Mistral点评

• US considers new actions against China-based firms supplying Russia’s defence sector
• China’s ‘super apps’, visa-free travel help send high fives – and cash – to Singapore goalie
• ‘Beijing knows where it hurts most’: China considers its response after EU tariff hike
• China skipping Ukraine summit ‘not unreasonable’ but could harm its image
• G7 backs deal to use US$50 billion from Russian assets for Ukraine, seeks to counter China
• Don’t let our differences become a chasm, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urges New Zealand
• China vows new-energy regulations to optimise industry, while still refuting ‘overcapacity’
• PLA sends 3 advanced Type 055 destroyers for training exercise in South China Sea
• Premier Li Qiang pledges more trade as China extends visa-free travel to New Zealanders
• Talks on China-Japan-South Korea FTA merely ‘symbolic’ given US and public opposition
• Chinese spy agency issues warning after ‘secret’ military books sold for 6 yuan
• ‘The whole supply chain is subsidised’: inside the EU’s blockbuster Chinese EV probe
• China sends emergency relief to central and eastern provinces battling extreme drought
• China overlooks Milei’s rhetoric, hands Argentina US$35 billion lifeline
• China’s ethnic policy chief slams ‘ignorance of history’ in Xinjiang assimilation claims
• Chinese involvement in Indonesia mining project sparks protests, concerns of environmental disaster
• [Sport] The Chinese women dating Dan: An AI boyfriend on ChatGPT
• US says ‘structural issues’ in India-China ties difficult to resolve
• Revealed: the China secret behind voice of ex-One Direction boy band star Zayn Malik
• China’s health system anti-corruption drive nets another senior official in Guizhou
• Chinese EV makers’ price wars in overseas markets will sew doubts over quality: Bain
• Manila sees more Chinese vessels ahead of Beijing’s maritime arrest policy
• US bill targeting China-made batteries shows lawmakers’ growing alarm and differences
• US lawmakers pass Tibet policy bill that questions China’s narrative, leaves status unresolved

US considers new actions against China-based firms supplying Russia’s defence sector

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3266535/us-considers-new-actions-against-china-based-firms-supplying-russia-defence-sector?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States is considering taking further action against Chinese companies that have been supplying Russia’s defence industrial sector, the State Department said on Thursday.

“We are considering further actions,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a briefing to reporters a day after Washington targeted China-based firms that have been selling semiconductors to Moscow.

“Our hope is that companies engaged in rearming Russia’s defence industrial base and bolstering Russia’s defence industrial base so it can rearm the Russian military … will see these actions and think twice,” he said.

The United States on Wednesday announced a major expansion of sanctions designed to undercut Russia’s production of weapons for its war on Ukraine.

Among the actions, the Commerce Department said it was targeting Hong Kong shell companies for diverting semiconductors to Russia, in steps that would affect nearly US$100 million of high-priority items for Moscow including such chips.

China said it opposed the sanctions and called the United States “extremely hypocritical and overbearing” for supplying weapons to Kyiv while pressing for an end to the war.

US-made chips and other technology have been found in a wide array of Russian hardware, from drones to radios, missiles and armoured vehicles recovered from the battlefield, Ukrainian officials say.

The conflict has raged since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

China’s ‘super apps’, visa-free travel help send high fives – and cash – to Singapore goalie

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3266487/chinas-super-apps-visa-free-travel-help-send-high-fives-and-cash-singapore-goalie?utm_source=rss_feed

It’s not just a Singapore football goalkeeper’s food stall that is getting a surge in Chinese business this week after his quick hands helped keep China in contention for a World Cup bid.

Chinese mobile-payment services are also scoring their own goals as fans from China clamour for orders at Hassan Sunny’s small shop, called Dapur Hassan, or make donations from China to show their appreciation.

At the same time, in-person trips endorse Singapore’s four-month-old visa-free travel rules for Chinese nationals – a measure taken to restore commerce post-pandemic.

“I’d like to go to Singapore to look around and not just because of this goalkeeper,” said China football team fan and university student Mike Yeung, 24, of Guangdong province. “I’ve never been before. It’s quite convenient with the payment platforms.”

Chinese football fans flooded social media with praise and adulation for the goalie after hard-fought matches on Tuesday night. Despite losing 1-0 to South Korea in the Seoul World Cup Stadium, China made it through to the next round in the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers because Thailand failed to beat Singapore at home by three goals.

And Hassan, who had 35 shots fired at him, became an instant celebrity. Then millions of Chinese found out he runs a food stall when off the pitch, and this sent them into a frenzy – painting the goalie as an ordinary person rather than a sports superstar.

WeChat Pay, one of China’s two dominant mobile-payment services, announced on Wednesday that its transactions at Hassan’s stall – which sells Muslim food such as nasi padang, sometimes referred to as Padang rice – saw a tenfold surge over Tuesday’s total. It would not disclose the number of transactions or amount of money spent.

Tencent, the developer of WeChat Pay, has offered overseas use of the platform since 2015 and now processes payments in 69 countries.

China’s mobile-payment services took off in Southeast Asia not just by tapping a market without large rivals, but also because of the steady flow of Chinese visitors with the apps on their phones.

Alipay and WeChat Pay invested “heavily” in Southeast Asia to keep a lead, in turn inspiring start-ups in those markets, the Fintechnize blog reported last year. Start-ups such as e-wallet operators now work with the Chinese payment apps, helping to advance both.

The Chinese services also reached Southeast Asia as people there were getting wealthier and their countries started digitising more, according to the news website FinanceAsia.

To develop a “super app” like those from China “requires a rare combination of local market insight, long-term focus [and] deep pockets”, financial industry research firm Kapronasia said in a May 15 research note.

A company representative said WeChat Pay connects to Singapore’s standardised QR code that reaches merchants throughout the city, including smaller restaurants. Hassan’s popular coconut rice goes for S$4.30 (US$3.19) per serving.

On Wednesday, the restaurant filled with Chinese tourists, according to a Douyin video posted by a Singapore-based Chinese influencer who goes by “Leileihao_”. The video picked up 40,000 likes and nearly 6,000 comments.

Alipay, the other mobile-payment giant in China, did not reply to a request for comment, but the influencer told the Post that dozens of fans had shared records of their Alipay transfers to the restaurant as tokens of thanks. Most payments were just S$1 or S$2, but some reached S$1,000, she said. Alipay is an affiliate of Alibaba Group, owner of the South China Morning Post.

At one point, Hassan’s scan code was so heavily used that banks suspended it for payments, according to domestic news reports in China.

Available airline capacity figures and passenger load data for China-Singapore flights so far this month do not reflect a surge in Chinese visits to the Southeast Asian city state, said Mayur Patel, the Asia head for industry data platform OAG Aviation.

But after the Singapore-Thailand match, “a lot of Chinese football fans have indicated that they would like to go to [Hassan’s] coconut-rice restaurant and check in”, Chinese news outlet Yicai reported on Tuesday.

Singapore tourism officials say Chinese visitors led a 15.3 per cent year-on-year increase in May arrivals from abroad, which totalled 1.28 million.

“Visa-free schemes do simplify travel planning for many, encouraging spontaneity and flexibility in travels,” said Heron Lim, assistant director and economist with Moody’s Analy­tics in Singapore.

“We have seen that across Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where Chinese tourism arrivals have improved in the wake of visa-free travel implementations.”

Additional reporting by He Huifeng

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‘Beijing knows where it hurts most’: China considers its response after EU tariff hike

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266521/beijing-knows-where-it-hurts-most-china-considers-its-response-after-eu-tariff-hike?utm_source=rss_feed

China has various trade tools that could be used as countermeasures to hit the European Union’s automobile, agriculture and luxury sectors in response to the bloc’s tariff hike, but it could also be wary of consequences on bilateral ties, according to analysts.

The EU announced on Wednesday that it will raise tariffs on Chinese EVs by up to 38 per cent from July 4 after a seven-month probe revealed some of the world’s leading EV makers had undercut European competitors with the help of vast subsidies from the state.

The measure will target all EV imports from China, including those from BYD, Geely and SAIC, which accounted for more than a quarter of EV sales to Europe.

The Chinese ministry of commerce said it would use “all necessary measures”, including preserving the right to bring the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO), to defend the rights of Chinese enterprises, arguing that the EU’s “protectionism” will affect economic cooperation between China and Europe, whose relations are already strained amid geopolitical tensions.

In a statement on Wednesday, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) also said it will use “various means” to defend the EV makers, accusing the EU’s investigation of lacking transparency and having “serious flaws”.

Ding Yifan, a Europe specialist from the Chinese State Council’s Development Research Centre, said China had “prepared” retaliation against the EU tariffs in “various aspects’’, including targeting European vehicles, luxury goods and agricultural products.

“Of course there are plans and preparations. How much have [our] interests been harmed by your tariffs, then how much [we] will retaliate against it,” he said.

Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa, an EU-Asia specialist with the University of Hong Kong, agreed that China has different trade tools to respond with and “will retaliate where it can inflict the most damage”, such as restricting crucial raw materials that the bloc needs for its green transition.

“China has [previously] retaliated with export restrictions on those crucial raw materials such as gallium, germanium, graphite, and key rare earth elements … Beijing knows where it hurts most.”

Trillo-Figueroa said Beijing could also target “high-value, symbolic or emblematic sectors”, such as brandy from France or pork imports from EU countries such as Spain, to exert economic pressure on respective industries that would “lobby their governments for resolution”.

Bringing the EU to the WTO or seeking bilateral agreements with individual countries to bypass the EU tariffs could all be Beijing’s measures, he added.

