China News - 18 November 2021
International
New report exposes forced labour connections in global retail brands’ supply chains. More than 100 global retail brands could still be at risk of using cotton that is produced by Uyghur forced labour, according to new research by Sheffield Hallam University’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice. You can read the report here.
China’s Xinjiang cotton is banned in the US, but still making it to store shelves, report says. Washington Post, 17 November
EU’s forced labour ban will be bundled up in a law requiring companies’ due diligence on sustainability, according to POLITICO. POLITICO, 17 November
MPs pile pressure on Boris Johnson to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics. Boris Johnson faces growing pressure to stage a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, following reports the Biden administration will swerve the Games. Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the China Research Group, signed a letter on Wednesday urging the Prime Minister to ban any official UK diplomatic representation. The Telegraph, 17 November
UK fourth highest user of US-blacklisted surveillance cameras, according to new data. An updated report has revealed that the UK has 277,986 surveillance camera networks provided by Hikvision and Dahua, Chinese companies that have been found to create technology used to racially profile Uyghurs. Both companies have also been accused of posing significant privacy and security risks due to their links with the Chinese Communist Party. Top10VPN, 16 November
Germany may have been naive on China at first, Merkel says. Germany may at first have been naive in some areas of cooperation with China, but should not sever all connections in reaction to growing tensions, outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Reuters. Reuters, SCMP, 17 November
New report: China’s subnational diplomacy in Europe. MERICS has released a fascinating report on how China has expanded its ties in Europe at a subnational level, bypassing EU institutions and national governments to increase influence and advance its strategic interests. Read here. 18 November
Taiwan opens office in Lithuania, brushing aside China opposition. Taiwan opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania on Thursday in a diplomatic breakthrough for the island, brushing aside Beijing's strong opposition to the move. Reuters, 18 November
China must realise Taiwan isn’t Hong Kong, Tony Blair says. Bloomberg, 18 November
US, EU, Japan trade ministers agree to renew three-way partnership. Bloomberg, 17 November
Chinese vessels use water cannon to block Philippines vessels from disputed shoal. The Guardian, Independent, 18 November
Peng Shuai: Doubt cast on email from missing Chinese tennis star claiming ‘everything is fine’. BBC, The Guardian, FT, 17 November
Economy & tech
China steps up opening up, supply chain security charm offensive in wake of Biden-Xi summit. Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan and Premier Li Keqiang spoke about China opening up further and said that China wanted to work with all countries to keep industry and supply chains stable and enhance coordination of macroeconomic policies. SCMP, 17 November
US-China tech war clouds SK Hynix's plans for a key chip factory. Plans by South Korea's SK Hynix to overhaul a huge facility in China to make memory chips more efficiently are in jeopardy, sources told Reuters, because US officials do not want advanced equipment used in the process to enter into China. Reuters, 18 November
Boss’s fire sale to keep Evergrande alive. The founder of China Evergrande Group has raised about £815 million by selling his personal assets, including a villa in Hong Kong and private jets, in an attempt to keep the hugely indebted property company afloat. The Times, 18 November
Huawei, Alibaba sponsorship overshadows European cloud Gaia-X’s summit. POLITICO, 18 November
US should restrict investment in China due to security concerns, panel says. WSJ, 17 November
Top steel firm China Baowu unveils global alliance to cut emissions. Reuters, 18 November
China focus
China lays final tracks in loop around Taklamakan Desert. Workers successfully laid the final tracks of the 510-mile Heruo railway linking the city of Hotan to Ruoqiang county in the province of Xinjiang in September, in an attempt to connect remote communities in the west of the country. The Times, 17 November
China making example of jailed Wuhan Covid journalist, says lawyer. The detention of Zhang Zhan, the Chinese journalist jailed after reporting on the Covid pandemic in Wuhan, is intended as a “warning to others”, her former lawyer has said. The Guardian, 18 November
Hong Kong says it could criminalise spreading of ’fake news’. Independent, 17 November
China’s State Council approves plan to digitalise government services. Xinhua, 17 November
Opinion & editorial
US-China nuclear talks unlikely to produce cuts in warheads. Michael Evans. The Times, 17 November
Russia’s energy deals with China may backfire on the Kremlin. Moscow has much leverage over Europe as a gas supplier, but an over-reliance on Beijing carries long-term strategic risks. Alexander Gabuev. FT, 18 November
Xi's need to overtake Deng poses big risk for Taiwan. Katsuji Nakazawa. Nikkei Asia, 18 November
Beware the Chinese ransomware attack with no ransom. A different hacking tactic could be a way to distract victims from the perpetrator’s true motive. Tim Culpan. Bloomberg, 17 November
Long reads
Briefing: is the world giving Beijing a pass over Xinjiang? Reid Standish. China in Eurasia, 17 November
Xi-Biden summit produces few breakthroughs. The White House still lacks a coherent China strategy. James Palmer. Foreign Policy, 17 November
How the West tried to shift China on climate. A year of relentless diplomacy brought significant wins, but not the hoped-for breakthrough. Karl Mathieson and Zack Colman. POLITICO, 17 November