China News 23 June 2020
International
Trudeau Rejects China Prisoner Swap. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected calls for his government to send Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer back to China in exchange for two Canadian prisoners. The Globe and Mail also reports on Michael Kovrig’s letters home, detailing life in his Beijing jail cell. His wife, Vina Nadjibulla, says: “I truly believe that by doing this, China sends a message to the rest of the world that is chilling – that basically says, ‘nobody is safe here.’” Bloomberg, Globe and Mail, 22 June
Hong Kong national security law rushed through - full draft will only be made public to Hong Kong citizens after it is passed by China’s top legislative body. The law is expected to come into force within a week. It emerged that suspects under the security law could be held in special detention facilities. Opposition lawmaker Dennis Kwok slammed the legislative process as a “black box” with no transparency. He warned that giving the Chief Executive the power to choose judges to hear national security cases would deal a serious blow to judicial independence. SCMP 22 June & SCMP, 23 June
British embassy WeChat posts on Hong Kong censored. China Media Project, 19 June
The Strange Attempt to Stop a New Book on China’s Global Influence. The release of a forthcoming book on the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Western democracies was put on hold in Canada last week following a British trade association’s threat to sue for what it says are defamatory allegations. The National Review reports that: “authors Clive Hamilton, an Australian academic, and Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Program, characterize the 48 Group Club as a conduit of CCP influence in elite British circles. Perry and his organization take issue with several sentences, which they say are incorrect or defamatory.” National Review, 23 June
China / India. In the FT Gideon Rachman argues that China has driven India towards the west. India Today details what led to the clashes and loss of life. The Hindustan Times examines China’s infrastructure build up on the border. At a CRG event today Ambassador Ashok Kantha said relations had reached an “inflection point”and that the process of regular agreements seen between 1988 and 2013 had broken down. Dr Rudra Chaudhuri, Director of Carnegie India, discussed the likely effects on India’s tech industries, inward investment and venture capital. India Today, FT, 22 June Hindustan Times, 21 June
China cyber attack on Australia ‘has been going on for months’. The rolling attack is seen as mapping political and business relationships in Australia. SMH, 23 June
Von der Leyen calls out China for hitting hospitals with cyberattacks. China and the European Union gave differing accounts of a bilateral summit on Monday, with Beijing talking of consensus, while EU officials highlighted differences over market access, Hong Kong, values and cyber attacks. there was no joint statement from the meeting. Politico, SCMP, Bloomberg, Reuters 22 June
Contract for Kenya’s China-funded railway ruled ‘illegal.’ SCMP, 23 June
US State Department designates of additional Chinese media entities as Foreign Missions. The move affects China Central Television, China News Service, the People’s Daily, and the Global Times. In a briefing David Stilwell from the State department said: “The Communist Party does not just exercise operational control over these propaganda entities, but it has full editorial control over their content.” Statement, Briefing 22 June
Kiribati's pro-China leader wins re-election in blow to Taiwan. The result is a set back to Taiwan’s hopes to re-establish ties with a country that ditched it for Beijing last year. Reuters, 23 June
China-Japan dispute over Diaoyu islands. Global Times, 20 June
China Orders Prayer Flags Taken Down in Tibet. Radio Free Asia, 17 June
US v China: is this the start of a new cold war? Guardian, 22 June
Economy/tech
How China’s Mercantilist Policies Have Undermined Global Innovation in the Telecom Equipment Industry. ITIF, 22 June
China warned to prepare for being cut off from US dollar payment system as part of sanctions like Russia. The US dollar payments system, which is underpinned by infrastructure such as the SWIFT international payments messaging system and the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), is the backbone for international trade and investment. Sanctions imposed by the US on Russia cut the former Soviet country off from the international payments system and is mooted as being included in the range of possible sanctions open to the US in responding to recent Chinese aggression. SCMP, 22 June
Bank of China Weighs Ending Wirecard’s Credit Line. Bank of China Ltd. is discussing ending a credit facility to Germany’s Wirecard AG, a move that would complicate the beleaguered company’s fight for survival after it was engulfed by a multi-billion-dollar accounting scandal. Bloomberg, 22 June
Longer reads & opinion
New book: “China, the bubble that never pops” - Tom Orlik, Bloomberg, 23 June
Lex: Chinese dollar debt: payment error. FT, 22 June
How the coronavirus is delivering more rubbish problems in China. Inkstone, 22 June