In Brussels, Beijing’s threats to file a WTO complaint were seen positively on Thursday. Commission officials had been expecting a reaction from China and feared that it could go after sensitive products such as farm goods or cars, which could help build political momentum against the EV probe. A WTO challenge is seen as a more predictable, rules-based form of retribution.

Commission lawyers, however, are keen to defend the probe in front of the world trade courts, given that they believe it was executed fully within the rules. One senior figure pointed to the fact that BYD and Geely will be paying lower tariff rates than some of their European competitors who also manufacture in China as evidence that it was fair and non-discriminatory.

China has already imposed export controls on raw materials that are critical for battery and chip production in response to the semiconductor restrictions from the US and its allies aimed at slowing Beijing’s hi-tech development.

Since the EU launched its anti-subsidy probe on Chinese EVs last October, China has also started a reciprocal investigation into French brandy exports to China, which amounted to US$2 billion last year.

France is believed to be a major backer behind the EU probe since Paris has long called for a level playing field for French businesses.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, will have four months to collect opinions from member states before making the duties permanent, which Chinese analysts said also left them time to “bargain” with China.

Some EU nations have already voiced opposition to the EU probe. Germany, the biggest vehicle exporter to China, which is also heavily invested in China’s EV industry, is expected to be hit the most by possible retaliation from Beijing.

The German auto industry has long pressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz to try to avert the EU’s tariff hike on China. Car giants Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen all warned against the negative impacts that the EU decision could have on Europe’s auto industry.

Ding said it is uncertain whether the EU tariffs could become permanent as the bloc could rethink its trade policies towards China while it is being distracted by difficult agendas at home and abroad, such as the increasing presence of nationalist right-wing parties in its parliament, the war in Ukraine, and the possible re-election of Donald Trump, which could distance the US from its allies.

Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor specialising in EU-China relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said China would still be cautious while weighing retaliatory measures against the EU to avoid a full-blown trade war with the bloc and fuel a downward spiral in bilateral ties.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first European tour following the Covid-19 pandemic, which included stops in France, Serbia and Hungary, a move seen by many as China’s attempt to bolster ties with the continent despite growing tensions.

“The European Union is the most important [point] in the China-US-EU triangle, so we will not lose the EU market,” Wang said.

He said it is likely that China will propose solutions that better benefit Europe, including localising manufacturing of Chinese products.

“Not only in the upstream and downstream of electric vehicles [production], such as batteries, but also in cooperation on electricity … infrastructures like the 5G network and artificial intelligence … only if Europe’s competitiveness has improved and its industries and employment are assured, can China win over the European market,” he said.

Additional reporting by Finbarr Bermingham and Kinling Lo

China skipping Ukraine summit ‘not unreasonable’ but could harm its image

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266438/china-skipping-ukraine-summit-not-unreasonable-could-harm-its-image?utm_source=rss_feed

When leaders and senior officials from close to 90 countries descend on Switzerland this weekend to work out a solution for the war in Ukraine, two major players will be strikingly absent: Russia and China.

Russia has not been invited and China has made clear it will not join the conference on Saturday because it falls short of Beijing’s expectations, which included the participation of both Moscow and Kyiv.

According to diplomatic observers, China’s decision could hurt its already-battered image on the world stage and further cement narratives about its support for Russia’s actions.

But the reasoning behind Beijing’s move was not entirely unfounded, they said, adding that Beijing may be poised to soon hold its own summit bringing together the two warring nations.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning confirmed last week that China would not attend the summit, saying: “China has repeatedly stressed that the international peace conference needs to meet three important elements, namely recognition from both Russia and Ukraine, equal participation of all parties, and fair discussion of all peace plans.

“As far as China is concerned, the meeting does not yet seem to meet these three elements and that is exactly why China would not be able to take part in the meeting.”

Mao backed China’s decision as “fair and just”, saying the move was not targeted at any party or at this particular summit.

“Whether one supports peace should not be judged by a particular country or on the basis of a particular meeting. China sincerely hopes that a peace conference will not turn into a platform used to create bloc confrontation. Not attending does not mean not supporting peace.”

Russia, which said it would not have attended the conference even if it had been invited, expressed gratitude to China for snubbing the summit and praised Beijing for its balanced approach.

But other countries may not feel the same way. “It is not a good look for China,” said David Arase, resident professor of international politics with the Hopkins-Nanjing Centre.

China’s decision came not long after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Asian giant of working with Russia to undermine the Kyiv-backed summit.

Moscow was doing “everything to disrupt the peace summit [by using] Chinese influence on the region”, he said.

According to Arase, Europe may take China’s non-attendance as “more evidence of China’s ongoing diplomatic and economic support for an armed Russian assault against European peace and security”.

Since the war broke out in February 2022, China has not condemned Russia’s actions and instead pledged to deepen ties with Moscow.

Arase said the Chinese move fits the narrative of a lengthy joint declaration issued during Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing last month, where he and China’s leader Xi Jinping voiced their opposition to hegemonism and vowed to support each other’s struggles.

While China’s refrain has been that it is a neutral party willing to facilitate peace talks, its position invites Western scepticism because of Xi and Putin’s intimate partnership as well as Beijing’s growing diplomatic and economic support for Russian war efforts, he added.

Yun Sun, director of the China programme at the Stimson Centre think tank, said Beijing’s snub would “reflect badly” on China, especially in the West, even though China’s position was “not unreasonable”.

“A peace conference should be about a political settlement, which necessitates the participation of Russia. Without Russia, the peace conference is about posturing, positioning and pressuring, which could be one type of peace conference, but is unlikely to actually lead to peace.”

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University, stressed that while China was not directly involved in the Ukraine war, it has suffered huge losses – such as in investments – and has a desire for the war to end.

But in Russia’s absence, the summit is likely to focus on condemnation of Moscow or offers of aid to Kyiv, things that will not solve the “fundamental problem”, he said.

“That is the crux of the problem. In that case, whether or not to attend this international conference will not solve the fundamental problem.”

According to Wang, Ukraine is expected to try to win support for its own 10-point peace plan, which is “not realistic” from the Russian point of view.

Ahead of the summit, Kyiv said on Tuesday that it wanted Russia to attend a second summit, to receive an internationally agreed road map towards ending the conflict.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last month proposed that China could be the one to arrange a peace conference in which both Russia and Ukraine would participate.

But Arase said there was “little chance that Ukraine would accept China as a neutral, honest broker of peace”, while Sun said Beijing would have to see “concrete prospects for a result” if it was to host such a conference.

Wang was more optimistic in his assessment, citing the major political events unfolding this year, including elections in the US, Britain and France as well as the recent European Parliamentary ballot.

“When these power institutes stabilise, the truth about whether or not Russia can be defeated will be clearer,” he said, noting that there have been concerns in some Western quarters over continued aid for Ukraine.

“When they realise that Ukraine can’t fight, I think China can hold such a peace summit and we can truly reach a ceasefire agreement.”

G7 backs deal to use US$50 billion from Russian assets for Ukraine, seeks to counter China

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3266508/g7-backs-deal-use-us50-billion-russian-assets-ukraine-seeks-counter-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies started their annual summit on Thursday, many of them under a cloud at home but determined to make a difference on the world stage as they seek to help Ukraine and counter China’s economic ambitions.

Heading into two days of talks, diplomats said a deal had been agreed in principle on plans to issue US$50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow launched its invasion of its neighbour in 2022.

The loan would be secured against the future profits from interest on US$325 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies.

“Good news from the G7: another US$50 billion for Ukraine,” German Finance Minister Christian Lindner wrote on X.

“We are using interest from frozen assets for this – a smart instrument that shows [Russian President Vladimir] Putin our unity, greatly helps Ukraine and relieves the burden on budgets.

“Now we are working on the details.”

Western nations were also unanimous in their concern over China’s industrial overcapacity, which they say is distorting global markets, and their determination to help African states develop their economies, diplomats said.

“There is a lot of work to be done, but I am sure that in these two days we will be able to have discussions that will lead to concrete and measurable results,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her G7 guests as their talks started in a luxury hotel resort in the southern region of Puglia.

While Meloni is flying high after triumphing in weekend European elections, the leaders of the other six nations – the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Canada – face major domestic woes that risk undermining their authority.

US President Joe Biden faces an uphill battle to win re-election in November, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks certain to lose power at a national poll next month and French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved his country’s parliament on Sunday after his party was trounced in the European vote.

All smiled broadly as they greeted Meloni under a blazing sun at the entrance to the Borgo Egnazia resort, where they will spend the next two days in sessions that will later be opened to a host of fellow leaders, including Pope Francis.

For a second year running, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the summit, taking part in talks on Thursday afternoon, after which he will sign a new, long-term security accord with US President Joe Biden.

A person close to the talks said the point of the deal was to ensure it can run for years regardless of who is in power in each G7 state – a nod to concerns that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might be much less favourable to Kyiv if he beats Biden in November.

Biden’s goal at the G7 was to reinforce the idea that the United States is best served if it is closely aligned with its democratic allies, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, when asked about the prospects of it being the president’s last summit given the looming re-election battle.

Underscoring US determination to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Washington on Wednesday dramatically broadened sanctions on Moscow, including by targeting China-based companies selling semiconductors to Moscow.

By announcing new restrictions on Chinese firms on the eve of the G7 meeting, Biden was no doubt hoping to persuade Western allies to show greater resolve in confronting Beijing over its support for Russia and its industrial overcapacity.

Speaking ahead of the start of the summit, Sullivan said that China was a significant creditor to many heavily indebted countries.

“The G7 communique is not singling out or focusing on a single country,” he said, but added that China needed to play a constructive role in dealing with the debt burden.

