China News - 9 November 2022

International

Taiwan aims for British trade deal as minister meets president. Taiwan hopes to sign a trade deal with the UK and deepen cooperation with new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government, President Tsai Ing-wen told British trade minister Greg Hands in Taipei on Wednesday. Tsai also said that she looks forward to the UK joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and supporting Taiwan's membership. Reuters, 9 November

Key UK-China issues debated in Parliament. During Oral Questions yesterday, Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticised the UK government for its lack of action on China and asked new Minister for the Indo Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan if the government would publish a China Strategy. The recent Manchester consulate incident was also discussed, with the FCDO minister promising "diplomatic consequences" if China fails to waive immunity should police find grounds to charge their staff. Hansard, 8 November

A third of Hong Kongers seeking UK visas were minors. Nearly one-third of Hong Kongers who applied for a new route to British citizenship were under 18, the South China Morning Post reported, reflecting a population exodus in the city’s next generation of workers. Of the 142,000 Hong Kongers who have applied for BN(O) visas, 38,600 were in this age bracket, according to official figures obtained. Just 16% of those requests were filed from the UK. Bloomberg, 9 November

Hong Kong court lets UK lawyer defend media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Independent, 9 November

COP 27: China climate envoy says Beijing committed to carbon neutrality. China's special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said on Tuesday that Beijing is committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2060 and believed multilateralism and cooperation is key. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda said that highly polluting emerging economies including China and India should pay into a climate compensation fund to help countries rebuild after climate change-driven disasters. Reuters, 8 November

Germany set to block Chinese chip deal. Germany’s economy minister said he was looking at ways to tighten restrictions on non-European investment in critical infrastructure as Berlin moved to block the sale of a chip factory to a Chinese-owned company. The German government is expected to bar the sale of Dortmund-based Elmos’s semiconductor plant to China-owned Silex Microsystems following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. FT, 8 November

China ditches EU chief Michel’s speech at top trade show. Charles Michel's speech at the China International Import Expo's opening was set to be heavily critical of "Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine" and say that Europe is learning "important lessons" from it. Politico, 8 November

Security agencies probe Chinese approach to ex-Australian defence personnel. Australian security agencies are investigating allegations that highly skilled former Australian defence force personnel may have been approached to provide military training to China. The Guardian, 9 November

China casts wary eye as Japan signs up for Nato cybersecurity platform. SCMP, 9 November

Anti-China rhetoric on US campaign trail alarms Asian Americans. Nikkei Asia, 9 November

Economy & tech

Foreign investors shun China stock rally as factory gate prices fall. Global investors are largely spurning a searing rally for China stocks, with exchange data and market participants pointing to Chinese traders as the main driver of world-beating share price gains amid hopes that the end is nigh for the country’s strict zero-Covid policy. Meanwhile. China's factory gate prices for October dropped for the first time since December 2020. FT, 9 November

US firms eyeing manufacturing ‘backups’ as China’s zero-Covid policy accelerates reshoring. Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, India and South Korea are seen ‘prime candidates’ for a so-called China plus one strategy to diversify manufacturing as US firms lose confidence in Beijing’s zero-Covid policy. SCMP, 8 November

Gap sells its China business after 12 years. Sale to e-commerce retailer Baozun for up to $50 million comes as retailers struggle under China’s Covid zero-tolerance policy. WSJ, 8 November

China expands financing tool to support ailing developers. Bloomberg, 8 November

China focus

New cohort of Chinese diplomats will continue to prioritise Xi’s push to ‘tell China’s story well’. The new slate of diplomats who have been promoted to China’s key leadership body have whittled down the number of candidates vying to be China’s next foreign minister. The Straits Times, 8 November

China shows off jets once shrouded in secrecy in clear display of military might. Four cutting-edge stealth fighter jets were arguably the headliner at China's National Airshow hosted in Zhuhai in southern China this week. Sky News, 8 November

Xi inspects Central Military Command joint operations command centre. Xi urged China’s military to be ready for war in uncertain and unstable times. Xinhua, 8 November

Long reads & opinion

The Return of Red China. Xi Jinping brings back Marxism. Kevin Rudd. Foreign Affairs, 9 November

How Britain and the US can counter China’s growing military. With the People’s Liberation Army being the world’s largest and most powerful, the West must work with its allies. Lukas Filler. The Telegraph, 9 November

Can BYD beat Tesla? It’s beating Tesla in China, but can it replicate this success in foreign markets? Barry van Wyk. The China Project, 8 November

China’s digital yuan works just like cash—with added surveillance. Jennifer Conrad. Wired, 8 November