China News - 17 May 2022

International

UK Government publishes new International Development Strategy. Ministers have pledged to combine Britain’s trade and aid policies to tackle the influence of “malign actors” across strategically important parts of the world. In an attempt to align development policy with their strategic priorities Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the Government wanted to give countries an “honest alternative” to doing business with countries such as China. The strategy will involve leveraging British International Investment (BII), the Foreign Office’s development finance institution, and delivering the Clean Green Initiative. Gov.uk, The Times, Beijing to Britain, 17 May

NHS safety fears over Chinese medical imports. An investigation has found that nearly one in six vital medical items used in British hospitals come from China at a cost of £6.2 billion a year. NHS dependence on Chinese imports has tripled since 2019 after it went “cap in hand” to Beijing during the pandemic, researchers at the think tank Civitas found. The Times, Civitas, 17 May

Shanghai lockdown: city reaches milestone as it keeps community infections at zero for the third day. 15 of the city’s 16 districts have achieved the goal of no community spread - meaning no new cases were found among residents who weren’t already in quarantine. The milestone has given authorities the confidence to relax some of the measures that have kept three of every 100 residents locked down, en route to a full return to normalcy by the end of June. SCMP, 17 May

Students protest Covid lockdowns at elite Beijing university. NYT, 16 May

At Paris summit, US and EU vow coordinated tech standards to counter China. After two days of intensive talks in Paris, the EU and US vowed to step up efforts to set the rules of the road for cutting-edge technology, in order to counter the rising influence of China and other “non-market economies”. SCMP, 17 May

California police say 68-year-old suspect in church shooting was motivated by hate. A shooting at an Orange county church on Sunday left southern California reeling when David Chou, a Chinese immigrant from Las Vegas, motivated by hate for Taiwanese people fired on congregants who managed to put a stop to the bloodshed. The Guardian, 17 May

Iraq balks at greater Chinese control of its oilfields. Reuters, 17 May

Failed suicide bombing in Pakistan sends more chills down Beijing’s spine. SupChina, 16 May

Economy & tech

China Vice Premier Liu to speak at key meeting with tech execs - Reuters sources. The high-level meeting between Liu He and China’s leading tech executives, currently underway, is being closely watched for clues as to how far Chinese authorities will go in easing a regulatory crackdown since late 2020 on the once-freewheeling tech sector. Reuters, 17 May

JPMorgan upgrades Chinese stocks recently deemed ‘uninvestable. Ratings of NetEase, Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan, iQIYI, Dingdong and Pinduoduo were all upgraded on Monday, as the companies begin to recover from a sharp sell-off this year. FT, 16 May

China’s coal and gas power plummets as Covid Zero hammers demand. The share of renewables increased at the expense of coal and gas and China installed more solar capacity than expected in the first quarter. Bloomberg, 16 May

COSCO plants its flag in South America with $3bn Peruvian port. Nikkei Asia, 16 May

New data: China may have massive underground bitcoin mining operations despite ban last year. SCMP, 17 May

Opinion & long reads

Some factories might leave China, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter much. China still holds the cards for global supply chains, whether or not Covid lockdowns frustrate businesses in the near term. Evelyn Cheng. CNBC, 17 May

Taiwan fights for its diplomatic survival in Latin America. How long will the region’s smaller, cash-strapped countries be able to remain aligned with Taipei? Patricio Giusto and Juan Manuel Harán. The Diplomat, 16 May

China keeps using the wrong tools to fix its economic problems. Mary Hui. Quartz, 16 May

Future Global Policeman? The growing extraterritorial reach of PRC law enforcement. Martin Purbrick. Jamestown Foundation, 13 May