China News - 31 May 2023
International
More allegations of political interference in Canada. Ex-leader of the Conservatives Erin O’Toole says Canada’s spy agency informed him of a Chinese campaign to discredit him and suppress votes ahead of the 2021 election he lost against Trudeau. Canada’s opposition parties have renewed calls for a public inquiry into the matter. The Guardian, 31 May
Protesters clash with police in China over partial demolition of mosque. The unrest broke out on Saturday in response to attempts by the authorities to dismantle parts of Najiaying mosque in Nagu, a town in Yunnan province. In 2020, a court ruled that recent additions to the mosque, including a domed roof and minarets, were illegal and should be removed. Amy Hawkins. The Guardian, 30 May
China and Zimbabwe seek to strengthen ties ahead of elections. In a meeting with his visiting Zimbabwean counterpart Frederick Shava in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang pledged Beijing’s support for Zimbabwe to oppose ‘external interference and sanctions’. Zimbabwe is currently under US sanctions over controversial land reforms. Cyril Ip. South China Morning Post, 30 May
Chinese pilot performed ‘aggressive maneuver’ near US plane. A Chinese fighter pilot performed an ‘unnecessarily aggressive maneuver’ near an American surveillance aircraft operating over the South China Sea last week, according to US military. The Guardian, 30 May
Economy & tech
Elon Musk on first trip to China in three years. Musk met with China’s foreign minister Qin Gang and is expected to visit Tesla’s manufacturing plant in Shanghai. His visit comes as Tesla faces growing competition from Chinese electric car manufacturers and amid increasing tensions between China and the US. Annabelle Liang. BBC News, 31 May
TikTok creators’ financial info, social security numbers have been stored in China. An investigation by Forbes reveals that TikTok uses various internal tools and databases from its Beijing-based parent ByteDance to manage payments to creators who earn money through the app. Their highly sensitive financial and personal data has subsequently been stored in China. Alexandra S. Levine. Forbes, 30 May
Goldman Sachs’ China dealmaker stops tapping US investors. Stephanie Hui, who runs the Asia-Pacific private and growth equity arm of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has said she has stopped trying to raise money in the US because of geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing. Kaye Wiggins. Financial Times, 30 May
TikTok CEO to lead ByteDance’s new app Lemon8. Lemon8 head Stephanie Cheng is relocating to Singapore from Shanghai and will report to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew instead of China-based ByteDance executive Alex Zhu. It’s believed that the company is making these changes to prevent backlash over the company’s Chinese ownership. The Information, 30 May
China suspends plan to build floating nuclear reactors in the South China Sea. Chinese regulators have withheld final approval for a mega platform intended to power remote islands and infrastructure in the disputed region, citing security and safety concerns. Stephen Chen. South China Morning Post, 31 May
China’s national computing power network accepts its first batch of provinces. Data centres in southern Guangdong province and the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou have been admitted to the ‘China Computing Net’ (C2NET). Demand for computing power in China has skyrocketed thanks to the rise in popularity of AI. Coco Feng. South China Morning Post, 30 May
China leads the world in preparing for extreme weather threats. China is better prepared than most for extreme weather threats to its electricity grid, according to a recent report by the Lantau Group. Bloomberg, 31 May
Opinion & long reads
Has China become too cosy with private equity? How Chinese state funds have deployed hundreds of billions of dollars into western economies, even as regulators and politicians move to reduce the west’s economic dependency on China. Will Louch, Yuan Yang and Kaye Wiggins. Financial Times, 31 May
Words and policies: “De-risking” and China policy. Gewirtz unpacks the massive uncertainty about what ‘de-risking’ means and the likely divergences in its application. Paul Gewirtz. Brookings Institute, 30 May
How the U.S. wants to pressure China to help avert climate catastrophe. While Biden administration officials try to get talks back on track, they also explore other tools, such as tariffs, that could be tied to the emissions level of products such as steel and aluminum. Michael Birnbaum and Christian Shepherd. The Washington Post, 30 May
How HSBC’s China battle threatens to ‘heat right back up’. Ping An’s next steps after losing a vote promises to shed light on its motivations. Stephen Morris, Kaye Wiggins and Chan Ho-him. Financial Times, 31 May
China’s subsea-cable power play in the Middle East and North Africa. How China’s growing presence in the Middle East and North Africa’s cable industry gives the power to shape the route of global internet traffic by determining when, where, and how to build cables. Dale Aluf. Atlantic Council, 30 May