Eager not to appear like an elitist fortress, the G7 has thrown open its doors to numerous outsiders this year, including Pope Francis, who is expected to give a keynote speech on Friday on the risks and potential of artificial intelligence.

Among those who have also been invited to Puglia are the leaders of some of the biggest regional powers across the globe such as India, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, Algeria and Kenya.

Although the summit is scheduled to run until Saturday, many G7 chiefs will leave on Friday night, including Biden, meaning the final day has been earmarked for bilateral meetings for those staying on and a closing news conference from Meloni.

Reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press

Don’t let our differences become a chasm, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urges New Zealand

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266499/dont-let-our-differences-become-chasm-chinese-premier-li-qiang-urges-new-zealand?utm_source=rss_feed

China and New Zealand have agreed to deepen economic ties as Premier Li Qiang warned that both countries must stop their differences becoming a “chasm” between them.

“China is committed to working with the New Zealand government to renew our long-standing friendship, carry forward the pioneer spirit and upgrade our comprehensive strategic partnership,” Li told a joint press conference with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Wellington.

“We agree on the need to expand the scale of bilateral trade and investment cooperation.”

He also said it was “natural” that the two countries “don’t always see eye-to-eye with each other on everything”.

“Such differences should not become a chasm that blocks exchanges and cooperation between us,” Li said, adding they should use them to “learn from each other and grow together”.

He also said China would allow New Zealanders to visit the country without a visa, but did not offer any further details, and urged Wellington to support Hong Kong’s accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Luxon said trade, tourism and educational links benefited both countries. “New Zealand has much to offer China as a source of high-quality food and innovative products and services, which can boost productivity and improve economic output,” he said.

China vows new-energy regulations to optimise industry, while still refuting ‘overcapacity’

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3266475/china-vows-new-energy-regulations-optimise-industry-while-still-refuting-overcapacity?utm_source=rss_feed

As China’s new-energy sector faces mounting trade barriers in the global market, officials in the country have pledged to optimise its massive capacity while continuing to refute the industrial-overcapacity concerns that have been voiced by Western politicians and Beijing itself.

“Whether from the perspective of a comparative advantage or global market demand, I don’t think there is an overcapacity problem that everyone is concerned about,” said Wang Shijiang, deputy director of the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, during a press conference on Wednesday.

And in terms of some inefficient or backward production capacity that currently exists in the country’s green sector - that will gradually be weeded out through market competition, said Wang, who was secretary-general of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association from 2021 to February this year.

“In fact, China’s new-energy-manufacturing industry is basically dominated by private enterprises, and these firms will make decisions accordingly and quickly based on market development and changes,” Wang said.

At China’s annual tone-setting central economic work conference in December, Beijing flagged “overcapacity in some industries” as one of the major economic challenges to tackle this year. But in recent months, authorities have increasingly pushed back against the West’s “sheer protectionism” and “hyping up” of overcapacity claims.

Moving forward, Wang said, the government will offer guidance to the new-energy industry by amending regulations on product quality, technology and environmental protection, thus raising the threshold for market entry.

Meanwhile, the government will promote industrial upgrades, such as by finding ways to better utilise lithium batteries to store energy collected from solar panels, which in turn would help address electric-grid volatility issues that stem from photovoltaic power generation.

“Through these measures, we can continue to expand the market space for these new-energy capacities, and further promote the continuous expansion of product varieties and expand the application market of new energy,” Wang said.

Authorities will also work with industry associations to strengthen the monitoring of industrial operations and regularly release key information on production capacity and output to alleviate market disorder, he added.

China will also deepen international cooperation in the realm of new energy to expand application scenarios, Wang said.

“Now the global demand for green power is increasing, and everyone hopes for more green power like photovoltaics … the future massive market demand has laid a foundation for large-scale development,” he said.

In 2023, solar panels made in China accounted for more than 80 per cent of global production. Seven of the world’s top 10 photovoltaic manufacturers were from China.

The country also made 75 per cent and 60 per cent of the world’s lithium batteries and electric vehicles last year, respectively.

Such dominance has increasingly sparked wariness from the United States and the European Union, which has accused China of strangling their own manufacturing sectors via overcapacity in its new-energy industries.

The EU announced on Wednesday that it would impose an additional tariff of 21 per cent on imports of most EVs made in China, after a seven-month probe into subsidies in China’s EV sector.

Last month, the US announced sharp tariff hikes on an array of Chinese new-energy imports, including a 100 per cent duty on EVs - even though the US imports very few Chinese EVs.

At a China-France-EU trilateral meeting in Paris last month, President Xi Jinping insisted there was no such thing as “China’s overcapacity problem”.

Beijing argues that the foundation of international trade is the comparative advantage of each country, and that from a global perspective, there is actually a shortage of capacity in the new-energy sector. Thus, it contends, China has helped alleviate the global inflation pressure and made massive contributions to the world’s green transition.

“The view that massive exports equal overcapacity is completely untenable,” Ding Weishun, deputy director of policy research for the Ministry of Commerce, said during Wednesday’s press conference.

“We believe that relevant countries, such as the United States and [those in the] Europe Union, cannot hold high the banner of addressing climate change and demand that China shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for addressing climate change, and at the same time wield the stick of protectionism to hinder the free trade of China’s green products,” Ding said.

PLA sends 3 advanced Type 055 destroyers for training exercise in South China Sea

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3266473/pla-sends-3-advanced-type-055-destroyers-training-exercise-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed

Three of China’s most advanced destroyers have taken part in a drill in the disputed South China Sea, state media reported.

It is rare for the People’s Liberation Army to deploy three of its Type 055 guided-missile destroyers in a single training mission and the operation came as tensions are running high following a series of clashes involving Chinese and Philippine coastguard ships.

The exercise ran for six days and five nights and involved the warships Xianyang, Zunyi and Yanan. It was “focused on maritime assault, anti-submarine operations, and single-ship air defence in a certain area of the South China Sea to test the effectiveness of various combat and training methods”, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.

The drill was carried out by the PLA’s Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea. CCTV said one Type 052C guided-missile destroyer, the Haikou, was also involved in the drills.

The first Type 055 destroyer entered service in 2020 and the PLA Navy now has eight in total. The ships were designed for a range of operations including anti-submarine and land attacks, as well as helping defend carrier groups from aerial attack.

CCTV said the Type 055 guided missile destroyer uses China’s most advanced radars, electronic systems and weapons and can play a key role in near and far-sea missions.

The report did not say when the exercise was held, but it follows a string of incidents in disputed parts of the South China Sea, centred on the Philippine-held Second Thomas Shoal.

These include China using water cannon on Philippine ships and collisions between vessels. Last week Beijing accused Manila of lying when it accused China of blocking the evacuation of a sick serviceman stationed on a warship grounded on the reef, saying that the Philippines had been carrying out “illegal transport and repair missions”.

This year Beijing also said it was “closely monitoring” a large-scale joint US-Philippine exercise with the defence ministry criticising provocations from forces from outside the region.

The Balikatan 2024 military exercise simulated the sinking of a ship and retaking control of enemy-held islands.

Earlier this month the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier passed through the South China Sea accompanied by French and Canadian warships in support of Valiant Shield 2024, another large-scale US exercise in the Pacific.

Premier Li Qiang pledges more trade as China extends visa-free travel to New Zealanders

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3266448/premier-li-qiang-pledges-more-trade-china-extends-visa-free-travel-new-zealanders?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday his nation’s differences with New Zealand must not become a “chasm”, pledging greater trade and “friendship” after touching down in Wellington for rare bilateral talks.

Li is embarking on a six-day tour of New Zealand and Australia, key trading partners that have become increasingly vocal critics of China’s expanding influence in the South Pacific.

“It is natural that we don’t always see eye-to-eye with each other on everything,” Li told reporters after a closed-door meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

“But such differences should not become a chasm that blocks exchanges and cooperation between us.”

Luxon said he used the meeting to highlight sensitive issues such as foreign interference and recent escalations in the South China Sea.

“I raised with Premier Li a number of issues that are important to New Zealanders and which speak to our core values, including human rights and foreign interference.”

Second only to President Xi Jinping in China’s political hierarchy, Li is the most senior figure to arrive on official business in New Zealand and Australia since 2017.

Over six days, he will set foot in five different cities, meet two prime ministers, hold talks with a string of business leaders, and engage in China’s trademark “Panda diplomacy”.

A noisy crowd greeted Li as his motorcade pulled into the Intercontinental Hotel in the heart of New Zealand’s capital Wellington.

Cheering supporters banged drums and waved banners, while a smaller group of shouting protesters clambered to get a look at his car.

Ahead of the bilateral meeting, Li said he was aiming to renew China’s “traditional friendship” with New Zealand, promising opportunities to bolster trade, tourism and investment.

He said China is committed to working with the New Zealand government to upgrade the comprehensive strategic partnership that was agreed in 2014.

China has invited New Zealand to be a guest country at the China International Import Expo, which will be held in Shanghai in November. The two countries agreed to negotiations to increase trade in services.

“China is ready to tap the potential for working with New Zealand in emerging areas such as digital economy, green economy, new energy vehicles, and creative industries, and to actively participate in transport investment and in infrastructure development,” Li said.

China is also ready to discuss more measures to facilitate two-way travel and will extend unilateral visa-free treatment to New Zealanders, he said.

China’s relationship with both hosts has shifted drastically in the seven years since Li’s predecessor toured Down Under.

New Zealand, long seen as one of China’s closest partners in the region, has become increasingly bold in its criticism of Beijing’s role in the South Pacific.

