China News - 7 July 2022
International
China: MI5 and FBI heads warn of ‘immense’ threat. The heads of UK and US security services have made an unprecedented joint appearance to warn of the threat from China. FBI director Christopher Wray said China was the "biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security", accusing Beijing’s Ministry of State Security of homing in on western companies it wanted to “ransack” to help obtain corporate secrets. MI5 head Ken McCallum said his service had seen a sevenfold increase in China-related investigations since 2018. McCallum added that China’s “scale of ambition is huge” and that Beijing was focused on “areas of core technology where it would otherwise be impossible for China to catch up with the west by 2050”. BBC, 6 July
China escalates efforts to influence US state and local leaders, officials warn. WSJ, 6 July
Beijing brings in vaccine mandate to curb BA5 spread, progress made on homegrown mRNA jab. From Monday, anyone wanting to enter public places in the Chinese capital will need to show proof of vaccination. About one in five over-60s in Beijing were said to still be unvaccinated in April - and there are now fears over the more transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant. However, optimism among analysts about the prospects for Chinese mRNA vaccines has been fuelled by recent trial results for a jab. Sky News, FT, 7 July
Decision on sale of UK’s biggest chip maker to Chinese-owned firm delayed. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng was set to make a final decision by Tuesday night on the purchase of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia, a Dutch subsidiary of Chinese company Wingtech, but has sought a further 45 working days to analyse the takeover. FT, 6 July
‘Hong Kong police’ threaten UK barristers of jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai. Threatening emails purporting to be from specialist police in Hong Kong were received by a leading QC and two other senior barristers at one of the UK’s most prominent human rights chambers. The barristers are representing the jailed former Apple Daily newspaper owner Jimmy Lai. The Times, 7 July
Penny Wong says she is open to meeting with Chinese counterpart at G20. Australia’s foreign minister has signalled she is open to meeting her Chinese counterpart at meeting of G20 foreign ministers, but she has warned any diplomatic thaw will require the removal of Beijing’s “coercive” trade sanctions against a variety of exports. The Guardian, 6 July
Jacinda Ardern warns against ‘self-fulfilling prophesy’ of war in Pacific.
The New Zealand prime minister stressed that Beijing had a crucial role to play in upholding the world order and said that New Zealand remained “open and inclusive” in its approach to China’s application to join the CPTPP if it complied with the conditions of the trade pact. FT, 7 July
US lawmakers ask FTC chair to investigate TikTok’s data practices. NYT, 6 July
Economy & tech
IEA warns on China’s dominance of solar panel supply chain. The International Energy Agency has warned that China’s dominance of the solar panel supply chain could slow the global transition to cleaner energy. The organisation’s new report on the issue found that China’s share in the manufacturing stages for solar, from the production of polysilicon to the panels themselves, could reach as high as 95 per cent by 2025. FT, 7 July
Volkswagen planning ‘big moves’ and hiring spree in China. The world’s second-largest automaker is beefing up operations in its largest market to keep pace with fast-growing Chinese automakers and fast-changing customer preferences. TechCrunch, 6 July
Blaming investors, Guinea again suspends Simandou iron ore project. It’s the second time this year that authorities put a break on development of the project, which seen as crucial for China to reduce its reliance on Australian iron ore. Caixin, 6 July
China's plunging land sales threaten local governments. Nikkei Asia, 7 July
Long reads & opinion
The Times view on security risks in the West: China Crisis. MI5 is right to warn of the rising danger of espionage. The Times, 7 July
Deep comprehension of the Global Security Initiative. Scholars at one of China’s leading state-controlled international relations think tanks provide an overview of the recently-proposed Global Security Initiative. CSIS, 6 July
The global semiconductor industry is interconnected, like it or not. The global production of semiconductors will be interdependent at least the next decade. China may want chip self-sufficiency, but that goal is still a ways off. Phoebe Boswall. SupChina, 7 July
How China’s BYD played catch-up with Tesla. Peter Campbell and Edward White. FT, 7 July