22, 2024
The number of migrants from China has soared from under 1,000 a few years ago to more than 37,000 last year. NBC News' David Noriega reports on what's behind the increase and how the U.S. says it's addressing the issue.
Authoritarianism
10. Man charged under new Hong Kong security law over ‘seditious’ social media posts remanded in custody
James Lee, Hong Kong Free Press, June 21, 2024
11. Against China, the United States Must Play to Win
Matthew Kroenig and Dan Negrea, Foreign Policy, June 24, 2024
12. Xi Jinping’s Russian Lessons
Joseph Torigian, Foreign Affairs, June 24, 2024
13. Chinese ‘monster’ ship reinforces nine-dash line in South China Sea
Radio Free Asia, June 27, 2024
The world’s largest coast guard ship patrolled the U-shaped line where China claims control over disputed waters.
Chinese coast guard ship CCG 5901, dubbed “The Monster” for its size, has conducted a patrol along the so-called nine-dash line that China drew to claim most of the South China Sea, said maritime experts.
The vessel appears to have returned to base in Hainan island after a ten-day tour through neighboring countries’ waters.
“The patrol serves the purpose of reaffirming China’s nine-dash line, but also sending a warning message to the Philippines as it passed through six sensitive Philippine locations,” said Ray Powell, director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University, who has tracked the ship’s movement over the last ten days in a map that shows a U-shaped path resembling the line.
COMMENT – Perhaps the Chinese Coast Guard is trying to compensate for something…
14. Bookstores Become Sites of Subtle Protest Against Xi Jinping
Alexander Boyd, China Digital Times, June 18, 2024
15. Xi’s Former Chief of Staff Tapped to Push for Tech Breakthroughs
Bloomberg, June 26, 2024
16. Police step up intelligence gathering ahead of July 1
RTHK, June 22, 2024
17. Cities, provinces across China join global propaganda push
Lin Yang, VOA, June 21, 2024
18. Autocracy is 'evil', Taiwan president says after China threatens death for separatism
Ben Blanchard, Reuters, June 24, 2024
19. China Rejects U.S. Ambassador’s Accusation That Beijing Is Undermining Diplomacy
Jonathan Cheng, Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2024
20. Chinese artist hits back at party censorship with trashy performance
Lionel TC, RFA, June 17, 2024
21. Xinjiang: China accused of renaming hundreds of Uyghur villages
Anna Lamche, BBC, June 20, 2024
22. Iran presidential candidates stress China, Russia ties ahead of vote
Shuntaro Fukutomi and Tala Taslimi, Nikkei Asia, June 25, 2024
Environmental Harms
23. Coal focus damps hopes of China’s climate ambition
Edward White, Financial Times, June 25, 2024
24. China hits back at West's over-capacity allegations in EVs, lithium batteries
Ellen Zhang and Joe Cash, Reuters, June 24, 2024
Foreign Interference and Coercion
25. China May Be the Ukraine War’s Big Winner
Michael Schuman, Atlantic, June 24, 2024
26. Senior Vancouver Police officer investigated for potential PRC data leaks
Sam Cooper, The Bureau, June 22, 2024
27. China presses Global South leaders to support Taiwan 'reunification'
Ken Moriyasu, Nikkei Asia, June 24, 2024
28. Russia and North Korea’s Defense Pact Is a New Headache for China
David Pierson and Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, June 20, 2024
29. Putin Came to Asia to Disrupt, and He Succeeded
Damien Cave, New York Times, June 22, 2024
30. EU wants spies on university campuses to fight Chinese tech espionage
Pieter Haeck, Politico, May 23, 2024
Human Rights and Religious Persecution
31. Beijing’s Crackdown on Islam Is Coming for Kids
Ruslan Yusupov, Foreign Policy, June 17, 2024
32. How conspiracy theories might have led to assault on Japanese mother and son in China
Wenhao Ma, Wenhao’s News Blog, June 26, 2024
A knife attack in Suzhou, China injured three on Monday. Two of the victims were a Japanese mother and her child. The third was a Chinese woman who tried to block the attacker.