Meanwhile, Australia has grown closer to the United States in response to China’s expanding military might.

But there remains one constant: China is still, by far, Australia and New Zealand’s largest export market.

New Zealand has been mulling whether to play a limited role in the Aukus security pact between Washington, London and Canberra – a deal seen as key to countering China’s military expansion.

At the same time, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has called out China’s attempts to bolster its security footprint in the Pacific Islands.

Luxon said China’s delegation had “raised their concerns” about the Aukus deal during the bilateral discussions.

Geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller said that Li’s visit carried a not-so-subtle message: “Don’t put it all at risk.”

Miller, from Wellington’s Victoria University, said Li would dangle trade “carrots” in an attempt to soften New Zealand’s stance.

Beijing was likely to offer incentives to show New Zealand “what it could lose” if it agrees to join Aukus in developing defence technology, he said.

New Zealand was one of the first developed nations to sign a free-trade deal with Beijing, and today almost a full third of its goods exports are shipped to China.

Chinese consumers have a voracious appetite, in particular, for New Zealand’s premium meat, dairy and wine.

Li will fly out of New Zealand’s commercial hub Auckland on Saturday morning, bound for the southern Australian city of Adelaide.

Sitting on the doorstep of the famed Barossa winemaking region, Adelaide is the hometown of Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is credited with helping stabilise relations between Canberra and Beijing.

Australian wine was among a slew of commodities effectively barred from China at the height of a rancorous and years-long trade dispute that only recently started to subside.

While wine, coal, timber, barley and beef exports have largely resumed, trade barriers remain for Australian rock lobster.

One of Li’s first stops will be Adelaide Zoo, widely seen as a sign that giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni, who have been loaned there from China since 2009, may be extending their stay abroad.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

Talks on China-Japan-South Korea FTA merely ‘symbolic’ given US and public opposition

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3266464/talks-china-japan-south-korea-fta-merely-symbolic-given-us-and-public-opposition?utm_source=rss_feed

China, Japan and South Korea have agreed to further talks for a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) but analysts are divided over its prospects with views ranging from a “death knell” to a “protracted” process for the FTA.

The FTA might come to fruition if its scope covers less sensitive sectors such as services, the analysts say.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said at their summit in Seoul last month that their countries would “speed up negotiations” for a trilateral FTA.

They pledged to aim for an agreement that is “free, fair, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial”, according to the summit’s joint declaration.

The declaration emphasised the importance of the success of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as a foundation for the trilateral FTA. The RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including China, Japan and South Korea, and has been in effect since 2022.

While negotiation for the trilateral FTA began in 2012, talks have stalled after the 16th round held in November 2019.

On May 30, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the FTA would further open markets, reduce trade barriers and increase investment due to the three countries’ strong industrial links and economic complementarity.

Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said if negotiations for the FTA were already difficult, escalating tensions between the United States and China in recent years would likely lead to the “death knell” for the pact.

“The prospects for concluding this FTA have been further reduced by the entry into force of the RCEP, which includes all three countries and more. There is little political appetite for it outside China and the economic rationale for it is diminishing as RCEP progresses,” Menon said.

Pratnashree Basu, an Indo-Pacific associate fellow at the Strategic Studies Programme and Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the India-based Observer Research Foundation, said while there was a degree of political will to push for the FTA, the tense geopolitical environment meant that negotiations for a deal would be “protracted”.

An FTA typically takes several years to negotiate, especially when large economies with significant existing trade volumes and complex economic relationships are involved, according to Basu.

The GDP of China, Japan and South Korea totalled US$17.52 trillion, US$5.31 trillion and US1.71 trillion, respectively, last year.

“The need to address and reconcile various economic, political, and strategic interests can further extend the timeline,” Basu said, adding that both Tokyo and Seoul were aiming to lessen their risk exposure by diversifying their trade and supply chains away from China.

In 2022, Japan passed the Economic Security Promotion Act to develop more resilient supply chains, promote infrastructure security and increase the use of critical technologies. It also extended financial support for firms to diversify their operations away from China, especially in crucial industries such as semiconductors.

In December, South Korea announced its 3050 Strategy to stabilise its supply chain involving 185 critical materials and reduce the proportion of imports from certain countries, particularly China, to less than 50 per cent by 2030.

Pointing to growing public support in Japan and South Korea to ease economic dependence on China, Basu said the two countries would be “selective” about the sectors to be included in FTA negotiations.

“Only certain sectors, such as services, where mutual benefits are more apparent and risks are lower, will be prioritised,” Basu said.

Xirui Li, a Singapore-based researcher specialising in topics such as China’s diplomacy and regional economic governance, said that the lack of trust between China and the US, and Washington’s pressure on Tokyo and Seoul against closer trade ties with Beijing could hinder talks on the trilateral FTA.

The resumption of FTA talks is “more symbolic than practical”, said Li, who has a PhD from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University.

“Each of the countries needs the summit and the resumption of the FTA [talks] to serve their political and foreign policy goals rather than to realise economic benefits. For instance, China needs to demonstrate that it is still a good friend with countries which are close to the US”.

Similarly, Japan and South Korea needed to show that their respective foreign policy was not dominated by the US, Li added.

Negotiations for the FTA might take years and even if a final deal is reached, it is unlikely to be comprehensive, according to Li.

“It is possible that the three [countries] may sign an FTA with selective industries first, and continue the negotiation for the upgraded versions later,” she added.

Ryosuke Hanada, a Sydney-based security analyst, said unless the trilateral FTA were to go beyond the scope of the already comprehensive RCEP, Japan and South Korea would have “little incentive” to move negotiations forward.

“[That is] because their corporate sectors need transparent and accountable economic rules protecting their business in China from arbitrary applications of Chinese rules and norms,” Hanada said.

Without more stringent rules, Japan and South Korea would face problems in convincing the US about the rationale for the FTA, Hanada said. Beijing was also aiming to increase the economic dependence of Japan and South Korea on China through the FTA, he added.

Chinese state-run tabloid The Global Times said in an editorial on May 27 that trade relations between China, Japan, and South Korea were interdependent and stable despite “continuous actions and noises led by the US” about “decoupling”. It also noted that China was the largest trading partner of Japan and South Korea.

China’s two-way trade with Japan and South Korea, respectively, totalled about US$295 billion and US$287 billion last year.

In contrast with US protectionism in recent years, China was positioning itself as a supporter of free trade, Hanada said. Nonetheless, the trilateral FTA was unlikely to be realised given the lack of political will for it, he added.

“The China-Japan-South Korea FTA would be politically costly and is of little economic benefit.”

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Chinese spy agency issues warning after ‘secret’ military books sold for 6 yuan

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266469/chinese-spy-agency-warns-against-mishandling-classified-items-after-secret-books-sold?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top spy agency has warned against the mishandling of confidential information as it tries to educate the public about its anti-espionage law, citing a case in which military-related materials were found to have been sold by a recycling station.

On its official WeChat account on Thursday, the Ministry of State Security recounted the case of a man with the surname Zhang who bought four books from a waste recycling station.

The books were later determined to be classified materials sold to the station by military personnel who did not follow the rules on the destruction of sensitive items, according to the article published as part of the ministry’s public education campaign on China’s anti-espionage law.

Zhang, who is retired from a state-owned enterprise, is a military enthusiast who likes to collect newspapers and magazines. He saw there were some books related to military topics at the recycling station and bought four of them for six yuan (US$0.83).

However, Zhang later noticed that the books were marked with the words “confidential” and “secret”. He reported the situation to the ministry and handed over the books.

The ministry said an investigation found two people, surnamed Guo and Li, from a military unit “involved in classified information” sold the materials to the recycling station.

The pair had “weak awareness of information security” and did not follow proper procedures required for destroying classified documents, the article said.

They sold more than 200 classified items weighing over 30kg (66lbs) for about 20 yuan.

The ministry praised Zhang for reporting the materials, noting that his actions prevented further dissemination of classified information and harm to military security.

The ministry added that its agencies had offered guidance to relevant units to “promptly plug the gaps in the management of information security”.

The ministry noted that China’s amended anti-espionage law required strengthening the management of information and confidential materials. The amended law came into force last July, broadening the definition of espionage and the investigative powers of state security agencies.

The ministry also cited the country’s revised law on guarding state secrets, which stipulates that creating, receiving, transferring, using, duplicating, storing, maintaining and destroying items containing state secrets should comply with relevant regulations.

The revised law came into effect last month, adding more than a dozen provisions to expand the depth and breadth of its coverage.

In Thursday’s article, the ministry also called on the public to share information about suspicious activities such as the illegal sale of items containing state secrets.

Over the past year, the ministry has become more active on social media, posting articles to warn of threats from foreign spies and educate the public about national security. It has called on the public to join the fight against spying and support implementation of the anti-espionage law.

Last week, the ministry also warned government officials against storing classified information on cloud services, saying the data could easily be compromised by foreign spies.

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‘The whole supply chain is subsidised’: inside the EU’s blockbuster Chinese EV probe

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266406/whole-supply-chain-subsidised-inside-eus-blockbuster-chinese-ev-probe?utm_source=rss_feed

It was just before lunchtime in Brussels, but the working day was creeping towards its end in Beijing, when phones pinged and screens flashed with the numbers that have threatened to upend China’s ties with Europe.

Car companies, lawyers, business groups and journalists all received the news at once. After seven months of speculation: 17.4 on BYD, 20 on Geely, 38.1 on SAIC and 21 on nearly all others - the tariff percentages the EU would slap on electric vehicle imports from China landed with a bang.

