China News - 6 April 2022
International
AUKUS pact extended to development of hypersonic weapons. The US, UK and Australia will co-operate on the development of hypersonic weapons, expanding the AUKUS security pact designed to counter China’s rapid military expansion. US president Joe Biden said in a statement with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and UK prime minister Boris Johnson that the allies would enhance co-operation in several areas and seek to engage other close partners as part of their commitment to “a free and open Indo-Pacific”. FT, Gov.uk, 5 April
Shanghai’s Covid outbreak threatens more global supply chain disruption. Locked down Shanghai announced another daily record high of 16,766 cases on Wednesday, with new surveys showing a contraction in China’s giant manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, according to official data, as many as a third of farmers in northeastern Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces have insufficient agricultural inputs after authorities sealed off villages to fight the pandemic. The three provinces account for more than 20 per cent of China’s grain production. FT, 6 April
EU-China summit was a ‘dialogue of the deaf’, says top Brussels diplomat. The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told the European Parliament that Chinese leaders didn’t want to discuss Ukraine during Friday’s online summit. Labelling the summit as a “dialogue of the deaf”, Borrell said that Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping wanted to “instead focus on the positive things”. SCMP, 6 April
China calls for facts on ‘disturbing’ Bucha deaths in Ukraine war. Bloomberg, 6 April
Russia turns to China for microchips for in-demand domestic bank cards. Reuters, 5 April
NATO seeks Asia-Pacific support to thwart Russia-China alliance. NATO foreign ministers will meet with their counterparts from the Asia-Pacific this week, seeking to gain their cooperation in deepening the economic and diplomatic isolation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Nikkei Asia, 6 April
Hong Kong's No. 2 official resigns ahead of leadership election. Chief Secretary John Lee resigned on Wednesday amid media reports the former security chief during months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 will attempt to become city leader in a May vote. Reuters, 6 April
Economy & tech
Semiconductors: China’s ‘Little Nvidia’ utilises UK AI chip design. Within 100 days of its founding in October 2020, Beijing-based Moore Threads was worth more than $1 billion on paper after raising hundreds of millions of dollars from marquee investors. But key pieces of its chip design come from UK-based Imagination Technologies, a major global licensor whose customers also include Apple, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The Information, 5 April
China's Big Oil to pour cash into boosting domestic output. China's big three state-owned oil and gas companies are raising their capital investment budgets this year to the highest level seen since 2014 amid an energy security push from Beijing to boost domestic production. Nikkei Asia, 6 April
Hong Kong stock exchange takes aim at boardroom ‘boys’ club’. Hong Kong’s stock exchange is moving to change what critics deride as corporate China’s “boys’ club” by requiring that its more than 2,500 listed companies have at least one female board member by 2024. FT, 5 April
HSBC buys bigger stake in its China securities venture. Reuters, 6 April
BYD stops making fossil-fuel powered cars, goes fully electric. Caixin, 5 April
Opinion & long reads
Boris Johnson’s China problem. The British prime minister has described himself as ‘fervently Sinophile’ - but his government is caught between drumming up investment and talking tough on security. Eleni Courea. Politico, 6 April
China: Between the National People’s Congress and the Party Congress. In a new Explainer for the Council on Geostrategy, Charles Parton OBE goes over the points of interest from the CCP ‘Two Sessions’. Charles Parton. Council on Geostrategy, 5 April
How the British Government mishandled the resignations of its Hong Kong judges. Samuel Bickett. Substack, 5 April
Shanghai woman’s 16-hour bus ride into quarantine: ‘my only wish is to leave this place alive’. Stella Yifan Xie. WSJ, 5 April