The incident took place at a bus stop, where the two Japanese victims were waiting for a school bus that would take them to a local Japanese school. After injuring the two, the attacker tried to get on the bus and was blocked by the Chinese victim who was on the bus.
According to Suzhou police, the Chinese woman is still in serious condition and requires intensive rescue. The police said that the suspect, who was arrested at the scene, is an unemployed 52-year-old man who is not a local resident.
The attacker’s motivation remains unclear. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that it was an isolated incident, which was also what Beijing said after four American visitors were assaulted by a Chinese man with a knife in northeastern China earlier this month.
While it’s not a secret that anti-Japanese sentiment runs rampant on Chinese social media and among certain sections of the Chinese public due to historical conflicts, including wars, territorial disputes and Beijing’s cultivation of online nationalism through propaganda and disinformation, on Chinese internet there are also conspiracy theories specifically targeting Japanese schools in China, such as the one in Suzhou that the child victim went to.
Purveyors of these conspiracy theories suggest or outright claim that these schools train spies and are a conduit through which the Japanese government invades China culturally. In the comment sections of these online posts, many users call for the removal of these schools.
In a popular video posted last year on Chinese video app Bilibili, a narrator says that the Chinese people can never be too careful with what the Japanese are doing in their country because of Japan’s invasion of China during the second World War.
“Although the Anti-Japanese War ended decades ago, the wild ambitions of the Japanese are hardly a secret,” the narrator says. “So, nobody can be sure what exactly is going on in these exclusively Japanese schools.”
The schools the narrator refers to are Japanese-only schools set up in China by Japanese institutions or companies for the children of Japanese professionals who work there. According to Chinese law, these schools cannot accept any Chinese nationals.
The schools are required to register the names of their faculties and students as well as teaching materials with the Chinese government annually. They also have to report changes of board members and principals to the Chinese authorities.
According to the website of the Japanese embassy in China, there are 11 full-day Japanese schools in mainland China and three in Hong Kong. There are also ten supplementary or weekend Japanese schools in the region.
But on Chinese social media, the number of Japanese schools in China, 21 if you include both full-day and weekend schools in mainland and Hong Kong, erupted to 35. Another number often regurgitated by many netizens was 137, which was likely made up to be connected to Unit 731, a Japanese army unit that conducted human experimentations and manufactured biological weapons in China during World War II.
The exclusion of Chinese students in Japanese schools, which is mandated by the Chinese government, became a sign that there are nefarious activities taking place inside these schools, according to those who spread the conspiracy theories.
“Due to so many unknown factors, our government has to inspect these 35 exclusively Japanese schools unannounced,” the narrator from the popular Bilibili video says. “If we don’t keep up our guard, there is no guarantee that they won’t engage in destructive activities on our territory.”
COMMENT - The Chinese woman, Hu Youping, who stepped in to protect the Japanese woman and her son, died this week due to the stab wounds she suffered in the attack.
In an admirable way, PRC state media has honored the woman as a hero. She had worked as a school bus attendant outside the Japanese school in Suzhou.
33. China's political refugees remain at risk long after leaving country
Wang Yun, RFA, June 20, 2024
34. China dismisses EU comments on human rights crackdown
Reuters, June 18, 2024
35. China: Math Competition Underscores Educational Inequality
James Palmer, Foreign Policy, June 18, 2024
Jiang Ping, a 17-year-old fashion design student from a vocational school in China, made headlines by placing 12th in the preliminary round of the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition.
Her achievement, especially as the only girl in the top 30, highlights the inequalities in China's education system. Despite vocational schools being intended as alternative educational paths, they often lack resources and are stigmatized.
