China News - 14 June 2021
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International
Hilton hotel to be built in Xinjiang after China bulldozes mosque. The site where a mosque once stood in the heart of Hotan in China’s Xinjiang region is now under construction to become a commercial tower block that will house a Hampton by Hilton hotel. Sophia Yan of The Telegraph spent 9 days reporting from Xinjiang. The Telegraph, 12 June
US assessing reported leak at Chinese nuclear power facility. The US government has spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, after a French company that part owns and helps operate it warned of an "imminent radiological threat," according to US officials and documents reviewed by CNN. The Biden administration believes the facility is not yet at a "crisis level". CNN, 14 June
G7: US and Europe on the China dilemma. The final summit communique directly mentioned a number of contentious issues, including Hong Kong, stability in Taiwan, unfair economic practices and an investigation into the origins of Covid. But while the leaders from the G7 forged a consensus on unfair trade practices and human rights abuses, the US issued a separate statement on the use of forced labour in Xinjiang. The Guardian, Politico, WSJ, Reuters, 13 June
China says small groups do not rule the world. As G7 leaders sought to establish a unified position on China, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London accused them of “political manipulation” and warned that the days when a "small" group of countries decided the fate of the world were long gone. BBC, NBC, Reuters, ChinaDaily, 13 June
Key G7 announcements:
The participating countries announced a direct challenger to China’s Belt and Road initiative. The $40 trillion Build Back Better World (B3W) Partnership, driven by the G7 and other like-minded countries, will coordinate in mobilising private-sector capital in four areas of focus—climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equity and equality. The B3W is set to be global in scope, with different G7 partners having differing geographic orientations. Reuters, SCMP, NYT, FT, The Telegraph, 13 June
Boris Johnson and Joe Biden divided over ‘coronavirus leak’. The Times, The Telegraph, 13 June
Australian frigates to join Britain in naval exercises in Indo-Pacific. The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June
UK-China
Cambridge fellows tutor Beijing elite in art of leadership. The Cambridge China Development Trust, which rents offices at Jesus College, taught hundreds of the authoritarian regime’s most powerful corporate bosses as well as CCP officials between 2005 and 2019. The Times, 12 June
UK report says Hong Kong security law used to 'drastically curtail freedoms'. The latest six-monthly report by the FCDO says Beijing has broken its legal obligations by undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and used a national security law to crush dissent and suppress the expression of alternative political views. FCDO, Reuters, 11 June
UK Huawei 5G ban hammers top line. Huawei's UK operation saw its turnover plummet 27.5% in 2020, as top lines were hit by Britain's decision to ban the company from providing 5G infrastructure for its mobile network. Yahoo, FT, 13 June
China focus
China’s border reopening journey. China has embarked on a nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign as the first step towards safely reopening its borders to the world. SCMP, 14 June
Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow released from prison after 10 months. Chow was released on the second anniversary of the city's huge democracy rallies, with police out in force and protests now all but banned. BBC, Sky, The Guardian, 13 June
Bordeaux beware: China picks its spot to shake up world wine industry with trial project in Ningxia. The Times, 11 June
The Sneaky Conservatism of China’s Feminist Dramas. Foreign Policy, 12 June
Economy & tech
China’s New Power Play: More Control of Tech Companies’ Troves of Data. Beijing is calling on tech giants to share their information—and asserting its authority over data held by US companies in China as well. WSJ, 12 June
‘Too Big to Fail’ May Not Apply in China Anymore, Goldman Says. There has been a noticeable uptick in defaults by Chinese state-owned enterprises since 2019, with policymakers less willing to support even large firms. Bloomberg, 14 June
Hong Kong stocks lose support from mainland buyers who snub cheap valuations, balk at regulatory risks. Average daily purchases this month have slumped by 90 per cent, with Hang Seng Index’s biggest members becoming targets of China’s antitrust probes. SCMP, 13 June
Longer reads & opinion
The democratic world has finally united over China. The G7 summit in Carbis Bay deserves to go down as the moment when the West’s big economies came together on China. The Sunday Times, 13 June
The G7 was stronger on values than hard cash. The question of delivery hangs over many of the big topics that the G7 addressed — including vaccines, climate and the effort to create an international infrastructure drive to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Gideon Rachman. FT, 13 June
Cold war or uneasy peace: does defining US-China competition matter? Some veteran observers of Sino-US relations say that while it is important to grasp the nature of the major power competition, the analogy of the 20th-century cold war is unhelpful. Vincent Ni. The Guardian, 11 June
Profile: Tom Tugendhat by David Patrikarakos in Foreign Policy, 13 June
The Titan of Taiwan. With attacks from China and pressure from the U.S., can TSMC maintain its edge? Tim de Chant. The Wire, 13 June
The anti-graft unit of China’s Communist Party has grown in power. The Economist, 11 June
The Documentary: When Kissinger Went to China. BBC Sounds, 12 June