China News - 12 October 2022
Podcast. Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World? Chris Cash is joined by Adrian Geiges and Stefan Aust to discuss their newly-translated, must-read biography of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Listen here.
International
UK to designate China a ‘threat’ in hawkish foreign policy shift. China is to be formally redesignated from a “systemic competitor” to a “threat” to Britain in a hasty rewrite of Boris Johnson’s Integrated Review that is being brought forward to end confusion among ministers about how to deal with Beijing. The redesignation will bring the UK’s official position towards China closer to its stance on Russia, currently classed as “the most acute threat” facing the UK. The Guardian, 11 October
RUSI Annual Security Lecture 2022 with Sir Jeremy Fleming, Director of GCHQ. 'If China is the Question, What is the Answer?'. Watch here.
Foreign Affairs Committee election. With the promotion of Tom Tugendhat into Government, MPs will elect the new chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee today. CRG chair Alicia Kearns MP has vowed to counter hostile Chinese state-backed influence and “focus on building our resilience, atrocity prevention and defending the rules-based order” should she be elected as chair. Politics.co.uk, 12 October
‘Fortress Beijing’ eliminates threats ahead of Communist party congress. With just days until the Chinese Communist party’s most important political meeting in a decade, President Xi Jinping’s security lieutenants are intensifying a months-long crackdown. Under the Ministry of Public Security’s “100-day operation”, which started in June, more than 1.4 million people have been arrested across the country and Covid controls in megacities have this week been stepped up. FT, 12 October
Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan heads to Kazakhstan, and may miss party congress. Wang will lead a delegation to Kazakhstan to attend the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia [CICA] in Astana. The two-day trip is likely to mean Wang will be absent from the party congress that begins on Sunday. SCMP, 11 October
The two women competing for promotion at the 20th Party Congress. Shen Yiqin and Shen Yueyue lack significant policy distinctions, in part because making it to the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party requires strategic political deference. But one of them will have the distinction of becoming the next — and likely only — woman in the Politburo. The China Project, 11 October
No need to blow up TSMC in China war, Taiwan security chief says. Taiwan’s flagship semiconductor industry will not need to be destroyed in a Chinese invasion, the island’s security chief said, amid growing US concerns that Beijing could move to forcibly acquire the crucial Taiwanese chip technology. Bloomberg, 12 October
First Solomon Islands police head to China for training amid deepening security ties. A delegation of more than 30 Solomon Islands police officers has travelled to China to undergo training for the first time, in a sign of deepening ties between the two countries, which signed a controversial security deal earlier this year. The Guardian, 12 October
Australia sees 'no prospect' of China being accepted into CPTPP. Nikkei Asia, 11 October
Kishida to prepare Japan defences for ‘any possible scenario’. FT, 12 October
Economy & tech
Rio Tinto warns of excess globalisation in supply chains for critical metals. The boss of Rio Tinto has warned of the “excesses of globalisation” in critical mineral supply chains as the Anglo-Australian miner and Canadian government plan a C$737mn ($537mn) investment to loosen China’s stranglehold over metals vital to aerospace and defence. FT, 11 October
China's 'sea turtle' tech executives stranded by US crackdown. The latest U.S. crackdown on China's tech has left a group of talented employees caught in the crossfire: the hundreds of Chinese Americans who have been some of the key figures at China's homegrown semiconductor-related companies. Nikkei Asia, 11 October
China’s rapid LNG expansions power its push to maintain energy security. Liquefied natural gas infrastructure is booming in China, as recurrent power shortages and interruptions have had a serious impact on livelihoods and businesses across the country. SCMP, 12 October
China new bank lending nearly doubles after central bank help. Reuters, 11 October
Long reads & opinion
Editorial: The West is at last taking the threat from China seriously. The Telegraph, 12 October
Putin’s botched invasion may benefit Taiwan. Xi didn’t foresee such enthusiastic US backing for Ukraine and may now fear failure if he invades. Roger Boyes. The Times, 11 October
Choking off China’s access to the future of AI. New US export controls on AI and semiconductors mark a transformation of US technology competition with China. Gregory Allen. CSIS, 11 October
One Nation Under Xi: How China’s leader is remaking its identity. NYT, 11 October