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Briefings - 49. page

China’s Official Media Blasts European Parliament Statements on Taiwan

China Daily, the official English-language mouthpiece of Chinese government, recently published an editorial criticizing the European Parliament (EP) for making statements about Taiwan.

During a recent plenary session, the EP adopted the “Annual Report on the Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, 2023” in a vote of 338 in favor, 86 against and 122 abstentions. The report included language stating that “Neither Taiwan nor China is subordinate to the other” and “only Taiwan’s democratically elected government can represent the Taiwanese people on the international stage.” China Daily has argued that this wording is “problematic” and an “infringement on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The annual report also calls for supporting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations. China Daily has responded by accusing the EP of “interfering in China’s internal affairs.” It argues that the report will negatively impact China-EU relations, accusing some European Parliament politicians of being influenced by a “Cold War mentality” or “instigated by Washington to challenge China over Taiwan.”

Source: China Daily, March 3, 2024
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202403/03/WS65e4799fa31082fc043ba45f.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Sina: US-led “Shared Principles on 6G” Aims to Curb China’s 6G Development

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDQ: SINA) recently published an article commenting on a “Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G” that was jointly released by the United States as well as nine other countries. The article stated that “this US-led effort is obviously aimed at curbing China’s 6G development.”

The Sina article quoted sources saying “this move is intended to compete for dominance of the 6G standard.” The article also stated that “China has an extremely large user base, and Chinese technology companies such as Huawei have their own independent 6G strategies. … China has established a 6G promotion group in 2019 to systematically promote various tasks such as demand, technology, standards and international cooperation. The group also launched 6G technology trials.”

The ten countries party to the statement include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. A copy of the statement released by the White House on February 26 enumerated six “shared principles” to be fulfilled by 6G networks: “Trusted Technology that is Protective of National Security”, “Secure, Resilient, and Protective of Privacy”, “Global Industry-led and Inclusive Standard Setting & International Collaborations”, “Cooperation to Enable Open and Interoperable Innovation”, “Affordability, Sustainability, and Global Connectivity”, and “Spectrum and Manufacturing.”

Sources:
Sina, February 28, 2024
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2024-02-28/doc-inakqwnf2276916.shtml

The White House, “Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G: Secure, Open, and Resilient by Design.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/26/joint-statement-endorsing-principles-for-6g-secure-open-and-resilient-by-design/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Global Times: South Korea’s EV Subsidy Plan Unfavorable to Chinese Companies

Global Times, a tabloid under the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily newspaper, recently reported that the South Korean Ministry of the Environment has updated its electric vehicle (EV) purchase subsidy plan for 2024. According to the article, certain vehicles will be disadvantaged by the new subsidy plan, including:

  • vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries (the main product of Chinese battery companies), and
  • cars built by foreign companies that are not able to set up direct after-sales service centers throughout South Korea.

The new subsidy plan introduces a “battery environmental protection factor” aiming to account for the “waste battery recycling value” in the subsidy. According to this new standard, electric vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries will be subsidized less on the grounds that such batteries contain less valuable recyclable metals. Subsidies for Korean consumers purchasing EVs equipped with Chinese batteries will shrink by up to 40 percent.

“Some have said that this move is the South Korean government’s response to the rapid increase in the domestic supply of electric vehicles equipped with Chinese batteries.” One commentator said that “the new policy is to align with foreign policies such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which is detrimental to Chinese battery companies to a certain extent.” According to Yonhap News Agency, “about 96.4 percent of South Korea’s EV battery imports currently come from China.”

Source: Global Times, February 7, 2024
https://m.huanqiu.com/article/4GUtT6ffRr9

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Lianhe Zaobao: U.S. Consul General Says Hong Kong Internet Censorship Tightening

Singapore’s primary Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Gregory May, the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, said Hong Kong’s Internet censorship is “tightening and is becoming more like that in Mainland China.”

Connectivity and data security concerns in Hong Kong have reached a level that prompted some U.S. business executives to use disposable phones and laptops when visiting the city. Gregory May said that Hong Kong “began to go downhill and tried to delete certain content from the Internet or block certain websites.”

He called for Hong Kong to stop restricting freedoms, and he expressed the belief that Hong Kong could effectively improve its reputation by releasing of people facing prison for political speech incidents, e.g. Next Media founder Jimmy Lai. He also said that “Hong Kong still has significant business advantages — as long as the Hong Kong government abides by its commitment in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to maintain a high degree of autonomy and remain unchanged for 50 years, relations between Hong Kong and the United States may improve.”

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, March 1, 2024
https://www.kzaobao.com/bolg/20240301/157420.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability US-China Relations

China Pilots “Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integration” Programs

China is promoting “vehicle-road-cloud” integration. The idea is to advance commercialization of smart vehicles by integrating intelligent driving technology with roadside perception and cloud control. On January 17, 2024, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a “Notice on Carrying out Pilot Projects for ‘Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integration’.” The ministry’s pilot program will run from 2024 to 2026.