In the Belgian capital, officials set about briefing reporters on what had been uncovered in an investigation that saw two dozen case handlers spend 250 mission days on the ground in China, conducting 100-plus company visits, piecing together thousands of pages of evidence, which cumulatively tore a new rift in an already fraught relationship.

“The whole supply chain is subsidised,” said a senior official, who read through the charge sheet on a case that many predict could launch a trade war.

“This means that the Chinese government provides subsidies to all operators,” he continued. “Starting from the refining of lithium used in the batteries, to production of cells and batteries, to the production of BEVs [battery electric vehicles], and even transport of BEVs to EU markets.”

Chinese business representatives were shocked. After a quick scan of the numbers, an executive at one affected EV company vowed to start shipping hybrid cars to Europe instead, since they would not be subjected to such high duties.

“The EU has disregarded facts and WTO rules, ignored China’s repeated strong opposition, and ignored the appeals and dissuasions of many EU member governments and industries, and has acted unilaterally,” fumed a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce, which landed minutes after the notification had been received.

Since day one, the EV probe - as it has become known across Europe, where it has dominated the debate on China - was steeped in controversy.

“Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies. This is distorting our market,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her annual State of the Union address last September.

Her announcement took many of her officials off guard. It was also news to the Chinese government, whose diplomats were instantly aggrieved at not being consulted before the public announcement, as is commonplace in the relationship.

The work kicked off immediately: out of 21 Chinese groups exporting EVs to Europe, they shrunk the sample size to be investigated to three.

These were BYD, the hotshot upstart that would soon become the world’s biggest EV seller, Geely, which spent the 2000s hoovering up blue-chip European brands like Volvo, and SAIC Motor, the 70-year-old state-run giant, owner of the iconic MG and joint venture partner to Volkswagen.

The eventual duty applied to most Chinese EV exports to Europe would be a weighted average calculated based on subsidies found on the books of those three companies. When experts noted the presence of behemoth SAIC on the list, they predicted countervailing duties could far outstrip the bloc’s average rate of 19 per cent.

Questionnaires were sent to the companies, each running to 60-odd pages and over 18,000 words. They demanded access to financial information and forensic levels of details on the handouts each had received from the Chinese state.

“It is in your own interest to reply as accurately and completely as possible and to attach supporting documents. You may supplement your response with additional data,” read the dry legalese that translated into a veiled warning that would become reality: comply with this, or you will be tariffed out of the European market.

As it was, only SAIC chose not to comply and found itself on Wednesday facing the highest import duty for all EU EV shipments, and the third highest countervailing duty the bloc has ever levied, Rhodium Group research showed. This will be applied on top of the pre-existing 10 per cent rate, meaning the cars will be almost 50 per cent more expensive.

The others – including BYD and Geely – played ball and will therefore be taxed at a lower rate than standard EU-owned models, which will face the weighted average of 21 per cent.

“SAIC is highly reliant on the European market and doesn’t have plans yet to localise production, so it’s going to be very affected by this,” said Ilaria Mazzocco, an expert on China’s EV trade at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

“BYD looks like it’s going to be in a great position with an EU factory, low tariff, and a geographically diversified market.”

The Chinese government was also sent a batch of questionnaires, which it declined to forward to selected lithium providers and local banks on the EU’s behalf.

“The Chinese government has been very active, looking for justification of different steps,” said the senior EU official. “There has been a lot of interaction, but less positive activity on their side when they were supposed to provide us with information requested.”

Instead, Beijing tried to kill the investigation with a series of threats that multiplied as Brussels’ probe raced towards its conclusion.

In January, it launched an anti-dumping process into EU brandy shipments, broadly seen as comeuppance for France, which was – along with Spain – among the strongest backers of the EV action. France shipped US$1.8 billion in cognac to China last year, customs records show.

In the past month, state media have carried threats of tariffs on EU pork, automotive, aviation, and dairy sectors.

“China will closely follow the EU’s subsequent progress and will resolutely take all necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the commerce ministry statement said.

Brussels is confident that it has a watertight case for the tariffs, and would welcome a WTO challenge, where it would point to the fact that some Chinese companies will pay lower duties than European rivals.

Their investigators turned up subsidies everywhere they looked. Lithium processers and battery makers were told by the state to sell to EV companies below market rates, they said, while the car companies were exempt from battery consumption taxes.

The firms issued green bonds that government-run financial institutions were ordered to buy, and were granted concessional land, income tax breaks and cheap refinancing options mandated by the People’s Bank of China, the central bank.

The EU believes its companies suffered as a result. Between January 2020 and September 2023, Chinese companies increased their EU market share from 4 per cent to 25 per cent, while local rivals’ share dropped from 69 per cent to almost 60 per cent, officials said.

Chinese subsidies “jeopardised” Europe’s green transition, they added, by suppressing the price at which European companies could sell EVs, meaning in some cases, they were incurring losses on each vehicle sold.

To environmentalists, who hold little truck with German car companies slow to wean themselves off combustion engines, it will sound like sour grapes.

“We want no tariffs that would not help us achieve our decarbonisation targets,” Malta’s energy minister, Miriam Dalli, told the Post last month. “Having products that are more pricey will not help us arrive at the ambitious targets.”

But in Brussels, getting the probe over the line was seen as a test of its credibility, with officials saying they had to show China they not only bark, but bite too.

The three Chinese car companies now have four days to point out any flaws in the calculations, after which time member states have until July 15 to voice their own concerns.

The saga has pitted capitals against each other, with Paris cheering von der Leyen on, even as Berlin worked behind the scenes to kill it. At meetings, one senior official said, the Germans had even used the term “so-called overcapacity”, in a sign of how aligned they were with Beijing.

Duties that will hold for five years must be set in early November, with some speculating that the next four months will be a mixture of retaliatory measures and frantic diplomacy.

“The focus now must be on keeping negative effects on international supply chains and European companies as low as possible,” said Wolfgang Niedermark, a board member at the Federation of German Industries.

“European companies have no interest in a trade conflict with China escalating.”

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China sends emergency relief to central and eastern provinces battling extreme drought

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266427/china-sends-emergency-relief-central-and-eastern-provinces-battling-extreme-drought?utm_source=rss_feed

China has sent task forces to help provide emergency relief in Shandong and Henan provinces in central and eastern China, the epicentre of a severe drought affecting nearly 300 million people in several regions.

In a meeting on Wednesday, the Ministry of Emergency Management stressed that local governments must ensure there is water for crops and residential water is safe, increase monitoring and analysis of the drought, send emergency alerts and disperse water in a timely manner.

China has launched a level-4 emergency response, the lowest of a four-tier system that legally requires sending a team of experts within 24 hours and for the situation to be constantly monitored.

In recent weeks, extreme heat has persisted in northern and central China, with precipitation down by 50 per cent in some regions, the ministry said. China’s weather bureau forecasts that the drought will further develop.

More than 290 million people across the country have been affected, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Li Xiucang, a deputy director with the National Climate Centre, said as global warming increased, China’s high-temperature days were happening earlier, more frequently and longer than before.

Weather records show that from 1981 to 1990, high temperatures first appear in the season on June 24 on average, but in 2023 high temperatures arrived on May 28 – some 16 days earlier. Furthermore, the period of high temperatures is getting 4.8 days longer every 10 years, and more regions are affected.

Various ministries and local governments are acting to combat the drought. The water resources ministry said that from Wednesday evening, water dispatches from the Xiaolangdi reservoir on the Yellow River in Henan, would be increased to support Shandong and Henan provinces.

Multiple cities called for residents to save as much water as possible. On Tuesday, a county in Gansu suggested that people should avoid long showers and use water for several purposes, such as recycling bath water to wash clothes or flush toilets.

The Queshan county government in Henan issued a statement on Tuesday, asking the public to use as little water as possible and to recycle water.

To relieve the damage wrought by extreme temperatures and drought on crops, China has called for an increase in artificial rain, changes to irrigation methods and constant monitoring of farmland.

But artificial rain requires appropriate conditions, the Henan Daily reported. The cloud must be thicker or higher than 2km (1.2 miles) and there must be adequate water vapour. The Henan Meteorological Service was ready to boost rainfall whenever the prerequisites were met, it said.

An expert with the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research told state broadcaster CCTV that irrigation methods should be modified to minimise water loss, such as spraying water on fruit trees and covering vegetables with hay to reduce the ground temperature.

China overlooks Milei’s rhetoric, hands Argentina US$35 billion lifeline

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266391/china-overlooks-mileis-rhetoric-hands-argentina-us35-billion-lifeline?utm_source=rss_feed

China has agreed to renew currency swap tranches worth 35 billion yuan (about US$5 billion) with Argentina’s central bank until July 2026, the South American country’s monetary authorities announced on Wednesday.

According to a statement from the Central Bank of Argentina, the institution will gradually reduce the activated value of the swap over this period, with the aim of deactivating it completely by the end of the contract.

The authorities emphasised that the agreement – originally signed in 2020 and activated last year – is crucial for managing the balance of payments flows at a critical time.

China first signed a renminbi-based swap agreement with Argentina in 2009 and has since expanded the arrangements on at least three occasions.

When Beijing agreed to activate the swap in 2023, Argentina was facing a severe dollar shortage exacerbated by a devastating drought that severely affected soya plantations and caused exports to fall to their lowest level in 20 years.

However, there was uncertainty about whether China would authorise another renewal because of the contentious relationship between the two countries since the self-described “radical libertarian” Javier Milei took office as president in December.

Milei previously vowed to sever ties with Beijing in favour of what he described as the “civilised side of the world.” He has also broken off negotiations to buy Chinese JF-17 fighter jets in favour of second-hand US F-22 fighter jets from Denmark.

