China News - 14 June 2022
International
Government confirms UK Confucius Institutes will be required to declare funding. After a campaign led by CRG co-chair Alicia Kearns, the UK universities minister told MPs that new amendments to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill would allow international culture and language partnerships to be stopped if free speech was curtailed. Michelle Donelan explicitly stated that the Bill will cover Confucius Institutes. Universities may be required to offer alternative provisions or to terminate partnerships with Confucius Institutes if they are adjudged to be impinging on free speech. China Research Group (via Twitter), The Telegraph, 13 June
Share of Scottish university fees from Chinese students revealed. The Times, 13 June
US holds and ‘productive’ talks with China in nearly 5-hour meeting. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss a range of security challenges facing the countries’ bilateral relationship, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and North Korea’s string of ballistic missile tests. A senior administration official described the talks as “candid, in-depth, substantive and productive.” CNBC, 13 June
US lawmakers reach compromise on screening investments in China. As Congress continues to negotiate a final version of sweeping legislation meant to strengthen US competitiveness with Beijing, the lawmakers’ compromise raises the odds that new outbound investment rules could be included in a final bill. SCMP, 14 June
Pentagon bankrolls rare earths plant as US plays catch-up to China. The $120mn deal with Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths to build one of the first onshore heavy rare earths separation facilities would see China bypassed entirely from the production cycle. FT, 14 June
UN human rights chief to forgo second term amid China trip criticism. Michelle Bachelet announced her decision to step down, citing “personal reasons”, while adding in a separate speech that her office was updating its official assessment of the situation in Xinjiang. The Guardian, 13 June
Chinese TV found guilty of further violations in UK. British regulator Ofcom has completed an investigation into another complaint against Chinese state-run broadcaster CGTN, finding it once again breached broadcasting law. It ruled that former British journalist Peter Humphrey was treated unfairly and unjustly in a programme of character assassination over his exclusive reporting on forced prison labour in China. Safeguard Defenders, 13 June
We needed China deal to protect ‘domestic security’, says key Solomon Islands official. The Guardian, 14 June
Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereign claims over Taiwan Strait. SCMP, 14 June
Economy & tech
Arm could reach for UK listing, minister says. The UK is still fighting to secure the listing of Cambridge-based tech group Arm Holdings, Britain’s tech minister insisted after the launch of a digital strategy to attract and build fast-growth businesses in the UK. The semiconductor business had suggested it was looking to float the business on Wall Street, perceived as a snub to the UK as a place to grow successful technology companies. The Times, 14 June
China’s chipmaking power grows despite US effort to counter it. Chinese orders for chip-manufacturing equipment from overseas suppliers rose 58% in 2021, making it the biggest market for those products for a second year running, according to data provided by industry body Semi. Bloomberg, 13 June
Alibaba and Tencent’s darkening clouds. Growth has stagnated at Alibaba’s cloud computing division, with sales up just 12 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 from a year earlier. Top rival Tencent reported its cloud arm shrank in the same period. FT, 14 June
Chinese banks cut investment banking staff in Hong Kong during IPO drought. FT, 14 June
China focus
Beijing investigates 24-hour bar blamed for Covid outbreak. Beijing is facing a “ferocious” outbreak of Covid-19, officials warned, after they shuttered public venues and reintroduced mass testing mandates less than a week after the city eased restrictions. FT, The Guardian, 13 June
China vows to adapt better to climate change as risks soar. Climate change was not only creating long-term challenges but also made China more vulnerable to "sudden and extreme" events, the government said in its national climate change adaptation strategy published late on Monday. Reuters, 14 June
Long reads & opinion
Michelle Bachelet’s failed Xinjiang trip has tainted her legacy. The UN human rights commissioner ended up whitewashing China’s atrocities. Benedict Rogers. Foreign Policy, 13 June
We need a Bretton Woods for the digital age. Democracies risk ceding global economic governance to China if they do not agree new rules. Mike Rogers. FT, 13 June
China has promised not to ask Chinese tech companies for overseas data. Zichen Wang. Pekingology, 13 June
What’s Lost in Translation? Discrepancies in Official Translations of China’s Foreign Policy Statements. Sabine Mokry. US-China Perception Monitor, 13 June