“As of the end of 2023, China has set up 17 national-level test and demonstration zones, 7 vehicle networking pilot zones, and 16 pilot cities for development of connectivity between intelligent vehicles and smart cities. … There are now more than 22,000 kilometers of test and demonstration road; more than 88 million kilometers of road testing have been completed.”

One example involves autonomous driving technology company WeRide’s work in the Beijing High-Tech Autonomous Driving Demonstration Zone: WeRide has conducted “in-depth cooperation with the government” to integrate “roadside perception of traffic signals and dynamic blind spots, driving path optimization, unprotected left turns, two-vehicle collaborative control, status sharing, and more.” The article states that “as of now, 12 companies including Baidu, Pony.ai, WeRide, AutoX, NavInfo, and Audi have conducted development and testing of ‘vehicle-road-cloud integration'” in the Beijing Demonstration Zone.

Source: Stock Times, February 3, 2024
https://www.stcn.com/article/detail/1114322.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Information/Technology

People’s Daily: Measures to Address Agricultural Labor Shortage

People’s Daily republished an article from Economic Daily discussing how China might resolve its agricultural labor shortage problems. The article said that “the matter of ‘who will farm the land’ is an urgent issue” related to “national food security and rural revitalization.” With a large number of rural laborers migrating to cities, there is a prominent “structural shortage of labor” in rural areas of China. Below are some key ideas from the article.

“The rapid development of mechanization provides impetus for solving this problem. China’s agricultural industry has already realized a basic level of ‘machines replacing human labor.’ … The comprehensive mechanization rate of cultivation and harvesting of crops has reached 73.1 percent nationwide. … China’s agricultural industry is gradually shifting from small-scale household farming to large-scale and intensive development.”

One concept for the development of large-scale agriculture is a large-scale land management (i.e. land consolidation). “Various regions have started exploring [the technique of] ‘consolidating small fields (from different owners) into larger ones.'” Another concept is “large-scale service management, which involves providing fully-managed or semi-managed services to small farmers … who retain control of their land.” The article said that the latter concept “is more realistic for China’s agriculture industry.”

Source: People’s Daily, February 15, 2024
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0215/c1004-40177697.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics

Japanese Government: China’s Distressed Debt Securitization Increased by 46%

According to Nikkei Chinese Edition, the Cabinet Office of Japan has published its semi-annual “World Economic Trends” report. The report pointed out signs of stagnation in China’s economy and warned that they may last – “not only will the economy stagnate in the short term, but there are also concerns about halted growth in the medium-to-long term.”

Based on data from private Chinese databases, the Cabinet Office of Japan annually reports on the amount of securities issuance converted from non-performing loans. In China, loans with delinquent payments over 90 days are considered non-performing. For 2023, such securities issuance amounted to 46.6 Billion Yuan (US$ 6.5 Billion), a 46 percent increase from 2022 (32 Billion Yuan). This increase was significantly higher than in 2021 and 2022; those years saw year-over-year increases of less than 10 percent.

In 2023, half of the security issuance converted from non-performing loans originated from housing loans, amounting to 23.6 Billion Yuan. This figure was 2.5 times higher than the previous year’s metric for converted housing loans.

The Cabinet Office of Japan stated “It is necessary to continue monitoring whether there will arise an excessive transfer of (bad loan) risk onto the financial markets.”

Source: Nikkei, February 29, 2024
https://zh.cn.nikkei.com/china/ceconomy/54956-2024-02-29-09-41-11.html?start=1

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources Government/Politics

Xinhua: Foreign Politicians, Scholars, and Media Talking Trash About China’s Economy

China’s Xinhua news agency has published an article countering the numerous reports and predictions by foreign media regarding China’s economic downslide. The article blames Western politicians, scholars, and media for wearing “colored glasses” (having a biased perspective), “doomsaying” China’s economy. The article states that such “doomsaying” has existed for several decades and has always been incorrect. The article does not provide concrete evidence in defense of China’s current economic situation.

Some of the sentiments expressed in the article include:

  • “Gordon Chang, a ‘China collapse theory expert,’ has become a laughing stock.”
  • “During the 2008 international financial crisis, some U.S. politicians and scholars blamed the U.S. real estate bubble and global economic imbalances on ‘the high savings rates of China and other emerging market countries.'”
  • “In 2015, Western media revived the ‘Chinese economic collapse theory'”
  • “The West has substituted China as a scapegoat, blaming it for economic crises and socioeconomic problems.”
  • The West has “a stubborn Cold War mentality and ideological bias, aiming to undermine the outside world’s confidence in China’s economy.”

Source: Xinhua, February 22, 2024
http://www.news.cn/mrdx/2024-02/22/c_1310764956.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics