China News - 13 July 2022

International

Pacific Islands Forum

US woos Pacific island nations in effort to push back against China. Speaking at the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva on Wednesday, vice-president Kamala Harris announced that the US plans to open embassies in Kiribati and Tonga. She will ask Congress to triple funding for ocean resilience and economic development to $600mn for the next decade to help Pacific island nations tackle illegal fishing, in the US’s latest effort to push back against China in the Indo-Pacific. The US State Department said the Peace Corps would also be redeployed in the region. FT, The Times, 13 July

Police remove two Chinese defence attaches from Pacific Islands Forum meeting. The men were sitting with the media contingent during a session of the forum’s fisheries agency, but one was identified as a Chinese embassy official by a Fijian journalist covering the forum for The Guardian. The Guardian, 13 July

Solomon Islands PM meets Australian, NZ leaders over China pact. Reuters, 13 July

Palau maintains Taiwan ties despite Chinese pressure. Nikkei Asia, 13 July

African states' private debts three times that owed to China. Chinese public and private lenders accounted for 12% of the continent's $696 billion external debts in 2020, while 35% was owed to other private creditors, according to an analysis of World Bank data by Debt Justice. The campaigners say China has been “mistakenly” blamed by western leaders for the failure to make progress on debt restructuring. Reuters, 11 July

Leadership hopefuls promise to be tougher than ever on China. Influential MPs want Conservative Party leadership contenders to admit a genocide is happening in Xinjiang and take a stand against those trying to cover it up. The Sun understands that at least two of the candidates would recognise that a genocide is taking place should they be elected as prime minister. The Sun, 12 July

UK proposes dropping anti-dumping measures against Chinese steel. Britain's Trade Remedies Authority on Wednesday proposed dropping anti-dumping measures on Chinese reinforcement steel - in place since 2016 - saying more imports were needed to meet a fall in supply from other countries because of the war in Ukraine. Reuters, 13 July

China and Malaysia pledge stronger ties. Beijing and Kuala Lumpur agreed to boost bilateral relations during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Malaysia, as he winds up his five-nation tour of Southeast Asia. SupChina, 12 July

Taiwan ‘does not have a so-called vice president,’ Beijing says after official attends Abe funeral. Independent, 12 July

Chinese academics take first steps back to world stage after Covid-19. SCMP, 13 July

Economy & tech

Executives seek briefings on Taiwan war risk. Company executives are increasingly concerned about the possibility of war over Taiwan, according to consultants who have seen a sharp rise in demand for briefings following the invasion of Ukraine. Consultancies are now being asked to brief CEOs directly on Taiwan politics and to organise meetings with senior US officials to discuss the situation. FT, 12 July

BYD shares tumble on speculation over Warren Buffett exit. Shares in Chinese electric car maker BYD fell 12 per cent after a stake close to the size of Berkshire Hathaway’s appeared in the Hong Kong stock exchange clearing system, prompting speculation that Warren Buffett’s conglomerate might dump its holdings. FT, 13 July

Startup searches China’s internet for signs of intellectual property theft. Strider Technologies scours open-source data in China to identify technologies most at risk of being stolen — and the people who might be tempted to steal them. Bloomberg, 12 July

China focus

Shanghai Covid cases steady, though lockdown angst remains. Shanghai’s Covid-19 cases appear to be levelling off following a recent spike, though some residents have been urged to stockpile food and medicines as the fear of returning to lockdown hangs over the city. Bloomberg, 13 July

China to launch work-relief programs in major projects. China’s State Council has approved a plan “to carry out work-relief programs in major projects in order to boost employment and increase incomes for local people”, in a sign of how concerned the central government is about unemployment levels. Yicai, 12 July

China issues heat warnings as temperatures top 40C. Al Jazeera, 13 July

Long reads & opinion

How did Abe Shinzo become an unlikely subject of collective grief in China? The late Japanese prime minister was not popular in China, but some have used his death to emphasise their frustration at being unable to speak freely. Ni Tao. The Diplomat, 13 July

China is stealing Taiwan’s sand. A surprisingly precious resource is another front in grey zone warfare. Elisabeth Braw. Foreign Policy, 11 July

Chinese companies are going global as growth slows at home. Evelyn Cheng. CNBC, 12 July

Purchasing with the Party: Chinese consumer boycotts of foreign companies, 2008–2021. Viking Bohman and Hillevi Pårup. Swedish National China Centre, 11 July