China News - 15 October 2021

International

COP26: UK hopes of an ambitious climate deal fall with news that Xi Jinping is expected not to attend. The Times splashes on the news that the prime minister has been advised by diplomats that Xi is not expected to join world leaders at Cop26. Xi has not left China since January 2020. Australian PM Scott Morrison is now expected to attend. China and Saudi Arabia, two of the world’s biggest polluters, have also failed to submit updated pledges in time for the UN’s deadline this week. The Times, iNews, 14 October

China warns UK’s Truss not to imperil ties over Taiwan spat. A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the UK on Thursday warned new Foreign Secretary Liz Truss not to create "new obstacles" in relations between London and Beijing after she promised solidarity with Lithuania. Vilnius has become Beijing's “arch foe” in Europe because of its growing ties with Taiwan. Politico, Ecns, 14 October

High Representative Josep Borrell meets with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. They agreed to launch EU-US consultations on the Indo-Pacific and hold a first high-level meeting this year. EEAS, 14 October

US rejoins the UN Human Rights Council. SCMP, Reuters, 14 October

WHO says new Covid probe ‘last chance’ to discover origins of virus, China called for an ‘objective, scientific’ approach against “political manipulation” in response. Independent, The Guardian, ABC News, 14 October

White House says US commitment to Taiwan is 'rock solid' as Taiwan’s defence minister says it won’t be the one to start war with China. Reuters, Independent, The Japan Times, SCMP, 14 October

Uyghur man awaits Morocco ruling as China seeks extradition after Interpol snub. SCMP, 14 October

Economy & tech

LinkedIn closes down China site, citing ‘greater compliance requirements’. According to the Wall Street Journal, LinkedIn was given a deadline by Chinese internet regulators to better oversee content on the site. The site had received criticism after blocking the profiles of several US journalists and academics from view in China. It was the last major Western social network to operate in China. FT, BBC, The Times, NYT, WSJ, SupChina, 14 October

China Premier Li Keqiang vows to ensure power supply for manufacturers. The National Development and Reform Commission said Wednesday it had secured supplies needed to heat homes and keep the economy running smoothly, but that high-energy-intensity industries would continue to face power curtailments. Bloomberg, 14 October

China's factory prices gallop to 25-year high. China's producer price index rose 10.7 percent in September from 12 months previously but the consumer price index rose only 0.7 percent. BBC, FT, The Times, Reuters, WSJ, 14 October

What’s off-limits in China’s newly revised ‘negative list’ for investment. Caixin, 14 October

DP World head says supply chain problems could last for two years due to heavy reliance on China. FT, NYT, 14 October

China focus

Xi Jinping says China’s ‘democratic’ political system is a ‘great creation’ that holds key to international success. In a party meeting on Thursday, Xi hailed China’s political system as a “great creation” and the key to its global success amid intensifying ideological confrontation with Washington, calling the competition between political systems a “key aspect” in the competition between nations, and could be a “key advantage for the country in gaining the strategic initiative”. Xinhua, 14 October

Xi Jinping at UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference: China will continue to build links to outside world, urges global transport cooperation, common development. Xi highlighted the country’s role in ensuring stability in the global supply chain during the pandemic and promised to boost links to other countries. SCMP, CGTN, Xinhua, 14 October

Chinese tech workers disclose working hours in criticism of '996'. A campaign calling on workers at Chinese tech companies and other high-profile firms to log their working hours on a public internet page has gone viral, in the latest backlash against a culture of overtime. Reuters, RadiiChina, SCMP, 14 October

China unveils Shenzhou 13 crew, including the first female astronaut, for next mission to Tiangong space station, and has sent its first solar observation telescope to space. SCMP, The Standard, Independent, Sixthtone, CGTN, 14 October

Man given death sentence for ex-wife’s livestream murder that shocked China. The Guardian, BBC, HKFP, Sixthtone, 14 October

China’s anti-corruption watchdog finds public hospitals vulnerable to graft and bribery. SCMP, 14 October

Opinion & editorial

The British Council is in crisis and I’m not sure it’s worth saving. The Chinese authorities give the council more money (£219 million a year) than our own government does. Richard Morrison. The Times, 14 October

Chaguan: How Xi Jinping’s China differs from Mao’s. China’s rise as an authoritarian giant is disruptive enough without mistaking it for Maoist fanaticism. The Economist, 14 October

Environment: Why the UN’s biodiversity conference is so important. Catrin Einhorn. NYT. The net-zero crusade is futile without China. Telegraph View. The Telegraph.

China and the US sabotage their own tech companies. Robert H. Bork Jr. WSJ, 14 October

New democratic framework can bolster CPTPP. Hiroyuki Nishimura. Nikkei Asia, 14 October

Longer reads

Why China's climate policy matters to us all. Researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing say China will need to stop using coal entirely for generating electricity by 2050, to be replaced by nuclear and renewable energy production. BBC, 15 October

A history of Taiwan-China economic ties, by Shelly Rigger. Kaiser Kuo. SupChina, 14 October

How long can China’s zero-covid policy last? The Economist, 14 October

‘The battle at lake Changjin’ and China’s new view of war. Carice Witte. The Diplomat, 14 October

China only has the energy for one crisis at a time. Anjani Trivedi. Bloomberg, 14 October