The swap’s imminent expiry with no details on its renewal intensified market turbulence in recent weeks.

The tense relationship between Milei and the Chinese government left open the possibility that Beijing could delay the renewal and force Argentina to pay at least part of the US$5 billion.

Without the swap renewal, Buenos Aires would have to cover at least part of the amount, depleting the country’s already low foreign exchange reserves and hampering the Central Bank’s ability to receive new disbursements.

These fears interrupted the upwards trend of Argentine bonds, which had performed well since the beginning of the year, causing them to fall by more than 10 per cent between the end of May and the beginning of June, local newspaper Clarín reported.

“The extension until July 2026 of the activated portion of the currency swap will allow the Central Bank of Argentina to continue to reduce the risks it faces during the current economic transition, which began in December 2023, towards a consistent and sustainable monetary and exchange rate regime,” it said.

“In this way, cooperation between the two monetary institutions, which began in 2009, has been renewed and the financial and economic ties between the two countries were strengthened.”

Argentina’s Foreign Minister Dina Mondino reacted briefly to the news on social media platform X, announcing the renewal of the swaps and adding Chinese and Argentina flag emojis, as well as a handshake emoji.

Mondino visited Beijing in April, where she met China’s Vice-President Han Zheng, primarily to discuss the swap agreements.

China’s ethnic policy chief slams ‘ignorance of history’ in Xinjiang assimilation claims

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266357/chinas-ethnic-policy-chief-slams-ignorance-history-xinjiang-assimilation-claims?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top ethnic policy official has dismissed claims that Xinjiang is being “assimilated” into Chinese culture as “ignorance of history”.

Pan Yue, director of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, made the remarks during a keynote speech on Wednesday at an international forum in Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region that was once part of the ancient Silk Road.

His comments come as Beijing continues to promote its new ethnic integration policies and defend measures taken in the vast western region home to the mainly Muslim Uygur minority.

“There is an inaccurate narrative in the international community that separates Xinjiang culture from Chinese culture and even sets them against each other. But a large amount of archaeological evidence tells us that Xinjiang has been an important part of the Chinese cultural sphere since ancient times,” Pan said.

“There is also an international narrative that contradicts the facts and portrays Xinjiang’s relationship with Chinese culture as ‘assimilation’. This is ignorance of Chinese history.”

The people of ancient western regions far from central China – some small states ruled by nomadic peoples rather than the Han Chinese who later became the majority of the Chinese population – “have also been co-creators of Chinese culture,” Pan said.

These regions include what is now the Xinjiang region, as well as the Tibet autonomous region to its south and parts of central Asia.

After thousands of years of “migration, settlement, trade and marriages”, “Xinjiang and central China [now] eventually belong to a single political community”, Pan said, adding that Islamic culture represented only one part of Xinjiang’s “diverse religious culture”.

Xinjiang has a population of about 26 million, close to two-thirds of which is made up of ethnic minorities, including Uygurs and Kazakhs.

Ethnic tensions, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet, have been a challenge for the government. Controversial governance measures in place in Xinjiang since 2016, in response to once-frequent violent attacks there, have led to allegations of human rights abuses, which Beijing denies.

Pan’s comments were in line with Beijing’s push over the past decade for a “sense of community for the Chinese nation”.

The concept was introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2014. At a meeting in 2021, he said that building this sense of community should be at the heart of all ethnic minority policies and urged local authorities to take more proactive measures.

The measures include promoting the use of “standard spoken and written Chinese”, meaning Mandarin, and reinterpreting Chinese history to say that China’s 55 ethnic minorities had created civilisation with the Han Chinese majority since ancient times.

The International Forum on the History and Future of Xinjiang, which opened on Wednesday, was jointly organised by several universities in Beijing and Xinjiang.

Official media reported that more than 100 experts from China, the United States, Australia, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Egypt, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries attended the event in Kashgar, where the remains of a third century Buddhist temple were discovered recently.

Archaeologists said the Buddha statues unearthed at the site bore the characteristics of those from central China, a claim in line with Beijing’s historical narrative.

A university textbook edited by Pan, published in February, has been described by experts as the most direct articulation of China’s ethnic integration policy as laid down by Xi a decade ago.

The book argues that all ethnic groups have accepted the concept of zhonghua, or Chinese culture or civilisation, since ancient times. It also cites political divisions and “social cleavages” in the West to justify Beijing’s policy of ethnic integration.

“Neither the harmonising ‘melting pot’ policy nor the ultra-diverse model of ethnic governance works,” the book says.

Similar views were expressed in Pan’s speech. He said China had not experienced “religious wars”, “colonial expansion” or “cultural export” for thousands of years, and could “maybe provide a reference for the ethnic and religious conflicts that still exist in the world today”.

In recent years, the Xinjiang government has also sought to improve its international image through outreach efforts.

It has frequently hosted visits by foreign envoys, media delegations, religious figures and academics, and sent officials to promote the region in Central Asia and Africa.

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Chinese involvement in Indonesia mining project sparks protests, concerns of environmental disaster

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3266375/chinese-involvement-indonesia-mining-project-sparks-protests-concerns-environmental-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed

An Indonesian community is protesting against the involvement of the Chinese government in a zinc and lead mine in North Sumatra, citing the region’s earthquake-prone nature and the high risk that could result in environmental disaster.

Twenty-five residents of the Dairi Regency of North Sumatra on Tuesday rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Jakarta against the planned underground mine by Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM), saying they wanted to send a message to Beijing.

“This is the second [protest] we have carried out in front of the Chinese embassy,” Monica Siregar, a resident of Dairi and coordinator of the environmental NGO Diakonia Pelangi Kasih, told This Week in Asia.

“We want the embassy to convey [to the Chinese government] that the majority of people reject the presence of the mine and that there is no need to provide loans to DPM.”

DPM is an Indonesian joint venture between mining giant China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Co (NFC) and Bumi Resources Minerals, a subsidiary of the Indonesian coalminer Bumi Resources, which is owned by the Bakrie Group.

NFC said on April 27 it had scored a loan of US$245 million from Carren Holdings Corporation Limited to DPM to develop the mine. Hong Kong-registered Carren Holdings is fully owned by Chinese state-owned investment company CNIC Corporation, whose 90 per cent stake is owned by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The protesters had sent a letter on Tuesday addressed to Wu Zhiwei, economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese embassy, underlining the “serious and irreversible risks” posed by the planned mine.

“Multiple internationally renowned experts confirmed that there is a high risk that the planned tailings dam of the project could collapse. If this happens, a flood of millions of tons of toxic mine waste will kill many of us,” the letter said.

“We are shocked and concerned that China continues to develop and invest in such a disastrous project. We respectfully ask the Chinese government to … immediately halt any state-backed finance for the project and request NFC to immediately suspend any activities of this project.”

Tailings dams are embankments constructed near mines to store mining waste in a liquid or solid form.

The residents had in 2020 protested in front of the Chinese embassy in Jakarta and the Chinese consulate in Medan, but they were “particularly disappointed that the Chinese embassy has stopped communication with us since mid-2021”, the letter said.

The embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

According to Medan-based North Sumatra People’s Legal Aid and Advocacy Association (Bakumsu), an NGO that provides legal support to communities, the zinc mining fiasco dates back to 1998, when DPM received mining concessions of 27,420 hectares (67,756 acres) in the Dairi. The area is estimated to contain about 5 per cent of the world’s zinc reserves.

Zinc can be used for consumer and industrial goods, including in electric vehicles. Last year, scientists from Australia’s Edith Cowan University found that batteries made of zinc and air, combined with new materials such as carbon, iron, and cobalt-based minerals, could power electric vehicles in the future as a better, more eco-friendly substitute for lithium-ion batteries.

If the project is realised, DPM plans to mix most of its mining waste with cement and inject it back underground, while the remaining toxic waste will be stored in a tailings dam covered by a 25-metre-high wall. But safety experts – commissioned by NGOs assisting the residents in their fight against the DPM project – said the planned dam would be vulnerable to earthquakes.

Experts cited in Bakumsu’s case briefing in 2020 noted the mine is located near the Sumatra subduction megathrusts, where the Indo-Australian Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate, which has caused powerful earthquakes such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. It is also only 15km from the Great Sumatran Fault, which frequently produces significant earthquakes, further increasing the risk of disaster.

“A sudden tailings dam failure caused by an earthquake would send a wave of liquid mud over the region downstream to the north,” the experts said in the briefing.

The company also planned to build its waste dam “within 400 metres of the residents’ settlement, with churches and mosques where large numbers of people could congregate”, Bakumsu said.

Tongam Panggabean, director of Bakumsu, cited the example of a tailings dam breach in Brazil in 2015 that left 19 people dead and hundreds homeless, with villages destroyed and the river system polluted. The mining company involved, BHP, offered US$25.7 billion as compensation.

“Frankly, I’m surprised a Chinese government agency is getting behind the DPM project, given all these risks. There’s no upside,” Tongam said on Tuesday.

The residents have an ongoing appeal against the Indonesian government’s issuance of environmental approval to DPM at the Supreme Court, but the case is only at the stage of selecting the panel of judges, according to Monica.

The residents lost a previous court case in which they asked for public information regarding DPM’s work contracts, she said.

“We will still fight, because we think about our next generation, we don’t want to move,” said Monica, a mother of one. “It’s not that easy to relocate and adapt to the new environment. In the new place, we won’t necessarily have land as big as the land that we have in Dairi. Our lives will get worse if we give up our ancestral land for mining.”

Monica said the project was already affecting “social relations” in her village, Parongil, one of the 11 villages located downstream of the mine.

