China News - 8 March 2020
Upcoming event: Where next for the Belt and Road? Join us for a session this Thursday 11 March at 5pm on demystifying Xi’s ‘project of the century’, focusing on the Digital Silk Road. We’ll be joined by three people at the forefront of analysing China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Jonathan E. Hillman of CSIS, Meia Nouwens of IISS and Eyck Freymann from the University of Oxford, moderated by Tom Tugendhat MP. Register here.
International
China abandons 24-year experiment with open Hong Kong elections. China’s parliament is poised to pass a new Hong Kong election law on Thursday that will sharply reduce the proportion of democratically elected legislators. The FT reports that the new election law will expand the legislature to 90 seats, with as few as 20% chosen through direct elections, down from 50%. Local media reported that authorities would delay a vote to choose members of the city’s 70-seat Legislative Council until September 2022. FT, Japan Times, Reuters, 6 March
UK foreign policy review will focus on China's growing power. It has been confirmed that the UK’s Integrated Review, the long-awaited strategic foreign and defence policy review, will be released on the 16 March and followed by a defence command paper on 22 March. The Guardian reports that Whitehall sources said they expected the IR to be a relatively short aspirational document, in effect a definition of Boris Johnson’s loose Global Britain agenda, with key details to follow. The Guardian, 5 March
France sends navy mission to South China Sea. The Telegraph, 7 March. And UK military chiefs bracing themselves for the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier to come under cyberattack from China when it sails to the Indo-Pacific. The Times, 6 March
Wang Yi’s annual press conference: Foreign minister confirms China will ratify UN conventions on forced labour, denies Xinjiang genocide. Speaking at his annual press conference adjacent to the NPC sessions, China's foreign minister said allegations his country is carrying out genocide against Muslim ethnic Uighurs are "ridiculously absurd" and "a complete lie". BBC, Caixin, The Guardian, 7 March
UK politics on China: Dominic Raab tells ‘friends in Beijing’ of trade hope, Liz Truss says “Of course we've got to trade with China.” Daily Express, The Times, 6 March. Nigel Farage also announced his plans to quit Reform UK leader to influence the debate on China, in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph.
India urges other members of Quad alliance to match China’s investment in vaccine diplomacy. Times of India, 8 March
US Senate backs bill to clamp down on China-funded Confucius Institutes. Two US congressman are also seeking to introduce a bill to expedite Uyghur refugee applications. Reuters, CNBC, 7 March
Nomadland references censored in China over critical comments by Chloé Zhao from 2013. The Guardian, 7 March
China watch
More coverage from the Two Sessions:
China to consider phasing out hukou system. In order to meet a new 65% urbanisation target, China may launch a points system to replace the household registration system (hukou). SCMP.
China’s restrictions on overseas academic exchanges ‘could harm policy’. A submission to the CPPCC suggests removal of “unnecessary” approval processes for foreign academic collaborations. SCMP.
Xi Focus: Xi stresses safeguarding people's health, building quality basic public education, improving people’s wellbeing, stresses environmentalism in Inner Mongolia.
Plans for ‘Digital China’ transformation come with increased regulations for personal data. SCMP.
China says manufacturing 'greatness' still 30 years away, a government advisor told party delegates on Sunday. BBC.
Economy & tech
China hack hits 'at least 30,000' US Microsoft customers. At least 30,000 US organisations including local governments have been hacked in recent days by an "unusually aggressive" cyber-espionage campaign that was probably sponsored by the Chinese government. The White House urged network operators to take it “very seriously”. NYT, The Telegraph, SCMP, 6 March
The UK lost export market share in US, Germany and China in 2020. Reuters, 7 March
Longer reads & opinion
Long read - Winter Olympics: Is it time to boycott Beijing 2022? Sunday Times. Charles Parton’s Spectator article argues that democracies should minimise amplifying Chinese propaganda around the Olympics, while avoiding an athletes’ boycott.
Xi Jinping’s eager bureaucrats snarl his China plans. Xi has repeatedly spurred efforts to stamp out excessive bureaucracy, calling it a “major enemy” of the party and the people. In a sign of how seriously leaders are taking the issue, the party’s disciplinary commission started disclosing nationwide data on “formalism” and “bureaucratism” offenses in 2020. WSJ, 8 March
Insight: Shanghai’s new massive urbanisation plan. Shanghai is planning to build five new cities within its boundaries. Sixth Tone, 8 March
The Telegraph’s Future of Hong Kong series: (1) On the UK’s Hong Kong democracy movement, (2) business perspective and (3) the judiciary under pressure.
China takes great leap backwards on cutting emissions. Accompanying Sunday Times leader on China’s pollution. Sunday Times, 7 March
Bitcoin mining is big in China but investors be concerned. Roughly 20% of new Bitcoin is mined in Xinjiang. Barrons, 19 February
Select translations of the 14th FYP (2021-2025) and Objectives through 2035. Pekingnology, 5 March
Xi Jinping is gaining support from Party elites, the numbers say. SupChina, 8 March