China News - 2 February 2023
Next event: Defeating the Dictators. There are a limited number of tickets left for our next event, Defeating the Dictators. CSIS fellow Charles Dunst will be joined by The Spectator’s Cindy Yu and The Wall Street Journal’s Joseph Sternberg to discuss his latest book. Palace of Westminster, Tuesday 7th February (6-7pm). Register here.
International
Czech president-elect says west must accept China is ‘not friendly’. The Czech president-elect Petr Pavel has called on EU states to drop any illusions about China, saying his country would no longer “behave like an ostrich” over divergent interests with Beijing. “China and its regime is not a friendly country at this moment, it is not compatible with western democracies in their strategic goals and principles,” Pavel added. FT, 1 February
AUKUS submarines likely to be tri-nation project: UK defence secretary. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says building Canberra’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact is likely to be a tri-nation project, raising expectations Australia, the United Kingdom and United States will jointly develop a new generation of boats. UK Foreign Secretary met with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong to “highlight the UK’s commitment to work alongside Australia to support Pacific Island states’ priorities.” The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 February
US secures deal on Philippines bases to complete arc around China. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in Manila, securing access to four additional military bases in the Philippines - a key bit of real estate which would offer a front seat to monitor the Chinese in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. BBC, 1 February
Canadian lawmakers back resettlement of 10,000 Uyghur Muslims. The Canadian parliament on Wednesday unanimously voted in favour of a non-binding proposal for the resettlement of 10,000 Uyghur Muslim refugees from China's Xinjiang region into Canada over two years. Reuters, 1 February
China-Australia trade talks have Anthony Albanese ‘anticipating’ Beijing visit this year. The first high-profile trade talks between China and Australia in more than three years next week are expected to pave the way for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit Beijing later this year, two sources with direct knowledge of the issue said. SCMP, 2 February
Two more Australian federal government departments ban TikTok. The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 February
US opens embassy in Solomon Islands after 30-year absence. The Guardian, 2 February
Economy & tech
US detains Chinese aluminium, a suspected product of forced labour. The US is beginning to detain imports of aluminium products suspected of being made through forced labor, particularly from Xinjiang, according to one of the world’s biggest shipping firms. Aluminium becomes fourth product targeted from the region. Bloomberg, 1 February
China proposes IPO reforms to overhaul $11 trillion stock market. China’s regulator issued a draft proposal to ease rules for initial public offerings across all its trading venues in a bid to fuel access to funding in the nation’s $11 trillion equity market for millions of smaller companies. Bloomberg, 1 February
Hong Kong to give away 500,000 air tickets to revive tourism. Chief executive John Lee announced offering 500,000 free air tickets to welcome tourists as “probably the world’s biggest welcome ever”. CN Wire (via Twitter), 2 February
China plans industrial zones to lure Chinese diaspora in Asia. Nikkei Asia, 2 February
Hong Kong’s economy contracts more than expected in 2022. FT, 1 February
China focus
Xi stresses efforts to accelerate establishment of ‘new pattern of development’. The readout from this month’s Politburo study session suggests China will not undergo a fundamental reset in economic policy or view of how to develop its economy. Dual circulation, security and self-reliance were major themes of the meeting. Xinhua, 1 February
China’s clean heating policies may have prevented over 23,000 premature deaths in 2021, study finds. SCMP, 2 February
Long reads & opinion
Where does Xi Jinping go from here? A rocky couple of months are unlikely to shake the Chinese leader’s grip on power. Neil Thomas. ChinaFile, 1 February
US-China Chip War – Policy Recommendations by PKU Scholar Lu Feng. Thomas des Garets Geddes and Laura van Megen. Sinification, 1 February
US outbound investment into Chinese AI companies. Emily S. Weinstein and Ngor Luong. CSET, 1 February
Controlling the innovation chain. China’s strategy to become a science & technology superpower. Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau and Michael Laha. MERICS, 2 February