China News - 25 May 2022
International
Chinese and Russian nuclear bombers fly over Sea of Japan as Biden visits Tokyo. The nuclear-capable bombers conducted a joint flight on Tuesday that began over the Sea of Japan as the US president was meeting his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India, Japanese and US officials said. FT, NYT, The Independent, 24 May
China seeks region-wide Pacific islands policing, security cooperation. China will seek a region-wide multilateral deal with almost a dozen Pacific islands covering policing, security and data communications cooperation when Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosts a meeting in Fiji next week, documents seen by Reuters show. Reuters, 25 May
Penny Wong set to travel to Fiji on Thursday, coinciding with Chinese minister’s Pacific tour. And Solomon Islands journalists shut out of China foreign minister visit have raised secrecy concerns. The Guardian, The Guardian, 25 May
Germany changing its China policy with higher priority for human rights, says economy minister. Germany is diversifying more, reducing its dependency on China, and will closely examine applications from German companies wanting to make investments in China to rule out human rights violations and forced labour in the supply chain, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday. Reuters, 24 May
UK, US and Germany say Xinjiang Police Files offer ‘shocking’ new evidence of China’s human rights abuses. “This is not something that can be ignored, and it is also not something that can be kept quiet about,” Annalena Baerbock told reporters in Berlin. ICIJ, 24 May
Yesterday’s UQ debate on Xinjiang in House of Commons. Xinjiang Internment Camps: Shoot-to-Kill Policy, brought forward by Nus Ghani MP. Hansard transcript, 24 May
Chinese embassy accuses UK of 'malicious slander' over Xinjiang. CGTN, 24 May
Nato head warns over risks of close economic ties with Russia and China. “Freedom is more important than free trade. The protection of our values is more important than profit,” Stoltenberg told the World Economic Forum. The Guardian, 24 May
US speeds up reshaping of Taiwan’s defences to deter China. The aim is to turn Taiwan into what some officials call a “porcupine”. NYT, 24 May
China focus
Beijing clamps down on elite students after lockdown protests. Students at the country’s top two universities, Tsinghua and Peking, have been prevented from leaving their campuses for weeks as the schools enforce their own Covid bubbles. FT, 25 May
China faces growing pressure to iron out audit deal with the US. The change in tone has come as a three-year countdown for China to comply with the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act of 2020 looks increasingly likely to be shortened. WSJ, 25 May
China pours on billions of dollars more in tax relief. Beijing will offer more than 140 billion yuan ($21.1 billion) of additional tax relief to businesses, increasing the total of tax rebates and tax cuts this year to 2.64 trillion yuan ($394.1 billion). Caixin, 24 May
Long reads & opinion
‘The Last Generation’: The Disillusionment of Young Chinese. Many believe that they’re the most unlucky generation since the 1980s. NYT, 24 May
Xi reaps whirlwind of bromance with Putin. The souring bromance and other governing blunders are leading to capital outflows, plunging growth rates and an increasingly open questioning of Xi’s judgment. Roger Boyes. The Times, 25 May
The Times view on the plight of the Uighurs: Faces of Genocide. The Times, 24 May
China's dominance of critical minerals may be as dangerous for Europe as Russia's energy weapon. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. The Telegraph, 24 May