36. China says Dalai Lama must 'thoroughly correct' his political views
Reuters, June 20, 2024
37. In Italy, lawyers file Uyghur forced labor complaints about tomato paste
Jilil Kashgary, RFA, June 13, 2024
38. Campaigners urge UN rights chief to act on China Xinjiang abuse report
Emma Farge, Reuters, June 21, 2024
Industrial Policies and Economic Espionage
39. Chinese premier rebuffs ‘bloc confrontation’, talks up open markets in ‘Summer Davos’ address
Frank Chen and Ji Siqi, South China Morning Post, June 25, 2024
40. US unveils draft plan to restrict investment in Chinese technology
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, June 21, 2024
41. China’s C919 jet noses closer to European certification as regulators plan visit
Frank Chen, South China Morning Post, June 24, 2024
42. China's new graduates face job crunch with only 48% receiving offers
Kentaro Shiozaki, Nikkei Asia, June 23, 2024
43. China’s AI event World Intelligence Expo attracts few foreign firms in Tianjin amid global rift
Ben Jiang, South China Morning Post, June 24, 2024
44. China is rolling out the red carpet for venture capital in tech – and foreign funds are welcome
Amanda Lee, South China Morning Post, June 20, 2024
45. China's 'too small' property rescue leaves market wanting more
Echo Wong, Nikkei Asia, June 26, 2024
46. China's undersea cable drive defies U.S. sanctions
Cheng Ting-fang, Lauly Li, Tsubasa Suruga, and Shunsuke Tabeta, Nikkei Asia, June 26, 2024
47. China-North America flights just 20% of pre-pandemic level
Shizuka Tanabe, Nikkei Asia, June 25, 2024
48. Chinese subsidies for drones, chips put U.S. at risk, House panel says
David J. Lynch, Washington Post, June 25, 2024
49. Uniqlo parent to digitally track materials across its supply chain
Tamayo Muto, Nikkei Asia, June 21, 2024
50. China’s Secondary Schools Are Not Equal
James Palmer, Foreign Policy, June 18, 2024
51. China Lures $2.3 Billion of Middle East Sovereign Money in 2023
Kiuyan Wong and Trista Xinyi Luo, Bloomberg, June 23, 2024
52. Why the U.S. Is Forcing TikTok to Be Sold or Banned
Sapna Maheshwari and Amanda Holpuch, New York Times, June 20, 2024
53. China’s Foreign Direct Investment Falls Further in May
Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2024
54. Europe’s Response to China Shock 2.0: Hold China Closer
Tom Fairless and Bertrand Benoit, Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2024
55. The Rise of Chinese EVs Is Dividing the West
Stephen Wilmot, Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2024
56. China and European Union Agree to Talks in Bid to Head Off Trade War
Keith Bradsher, New York Times, June 22, 2024
57. Historic Moon Mission Moves China Ahead in Space Race with U.S.
Stu Woo, Clarence Leong, and Micah Maidenberg, Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2024
58. Edinburgh halts deal with Taiwanese city over fears of China backlash
Simeon Kerr and James Kynge, Financial Times, June 24, 2024
59. China's retail outlook dims after mid-year shopping festival flop
Casey Hall, Reuters, June 24, 2024
60. For American Brands Worried About China, Is India the Future?
Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, June 26, 2024
Cyber & Information Technology
61. China’s Internet-of-Everything Gambit and Battle for LiDAR
Emily de La Bruyère and Nathan Picarsic, FDD, June 28, 2024
The Chinese government is intent on seizing control of emerging technologies to cement a dominant position in tomorrow’s economic and security environment.1 A principal focus of Beijing’s efforts is the network of physical devices known as the Internet of Things (IoT), which Chinese sources expect to become an “Internet-of-Everything” once it achieves a “global scale.”2 In the realm of hardware, Beijing faces little competition. Chinese IoT module makers already dominate the global market in areas ranging from smart appliances to autonomous cars, including a full stranglehold over the commercial drone industry.3 Government support and industrial strategy, as well as technology pilfered from abroad, have fueled this advantage.4
Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology is a clear example of this People’s Republic of China (PRC) strategy, which Beijing employed previously in its conquest of the drone market. China’s dominance there has made it difficult for the Pentagon to contribute to drone warfare operations in places like Ukraine without relying on Chinese inputs. LiDAR, like drone technology, is dual-use relevant and key to emergent critical infrastructure.5 Today, Chinese entities are dominating the commercialization of LiDAR and its applications in current advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving, a critical emerging field.
