China News - 26 April 2022
International
Jeff Bezos questions China’s influence over Elon Musk’s Twitter. After Elon Musk reached a £35bn deal to buy Twitter, Bezos quoted a post from a New York Times reporter that listed the importance of China to Tesla’s business, including the fact that it is the electric car maker’s second largest business. The tweet said China may now have a way of holding leverage over Twitter. The Guardian, 26 April
Xinjiang: UN team in China ahead of visit by human rights chief. The UN office of the human rights commissioner (OHRC) has been negotiating with the Chinese government since 2018 seeking to visit Xinjiang with “unfettered, meaningful access” and the freedom to interview civil society groups without supervision. The Guardian, SCMP, 26 April
Covid latest: China shifts Covid-19 focus to Beijing outbreak. Beijing has swiftly expanded its Covid-19 mass testing from one district this week to most of the city of nearly 22 million, adding to expectations of an imminent lockdown similar to Shanghai’s. People in Beijing were stocking up on food and supplies. Reuters, 25 April
Hong Kong human rights awards suspended over security law fears. Hong Kong’s historic Foreign Correspondents’ Club has suspended its annual human rights journalism awards over fears they could break the Chinese territory’s tough security law. FT, 26 April
‘Sanctions mean chaos’: China’s foreign minister echoes Xi Jinping’s ‘transcendent’ global security initiative call. In an article in Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi opposed decoupling and wrote that sanctions were causing more chaos. SCMP, 25 April
Economy & tech
British surveillance camera monitor asks British government to clarify Hikvision position. Fraser Sampson, Britain’s commissioner for biometrics and surveillance cameras, said he has written to the Cabinet Office, as well as the minister for local governments in Britain, to understand whether they will continue to buy equipment from Hikvision. SCMP, Beijing to Britain, 25 April
Six weeks until UK supply chain crisis caused by China’s Covid lockdown shipping logjam hits. With nearly 500 cargo vessels this week queueing to enter Shanghai’s container hub, the world’s largest, congestion at major Chinese ports has doubled in the last month. The i, 25 April
China’s solar polysilicon giants are expanding as profits surge. The ambitious solar installation tenders recently announced by state-owned energy companies, China’s major renewable developers, has continued to lift prices for solar panels and the wider supply chain. Bloomberg, 26 April
Didi puts brakes on HK listing plans amid regulatory investigation. Didi can’t go public until it has made sufficient “rectifications” in compliance with China’s cyberspace administration. Tech in Asia, SCMP, 26 April
Long reads & opinion
How Far Does China’s Influence at U.S. Universities Go? One Student Tried to Find Out. A graduate student working at a Confucius Institute in the US tested the limits of interference by organising an event on Xinjiang. Politico, 24 April
The Times view on Beijing’s coronavirus strategy: Covid in China. The mishandling of Omicron outbreaks, first in Shanghai and now in Beijing, is exposing the severe limitations of lockdowns in an over-controlled and over-surveilled authoritarian society. The Times, 26 April
The Big Read - America’s lopsided China strategy: all guns and no butter. Critics say that without a strong trade policy, the US risks ending up with a lopsided approach, heavy on military presence but light on economic engagement, which leaves its allies hesitant about its genuine commitment to the long-term future of the region. FT, 26 April
Five things to know about China’s mega East-West data centre plan. Sixth Tone, 26 April