“Even now, the community in Dairi is already divided between supporters and opponents of mining. This shows that there’s already conflict in people’s lives. [If the project materialises], our culture will be eroded too, not to mention the environment being polluted by mining,” she said.

“We hope the loans that have been given by investors [to the project] can be cancelled because, when they fund this, they also fund the destruction of Dairi communities.”

[Sport] The Chinese women dating Dan: An AI boyfriend on ChatGPT

https://www.bbc.com/articles/c4nnje9rpjgo

US says ‘structural issues’ in India-China ties difficult to resolve

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3266388/us-says-structural-issues-india-china-ties-difficult-resolve?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States wishes India well in its efforts to improve strained ties with China, the No 2 US diplomat said on Wednesday, while cautioning that Chinese leader Xi Jinping finds it very hard to show any flexibility on territorial issues.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday after assuming office for a second straight term that India would focus on finding solutions to border issues with China, that have long strained ties between the neighbours.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who has led US efforts to boost ties with India to push back against China’s growing power, was asked at a Washington think tank about Jaishankar’s comments.

“I think the truth is that anytime two countries can find a degree of the common space to reduce tensions, I think we have to support that,” he said.

“I think we wish the Indians well in deliberations,” he added, before going on to say that Washington was “very confident and comfortable” about its own bilateral relationship with India “and we want that to continue going forward.”

Campbell said he would be in India next week with Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, to “advance areas of coordination.”

“I think we feel very good about this partnership,” he said, while adding: “I think there are some structural issues between China and India that frankly will be difficult to resolve.”

Campbell said he believed that for any rapprochement, or substantial improvement in relations with China, India would expect changes in how Beijing treats their contested borders.

“One of the things that we’ve seen under Xi Jinping on anything that bridges, or touches, territorial matters, I think it’s very hard for the Chinese to show any flexibility, or any desire to find common ground,” he said.

India and China share a 3,800km (2,400 mile) border – much of it poorly demarcated – over which the nuclear-armed nations fought a war in 1962. They have engaged in a military stand-off since July 2020 when at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in the worst clashes in five decades.

Washington has sought to develop its ties with India in spite of some differences over issues including human rights.

Revealed: the China secret behind voice of ex-One Direction boy band star Zayn Malik

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3266289/revealed-china-secret-behind-voice-ex-one-direction-boy-band-star-zayn-malik?utm_source=rss_feed

British singer-songwriter and former member of the boy band One Direction, Zayn Malik, has stunned mainland social media by revealing that a Chinese herbal syrup is among his must-carry daily belongings.

In a recent YouTube “What’s In The Bag” video with the magazine British Vogue, which had attracted 332,000 views in just six days following its posting, Malik shared what he carried in his Fendi duffle bag.

He is seen pulling a teddy bear, an antiperspirant, toothbrush and toothpaste, and a perfume bottle from the bag, nothing unusual for a 31-year-old public figure.

The singer then reveals the next item, a bottle of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa.

Also known as “Nin Jiom Herbal Cough Syrup”, it is a traditional Chinese natural herbal remedy used to relieve coughs, sore throats, fever, and aphonia.

Malik said in the video that the syrup is his “special elixir” that is “ridiculously good for your vocal cords”, adding that he takes it everywhere he goes, especially when he is singing.

He did not explain how he discovered the syrup that is said to have been invented in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and which has become popular in Western countries in recent years.

During the 2018 flu season in New York, the remedy’s healing powers were so hyped up that the price of a 300ml bottle rose to US$70 in the city.

The same bottle costs HK$50 (US$6.5) in Hong Kong and £9 (US$12) on British e-commerce platforms.

It is the star product of the Hong Kong traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) manufacturer, Nin Jiom Medicine Manufactory, founded in 1946.

The recipe contains a variety of natural ingredients and herbs, such as fritillary bulb, loquat leaf, licorice root, fresh ginger, and honey, which are all believed to be good for the throat and health in general.

On the product’s website, it was said to be effective in “clearing lung-heat” and “dissipating cold and replenishing qi”.

“Qi” is a TCM concept that means “energy”. It should flow freely and unobstructed in a person’s body. Any blockages are considered a sign of illness.

When China eased its zero-Covid-19 policy in December 2022 resulting in a wave of infections in the country, the product sold like hotcakes.

“I am so shocked to see Zayn Malik holding a bottle of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa. It’s like two different universes merging,” said one online observer on Weibo.

China’s health system anti-corruption drive nets another senior official in Guizhou

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266327/chinas-health-system-anti-corruption-drive-nets-another-senior-official-guizhou?utm_source=rss_feed

A senior health official in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou has been placed under investigation as China continued a crackdown on medical sector corruption.

Yang Hui, 51, the party chief of the Guizhou provincial health commission, is being probed for “serious violations of discipline and laws”, according to the provincial commission for discipline inspection and supervision, the local anti-corruption watchdog.

No details of her alleged crimes were released but “serious violations of discipline and laws” is a widely used euphemism by authorities for corruption or political mistakes.

The investigation is part of a broader campaign against corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, which received billions of US dollars worth of public funds during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last August, Beijing launched a crackdown on the misuse of funds, rent-seeking by management, pharmaceutical sales bribery, dubious medical ethics, and other abuses that have long plagued hospitals and driven up medical costs. Rent-seeking is the practice of manipulating public policy or economic conditions for financial gain.

According to a tally by the China News Service, more than 300 hospital chiefs and party secretaries have been investigated or disciplined for corruption in the medical sector since January 2023, with a significant number of cases involving embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power.

In Guizhou alone, at least five senior officials or ex-officials in the healthcare sector have been investigated for disciplinary violations and corruption in the first half of 2024. They included Jin Long, the chief of the health and family planning supervision bureau of the Guizhou provincial health commission, and Liang Xianquan, vice-chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in the city of Guiyang and former party chief of Guiyang’s Second People’s Hospital.

Yang’s case surfaced just days after she returned from a study tour in Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

In media interviews, she had spoken about strengthening medical education, research and management to “build a Guizhou model of traditional Chinese medicine medical services”, and to improve the quality of Guizhou’s traditional medicines.

Yang has had a long career in the province’s healthcare system. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese from Minzu University of China in 1994, Yang worked as a journalist for 10 years.

In 2004, Yang was appointed vice director of the population and family planning commission in Guizhou. Two years later, she was promoted to director and served in the position for nine years, before transferring to the provincial disease control and prevention centre as the party secretary and deputy director in 2015.

During her stint as deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Health Commission from 2018, Yang was responsible for managing daily affairs, women and children’s health, and food safety standards. She also supervised party building in government departments and public hospitals.

In 2020, Yang was promoted to her current vice-ministerial level role as the party chief at the Guizhou provincial health commission.

During her time in the role, Guizhou made national headlines at the height of China’s strict zero-Covid measures. In September 2022, a bus carrying people from the city of Guiyang to a quarantine centre about 260km (160 miles) away crashed, killing 27 and injuring 20. The incident sparked online outcry over China’s Covid-19 controls, and three district officials were suspended.

Chinese EV makers’ price wars in overseas markets will sew doubts over quality: Bain

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3266361/chinese-ev-makers-price-wars-overseas-markets-will-sew-doubts-over-quality-bain?utm_source=rss_feed

Price competition among Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers abroad is not sustainable since consumers will start to doubt the quality and reliability of the cars if they are frequently discounted, according to Bain & Co.

The global consultancy advises Chinese assemblers, which already enjoy a cost advantage over their international rivals, to focus on premium and expensive models when building their global image, rather than selling cheaper cars to lure budget-conscious consumers.

“Chinese companies have the potential to redefine electric cars so that they can convince global customers of their products’ competitiveness in performance and technology,” Helen Liu, a Bain partner, told reporters at a media briefing on Wednesday. “The pricing advantage will eventually run out of steam. It is product quality, technology and brand awareness that hold the key to Chinese carmakers’ success.”

Her statement coincided with the European Union’s decision to slap additional tariffs of up to 38 per cent on Chinese-made EVs in the wake of a nine-month anti-subsidy investigation.

In its latest report about Chinese companies’ globalisation drive and overseas investment strategy, Bain suggests EV assemblers set up production facilities in the regions where they aim to grab market share if they want to sidestep damage from the punitive tariffs on their cars.

It warned them, however, that localising production carries risks arising from geopolitical tensions and regulatory compliance.

China is the world’s largest automotive and EV market, with electric car sales accounting for 60 per cent of the global total.

Last September, UBS predicted Chinese-made cars, benefiting from a faster pace of electrification, would control a third of the global market by 2030, up from 17 per cent in 2022.

In a teardown report, the Swiss bank found that the pure-electric Seal sedan built by Shenzhen-based BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, had a production advantage over Tesla’s Model 3 assembled in China.

The cost of building a Seal, a rival to the Model 3, was 15 per cent lower, the report said. In Europe, the Seal had a sustainable 25 per cent cost advantage over rivals, even factoring in ­growing trade barriers such as tariffs, it showed.

BYD, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, mainly makes cheaper pure-electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles, priced from 100,000 yuan (US$13,786) to 200,000 yuan. The company’s blade battery packs are popular with consumers and other EV assemblers because the cells are arranged in a more efficient array to increase energy density and enhance resistance to overheating.

Leading Chinese manufacturers of premium EVs, including Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, assemble cars with intelligent features such as autonomous driving technology and voice-activated control systems.

A price war among Chinese EV assemblers has been spreading to overseas markets as more than a dozen players look abroad to bolster sales and chase higher profits to offset losses at home.

The carmakers are locked in a fierce price competition in overseas markets like Southeast Asia amid heightened worries about overcapacity on the mainland.