The United States, its allies, and the private sector must respond to the risk of China’s LiDAR gambit with both defensive and offensive measures. It will be necessary to protect U.S. research and development efforts while publicizing the risk of partnerships with Chinese Internet-of-Everything players. An effective response in the LiDAR field can serve as a model for related efforts since similar threats proliferate across the Internet of Everything.
62. Tech war: Huawei sees HarmonyOS breaking the dominance of Android and Apple’s iOS in China
Iris Deng, South China Morning Post, June 21, 2024
63. Xi Urges China to Combat Rivals’ Tech Dominance During Chip Battle With US
Bloomberg, June 24, 2024
Sam Bresnick, CSET, June 2024
65. US closer to curbing investments in China's AI, tech sector
Andrea Shalal, David Lawder, and Karen Freifeld, Reuters, June 21, 2024
Military and Security Threats
66. Chinese hackers have stepped up attacks on Taiwanese organizations, cybersecurity firm says
Zen Soo, Associated Press, June 24, 2024
67. China, Saudi military cooperation on ‘fast track’ as top defence officials meet
Yuanyue Dang, South China Morning Post, June 26, 2024
68. How to equip the US Coast Guard against China’s grey-zone operations
Molly Pflaum, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, June 25, 2024
69. Philippines warns online casinos could be China-linked 'Trojan horses'
Ramon Royandoyan, Nikkei Asia, June 24, 2024
70. China-linked Spies Target Asian Telcos Since at Least 2021
Pierluigi Paganini, Security Affairs, June 20, 2024
71. Swarms over the Strait
Stacie Pettyjohn, Hannah Dennis, and Molly Campbell, CNAS, June 20, 2024
72. Taiwan Wants a Drone Army—but China Makes the Drones It Wants
Joyu Wang, Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2024
One Belt, One Road Strategy
73. There Is No CPEC in Gwadar, Except Security Check Posts
Akbar Notezai, ChinaFile, March 1, 2024
74. US Export-Import Bank seeks more latitude to counter Belt and Road Initiative
Robert Delaney, South China Morning Post, June 28, 2024
75. VIDEO – Peru resolves Chinese megaport dispute as president prepares to meet Xi
Bryan Wood and Caroline Wang, South China Morning Post, June 27, 2024
Opinion Pieces
76. The TikTok debacle: Distinguishing between foreign influence and interference | Brookings
Diana Fu and Emile Dirks, Brookings Institution, June 24, 2024
77. How to Avoid Conflict in Taiwan
Matt Pottinger, China Books Review, June 20, 2024
78. China’s AI Strength Suggests US Curbs Could Backfire
Catherine Thorbecke, Bloomberg, June 25, 2024
79. Why it’s too late to stop World War 3 – according to one of Britain’s greatest military historians
Richard Overy, The Telegraph, June 23, 2024
80. China's communist leaders are preparing a story to tell
Ling Li, Nikkei Asia, June 26, 2024
81. We’ve Already Picked Decoupling’s Low-Hanging Fruit
Tim Culpan, Bloomberg, June 24, 2024
82. The US Is Learning the Wrong Cold War Lessons on China
Minxin Pei, Bloomberg, June 24, 2024
83. China’s super-rich are eyeing the exit
James Kynge, Financial Times, June 21, 2024
84. A deepening stand-off in the South China Sea
Financial Times, June 25, 2024xa