China News - 26 May 2023
International
Foreign secretary publishes six-monthly report on Hong Kong. The report maintains that China remains in a state of ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Gov.uk, 25 May
US and China address trade tensions in rare high-level Washington meeting. Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo raised concerns about their countries’ trade and investment policies at a meeting in Washington but pledged to keep channels of communication open. Joe Leahy and James Politi. Financial Times, 26 May
China hits back at claims of cyber-hacking campaign against critical US infrastructure. The Chinese foreign ministry has said allegations ‘lacked evidence’. It has also argued that ‘the involvement of certain companies’ in the warning ‘shows that the US is expanding channels for disseminating false information’. Tabby Kinder. Financial Times, 25 May
Joe Biden’s advisers say he doesn’t want to drag Pacific allies into ‘headlong clash’ between US and China. In a webinar with an Australian audience on Friday, senior White House national security council officials said the US president wanted to give allies and other close partners ‘breathing space’ to engage with China constructively. Daniel Hurst. The Guardian, 26 May
Montana and Florida face lawsuits for free speech restriction and anti-Chinese discrimination. TikTok filed a lawsuit against Montana for banning the app. Meanwhile, four Chinese citizens and a Chinese company have sued Florida for a new law barring them from owning property. Nadya Yeh. The China Project, 25 May
Economy & tech
TSMC in talks for German subsidies. The German government is in ongoing negotiations with TSMC to build a €10 billion semiconductor plant in Dresden. Reports suggest TSMC could be set to receive subsidies for as much as 50% of the project costs, funded by the European Chips Act. South China Morning Post, 26 May
Chinese solar panel manufacturer Jinko to sell Xinjiang unit. China’s Jinko Solar Co Ltd said it would sell its unit for 4.3 billion yuan (US$622.10 million) to buyers including a government-linked fund. Reuters, 24 May
China’s top server makers stop orders of memory modules containing Micron chips. Halted orders by Inspur Group and Lenovo Group demonstrate immediate impact of China’s Micron ban. Che Pan. South China Morning Post, 26 May
Sanctioned China stocks win sudden boost from patriotic buyers. As Japan and the United States place fresh curbs on Chinese technology firms, local investors are scooping up shares of those firms and state companies. Samuel Shen and Tom Westbrook. Reuters, 26 May
Shein to set up Mexico factory to diversify production amidst heightened political tensions. Chinese fast-fashion retailer intends to construct a factory in Mexico as part of its expansion into the Latin American market. TechNode, 25 May
Opinion & longreads
Who Is Xie Feng, China’s New Ambassador to the US? Shannon Tiezzi. The Diplomat, 26 May
Why Warren Buffett’s Taiwan pullout has unsettling implications. If China can scare foreign investors away from Taiwan, it will gradually but steadily erode Taiwan’s ability to pay for what it needs to deter an invasion. Jim Geraghty. The Washington Post, 24 May
How Xi Steers Algorithms for China’s Online Ecosystem. How China became the first country worldwide to successively regulate recommendation algorithms, deepfakes, and more recently, also became a first-mover in issuing draft measures on generative AI. Vincent Brussee. CHOICE, 25 May
China’s Risky Strategy to Control One-Third of the World’s Lithium Supply. A look at how Chinese companies are buying up stakes in mines throughout the developing world. Sha Hua and Alexandra Wexler. The Wall Street Journal, 24 May
The stark ‘de-risking’ choice facing economies. Nations must seek to strengthen multilateralism or they will end up embracing economic decoupling. Mohamed El-Erien. The Financial Times, 25 May
China’s cancel culture is nationalist, not woke. Recent crackdown on the entertainment industry is the latest example of the toxic loop between China’s angry nationalists and its paranoid authorities. The Economist, 25 May