In Thailand, established carmakers like BYD and Great Wall Motor, and EV start-ups such as Hozon New Energy Automobile are offering discounts in a bid to take on Japanese rivals whose petrol vehicles dominate the market.

Last month, Deloitte said in a report that BYD had a 33 per cent share of the EV market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries, trailed by Neta-branded electric cars whose sales accounted for 14 per cent of the regional total.

Bain’s Liu said Chinese electric-car makers should play the long game when it comes to expanding abroad and try to create reputable brands rather than chasing short-term gains in sales.

“They are advised to compete in the premium segment and attract wealthy customers,” she added. “Offering discounts to woo price-sensitive buyers is not sustainable.”

Manila sees more Chinese vessels ahead of Beijing’s maritime arrest policy

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3266363/manila-sees-more-chinese-vessels-ahead-beijings-maritime-arrest-policy?utm_source=rss_feed

China this week increased its number of vessels in the West Philippine Sea, a Philippine navy spokesman said, ahead of the start of Beijing’s policy on Saturday to detain foreign nationals it considers to be trespassing in its maritime territory.

Analysts warn China’s aggressive moves in the region, including its detention policy, could escalate into armed conflict as Beijing continues to push a strategy designed to provoke other nations “to be the first to fire”.

Philippine navy spokesman Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said on Tuesday that 146 Chinese vessels, including 22 warships, were detected this week in the West Philippine Sea – Manila’s term for the part of the South China Sea that falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. This was up from 125 vessels last week.

Trinidad’s comments follow President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s Monday warning to the Philippine military to be prepared for “external threats” from the South China Sea as he spoke to soldiers at Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in the northern Philippine province of Isabela.

Ahead of the start of the detention policy, Trinidad said the navy had stepped patrols in the area and were coordinating with their security partners.

Marcos Jnr’s warning was a “call to readiness to any eventuality”, including armed conflict, said political analyst Edmund Tayao, president and CEO of think tank the Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists.

“It is also a call to commitment and, for those who are not inclined to commit,” said Tayao, who is also a professor at the Manila-based Graduate School of Law of San Beda University.

“[Beijing’s actions] are a statement of vigorous aggressiveness that simply has to be tempered by today’s international atmosphere of non-violence. China will continue to do what it has always been doing, which is designed to induce their counterpart to be the first to fire.”

Security analyst Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, said Beijing would recalculate its position the day it implements its trespassing regulation.

“If the voice of Manila and the international community contradict and resist its stringent enforcement, China may become more flexible in its enforcement or totally withdraw from it,” Cabalza said.

“China will temper its actions so as not to start a shooting war or confrontation. This is still part of China’s grey zone tactics.”

The president also highlighted the need for northern Philippines to be “well-prepared for any eventuality” considering its “proximity to Taiwan”.

“The external threat has become more pronounced, more worrisome. And that is why we have to prepare.”

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of mainland China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

The Philippines, China, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam have competing claims in the South China Sea. Beijing asserts its “nine-dash line” claim over large swathes of the waterway, but a tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that those claims had no legal basis and recognised the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the resource-rich waterway.

China has refused to accept the verdict.

Last week, the United States coastguard assured the Philippine coastguard that it would help prevent China from targeting Filipino fishermen for detention and upholding its sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines and US have an agreement that calls on both countries to aid each other in times of aggression by an external power. The Pentagon has previously said it was prepared to assist Manila if the Philippines invoked the treaty.

US bill targeting China-made batteries shows lawmakers’ growing alarm and differences

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266386/us-bill-targeting-china-made-batteries-shows-lawmakers-growing-alarm-and-differences?utm_source=rss_feed

Growing concern among US lawmakers about how China might be spying on America – and their differences over how to address it – came into sharp focus in Washington on Wednesday.

Amid fiery rhetoric including an accusation of “pro-China” stalling tactics, a Republican-sponsored bill aimed at barring the US Department of Homeland Security from sourcing Chinese-made batteries eventually passed a US House committee.

But not before Democratic members of the House Homeland Security committee blasted their Republican counterparts, pressing for what they called “common sense” queries about the proposal at hand.

“Who does the Department of Homeland Security buy batteries from now?” asked Democratic congressman Tom Suozzi of New York.

Suozzi sought an amendment to the bill, requiring Homeland Security to submit a report detailing the potential operational impacts of the legislation’s implementation.

“I’m sure they buy batteries from all over the place and I’m sure they’re buying Chinese,” replied Republican congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida, referring to Homeland Security.

Gimenez, who sponsored the bill – the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act – and Suozzi then engaged in a heated exchange.

“Do we know who they buy batteries from?” Suozzi asked again, interrupting Gimenez.

Gimenez said his bill would prohibit Homeland Security “from buying from the Chinese Communist Party”.

Suozzi persisted: “Do we know if they buy batteries from them now?”

“So nobody knows,” Suozzi interjected over Gimenez’s remarks.

The question of whom a US government department buys its batteries from took on special resonance because in January a strikingly similar bill won bipartisan support.

Integrated into the annual defence budget, that legislation in January prohibited the Pentagon from procuring batteries manufactured by Chinese entities, citing the same six companies as were identified on Wednesday.

The named entities were CATL, BYD, Envision Energy, EVE Energy, Hithium Energy Storage Technology and Gotion High-Tech.

China produces nearly 80 per cent of the world’s batteries, and bipartisan consensus in Washington warns of security risks from using Chinese-made batteries, including potential malware in EVs or remote shutdown of charging networks.

“This bill passed unanimously in the NDAA, bipartisan bill, just almost exactly the same bill,” said Gimenez.

While the Republican did not address whether Homeland Security was buying batteries from those very companies, he conceded taking the information from the recent law and applying it to Homeland Security.

Gimenez said he did so because it had already been proved that the firms were “suspicious”, and he described his bill on Wednesday as “pre-emptive”.

The discourse followed a now-familiar rancorous dynamic on Capitol Hill.

As Republicans suggested that delayed legislation would favour China and its proxies, Democrats insisted they were equally concerned about China’s battery dominance and ready to work in a non-partisan manner to counter the threat to US national security.

“I can’t imagine anyone on this committee being pro-China or for [China’s] battery companies,” stated Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, asking the panel’s chair to take the bill forward without amendments.

Ranking member Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, argued that his party’s lawmakers were trying to fix Gimenez’s bill, saying it only banned purchases from specific companies and not “Chinese companies”.

“It lists six companies that you can’t buy from, but we don’t know if those six companies are presently being acquired batteries by DHS because we don’t have any information,” said Thompson.

The Democrat proposed that the bill’s language not be confined to only the six Chinese companies.

Ultimately the committee unanimously agreed on Wednesday to the amendments by Suozzi and Thompson, sending the bill for consideration on the House floor, where it is likely to be taken up later this month.

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US lawmakers pass Tibet policy bill that questions China’s narrative, leaves status unresolved

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266374/us-lawmakers-pass-tibet-policy-bill-questions-chinas-narrative-leaves-status-unresolved?utm_source=rss_feed

A bipartisan bill seeking to counter Beijing’s narrative about China’s control over Tibet and promote dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama is heading to US President Joe Biden’s desk.

The House of Representatives voted 391-26 on Wednesday to approve the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, which passed the Senate last month.

The bill, introduced in the Senate by Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley, would direct funds to counter what it calls “disinformation” from Beijing about Tibet’s history, people and institutions.

The bill refutes the Chinese government’s claim that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times, and would make it US policy that the dispute over Tibet’s status is unresolved.

It would also make it US policy that “Tibet” refers not only to the Tibet autonomous region as defined by the Chinese government, but also Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

“Passing this bill demonstrates America’s resolve that the [Chinese Communist Party] status quo in Tibet is not acceptable and I can think of no greater message or gift to the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet,” said Republican representative Michael McCaul of Texas on the House floor Tuesday.

In hardening the language around Washington’s position on Tibet, the bill’s backers hope to pressure Beijing into resuming negotiations with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. The two sides have not held a formal dialogue since 2010.

The House had already passed a version of the Senate bill in February. The sponsor of that House bill, Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, has said that past appeals by the US for negotiations between Beijing and the Dalai Lama “without preconditions” had failed.

Beijing contends that Tibet has remained under central Chinese rule for over 700 years, despite extended periods in which Tibetan campaigners argue that the region was effectively self-governed.

The Dalai Lama has said that he does not seek political independence for Tibet, but has not recognised Beijing’s historical claim over Tibet.

In April, China’s foreign ministry reasserted that any contact or talks with the spiritual leader would concern his “personal future” or, at most, that of his close associates, and not the question of Tibetan autonomy.

The US State Department considers the autonomous region and other Tibetan areas as part of China, but the bill’s supporters note that the US government has never taken the position that the Chinese Communist Party’s occupation of the region in the 1950s abided by international law.

The bill’s authors argue that the Chinese government is “systematically suppressing” the ability of Tibetans to preserve their religion, culture, language, history, way of life, and environment, and assert that the Tibetan people have a right to “self-determination”.

Since taking office in 2021, Biden has yet to meet the Dalai Lama. As a candidate in 2020, Biden criticised Donald Trump for being the only US president in three decades who had neither met nor spoken to the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The US president has, however, expressed sympathy for the Tibetan cause, raising concerns with President Xi Jinping about China’s actions in Tibet and appointing a high-ranking State Department official to serve as special coordinator for Tibetan issues.

The Dalai Lama has announced plans to visit the US this month for knee treatment, but there are no details about any meetings between him and US officials. Beijing opposes contact by officials of any country with the Dalai Lama.

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