China News 16 June 2020
International
Three Indian soldiers killed by Chinese forces along disputed border. The escalation of the border dispute on monday marked the first time troops have been killed on the border since the 1970s. The editor of the Global Times says Chinese troops also suffered casualties. AP, Guardian, 16 June, Twitter,
India and China Add to Nuclear Arsenals in 2020. Bloomberg, Report, 16 June
Xi Jinping thought is “the Marxism of the 21st century”. Marking Xi Jinping’s birthday, Study Times, the official newspaper of the Central Party School, said China is determined to show that “socialism is indeed better than capitalism”. It says “the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics has written the most wonderful chapter of world socialism in 500 years. The world’s two ideologies, two doctrines and two systems are undergoing profound changes in favour of socialism.” It hailed the president’s political thinking as “the Marxism of the 21st century.” SCMP, 15 June
UK universities under pressure to reveal details of Huawei funding. Many of the UK's top universities have declined to reveal how much funding they receive from Huawei. Damian Green is quoted saying they should be transparent. Unlike other countries, the UK government does not collect information on firms’ investments. Telegraph, 16 June, Written answer
German 5G decision: Chancellery must mediate in the dispute between government departments, says Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. Handelsblatt looks at the tensions within the government, between the interior ministry which is sceptical about Huawei, and the economics minister Peter Altmeier who is pro, with the Foreign Ministry and Merkel also taking sides. Handelsblatt, 15 June
UK 5G decision. At a CRG event today Derek McManus, Chief Operating Officer, O2, said UK mobile operators wanted certainty from government, and talked about the potential development of new suppliers through OpenRAN. He questioned why Huawei was limited in public networks but used to supply the emergency and security services. André Pienaar, founder of C5, a cybersecurity investment firm and Tobias Ellwood MP debated the wider industrial and security implications of Huawei.
Amnesty eyewitness report on repression and discrimination in Xinjiang. “Police cars were lined up outside the train station. I discovered that ethnic minority people from outside Urumqi needed a letter of guarantee from their local relatives or employer just to leave the train station. Meanwhile people arriving from southern Xinjiang, which until recently was predominantly Uyghur, were assigned jobs on arrival by official “work units” that would closely monitor their performance and behaviour… Han people are sent to live in the homes of people from minority ethnic groups. They eat with them, "cultivate national feelings" and "learn" together. Amnesty, 16 June
Hong Kong:
Beijing will introduce secret police unit says security chief. Secretary for Security John Lee says a new police unit he is creating to implement Beijing's national security law in the SAR will have to keep its operations secret. RTHK, 14 June
Hong Kong chief says opponents of security law are “enemy of the people”. Reuters, 16 June
European Parliament set to vote next week in favor of taking China to the International Court of Justice over Hong Kong security law. Politico, 14 June
Beijing will take control over financial transactions. The Wire China, 14 June
Beijing attacks pro-democracy campaign by school children. HKFP, 12 June
Half of Beijing districts report new coronavirus cases. Life in the Chinese capital had returned to normal before mass testing revealed an outbreak. FT, Reuters, 15 June
US and China hold Hawaii summit. SCMP, 15 June
Economy / tech
Technology of repression in Xinjiang also used in Amazon warehouses. “In 2017, Dahua received over $900 million to build comprehensive surveillance systems which supported a “re-education” system of extra-legal internment, checkpoints, and ideological training for Muslim populations in northwestern China. Since then, the U.S. Department of Commerce placed it on a list of companies banned from buying or selling in the United States. Yet despite the legal and ethical ramifications of buying products from Dahua, Amazon continues to do business with them.” Center for Global Policy, 8 June
China must prioritise domestic innovation to avoid being ‘strangled’ by US in next five years. China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) researcher Zhang Xiaojing says trade and technology disputes are the US ‘kicking away the ladder’ which China used to become the world’s second largest economy. SCMP, 15 June
Germany, preparing EU presidency, wants more reciprocity with China. Reuters, 16 June
State media says Britain can't afford a complete Huawei cutoff. Global Times, 15 June
U.S. companies can work with Huawei on 5G, other standards. The United States on Monday confirmed a Reuters report that it will amend its prohibitions on U.S. companies doing business with China’s Huawei to allow them to work together on setting standards for next-generation 5G networks. Reuters, 16 June
David Cameron pushes ahead with troubled $1bn China fund. Former UK prime minister David Cameron is pushing ahead with a troubled scheme to raise a $1bn China investment fund despite a hardening of the British government’s stance against Beijing. FT, 15 June
Canadian court documents spark China anger. The Global Times says “Fresh revelations from Canadian court documents that the country's spy agency was directly involved in the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 sparked a new wave of indignation among Chinese public” Global Times, 15 June
China raises questions over its Canadian timber imports. Reuters, 16 June
Longer reads and opinion
Time for the D10 to replace the G7? The Strategist argues that “China’s actions, combined with mounting pressure from backbench Conservative parliamentarians, including the newly formed China Research Group, as well as opposition parties” have reshaped UK China policy. ASPI, 16 June
John Thornhill: China is setting itself up to win cold war 2.0. “China’s leaders may have learnt more from American history and its victory in the first cold war than has the US political class. Technological innovation is a national security issue.” FT, 15 June
A BRI(dge) too far: The unfulfilled promise and limitations of China’s involvement in Afghanistan. Brookings, June 2020
Tech Wars: US-China Technology Competition and what it means for Australia. USSC, 16 June
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