China News - 5 February 2021

International

UK-China: Three spies posing as Chinese journalists expelled from Britain. The Telegraph reports that three intelligence officers for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) arrived in the country on journalism visas under the fake pretext of working in the media. Their true identities were uncovered by MI5 and they have since been forced to return to China in the past year. The Telegraph, 4 February

Beijing aims fire at BBC, today urges UK to correct mistakes and stop political manipulation. The reaction to Ofcom’s revocation of CGTN’s licence in the UK continues. In today’s press conference, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson accused the British government of “blatant double standards and political oppression” (Ofcom is an independent regulator). Yesterday, China’s foreign ministry issued a statement accusing the BBC of pushing “fake news” in its COVID-19 reporting and saying China ‘reserves the right to take further measures’. The foreign ministry’s criticism of the BBC was among the top trends on China’s Weibo social media platform on Friday. Bloomberg, FM Statement, Reuters, Politico, The Times, 4 February

Analysis: ‘the latest nail in Britain’s golden era coffin with China’ by George Magnus and what to expect from China next by Charles Parton in The Telegraph.

Useful context: CGTN was ultimately banned over a licence ownership issue but the writing was on the wall. Complaints against the broadcaster for airing forced confessions and failure to broadcast with ‘due impartiality’ were upheld in July 2020 (see Twitter thread) - and a resolution was expected at the end of January 2021. The precedent case of Iranian state TV outlet Press TV followed a similar timeline, eventually being banned by Ofcom in 2012.

Biden’s first foreign policy speech: calls China the ‘most serious competitor’ to the US. Although his decision to withdraw US support for offensive operations in Yemen made the headlines, Biden also doubled down on his commitment to alliances. “We’re going to rebuild our alliances,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re going to re-engage the world.” SCMP, NYT, 4 February

Macron: EU shouldn’t gang up on China with US. “A situation to join all together against China, this is a scenario of the highest possible conflictuality. This one, for me, is counterproductive,” Macron said, speaking in English, during a discussion broadcast by Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council on Thursday. Politico, 4 February

'Let's learn about national security': Hong Kong rewrites school rules. Hong Kong students as young as six will be taught about the national security law under a dramatic overhaul of the education curriculum. FT, The Guardian, 5 February

UK tribunal to hear witnesses on China genocide accusations. The public, independent Uyghur tribunal is expected to begin in May with judgement by the end of the year. AP, 4 February

Solar firms pledge to act against Chinese Uyghur abuse. Some of the world’s largest solar companies have signed a pledge opposing forced labour in the solar supply chain. The Telegraph, 5 February

Vaccine diplomacy: Cambodia to roll out Sinopharm vaccine from China with shipment of 600,000 doses. Macron conceded that Beijing’s ‘diplomatic successes’ in distributing vaccines to other countries could be seen as ‘humiliating’ for Western leaders, but expressed concern about Chinese vaccine efficacy. SCMP, 4 February

China bat caves need exploring in search for COVID origins, WHO team member says. Reuters, 4 February

China watch

China is readily considering joining CPTPP: commerce ministry. Xinhua, 4 February

China brings back long-time climate czar. Xie Zhenhua’s return to the position of special envoy for climate is seen as a positive signal for U.S.-China cooperation on environmental issues. The Diplomat, 5 February

China should promote free movement of digital data, government think tank says SCMP, 5 February

Economy & tech

Shares in TikTok rival Kuaishou almost triple on Hong Kong debut IPO. Chinese video app’s IPO is biggest in tech sector since Uber offering in 2019. Kuaishou’s valuation is currently within touching distance of ByteDance. FT, 5 January

China’s SWIFT joint venture shows Beijing eyeing global digital currency use, to internationalise yuan. SCMP, 4 February

Alibaba debt sale draws investor rush despite regulatory woes. Funds line up $38bn in orders for $5bn of bonds even as Beijing targets Jack Ma’s empire. FT, 5 February

Longer reads & opinion

China – a look ahead to 2021 and beyond. This paper looks at the main challenges and priorities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the coming year, and the main challenges the CCP poses to other countries. Guest article by UK former diplomat Charles Parton in Sinocism, 4 February

The UK and the CPTTP: Creating an Asian Option for the Future. CPTTP membership is low-cost, with no clear drawbacks writes Andrew Cainey in RUSI commentary, 5 February

Power, patriotism and 1.4 billion people. A long read on how the one-party state was able to mobilise China’s recovery from Covid-19 in the New York Times, 4 February

Officials in China make pupils take sport seriously—with exams. The Economist, 4 February