Chinascope – Page 127

BBC Chinese: A Large Number of Zhengzhou Foxconn Workers Fled on Foot

BBC Chinese recently reported that, at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province, there are many workers who have been fleeing this largest Apple iPhone assembly plant in China amid reports that the Covid outbreak has forced a lockdown. It has not been possible to verify how many confirmed cases of Covid-19 were found at the plant. Parts of this big city of about 10 million are now on lockdown as China continues to impose strict government Covid control measures. Taiwan’s Foxconn Group, a top supplier for Apple, has hundreds of thousands of workers at its Zhengzhou factory, but the company has yet to provide official figures on the number of infections. Due to the outbreak at the Zhengzhou factory, iPhone shipments in November may be reduced by as much as 30 percent. Footage shared online, including Chinese social media, showed workers leaving the factory and starting a long walk back home so they could avoid arrest on public transportation. A 22-year-old Foxconn worker surnamed Xia said that the dormitory where he and his colleagues were kept was “chaotic,” so he jumped over the fence and escaped. Under China’s strict Zero Covid policy, local governments have the power to act quickly to contain any outbreak of the virus. This includes anything from total lockdowns to regular testing and restrictions on travel . According to online reports, these workers did not in fact flee at first. After the outbreak came, they were helpless and could only obey orders. If it wasn’t for the unbearable situation, they would have been willing to cooperate. Some reports indicated that, after ten days of not having food and water, many workers broke through the interception of the security guards and managed what can be called, “a great escape.”

Source: BBC Chinese, October 31, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-63455490

Briefings | | November 7, 2022 | Information/Technology Social Stability

Xinhua: In October, Chinese Manufacturing’ PMI Fell

Xinhua recently reported that, according to official numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s October manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 percent. Affected by the frequent domestic spread of Covid, China’s purchasing manager index has declined and the foundation for the economic recovery and development needs to be further strengthened. Statistics show that both production and demand have slowed down. The production index and the new order index were 49.6 percent and 48.1 percent respectively, down 1.9 and 1.7 percentage points from the previous month. The prosperity of manufacturing production and of market demand both declined as well. Large corporations have kept expanding, while the pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises has increased.

At the same time, Caixin released its official Chinese Manufacturing PMI numbers for October. Caixin‘s PMI is a well-respected economic indicator monitored globally by financial institutions. Caixin’s China Manufacturing PMI recorded at 49.2 for October. It was thus in contraction territory for the third consecutive month, indicating that manufacturing figures continued to decline. The demand side of consumer goods and investment goods has been particularly insufficient. International demand also continued to decline. Some companies reported that foreign trade transportation has been encountering difficulties. Employment continues to shrink, and the purchasing price index of manufacturing companies has risen by more than three percent since September. Due to the sluggish market demand, companies have shown a strong willingness to reduce prices to promote better sales. Most companies reported that the government’s Covid control policies have caused transportation delays.

Sources:
(1) Xinhua, October 31, 2022
http://www.news.cn/fortune/2022-10/31/c_1129089205.htm
(2) Caixin, November 1, 2022
https://pmi.caixin.com/2022-11-01/101958657.html

Briefings | | November 7, 2022 | Economy/Resources

Berlin May Give Green Light to a Chinese Takeover of German Chip Factory, Ignoring Opposition from Intelligence

On Thursday October 27, the German newspaper Handelsblatt cited government sources that the German Economy Ministry is reviewing a deal that a China-controlled company proposed for German chipmaker Elmos.

Last December, Elmos, headquartered in Dortmund, agreed to sell its production line to Swedish chipmaker Silex, a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Sai Microelectronics Group. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s chief domestic intelligence agency, gave advanced warning to the government and advised against the deal because China’s mastery of the key technology would enable it to put pressure on Germany. Handelsblatt revealed that the German federal government neglected the advice and was ready to approve the deal.

Aniessa Andresen, Chairperson of the Hong Konger in Germany, told Radio Free Asia that Germany continues to sell its own infrastructure projects and key technological companies to China, even though it has realized that it cannot rely on China. It is puzzling and worrying that the chip deal is still going forward even after warnings from German intelligence agencies. Andresen called on Germany not to become a pawn of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who resisted the acquisition of the Hamburg port terminal by the Chinese state-owned COSCO Group, did not take the same tough stance in the chip deal, giving the reason that “Elmos” technology was “obsolete” and of little value, and that the Chinese could not acquire the needed technology to drive its development.

Taiwanese political researcher Li Youtan pointed out that the “Elmos” incident is similar to China’s acquisition last year of the UK’s chip plant Newport Wafer Fab through the Dutch firm Nexperia, which is controlled by China’s Wintel Technology Corporation. Li believes that the CCP showed its ambition to dominate the world after the 20th National Congress, but is thwarted by its lack of chip technology. If Germany allows the Elmos deal to go through, it will become a weak link in the democratic world.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to China and become the first EU leader to meet Xi Jinping since the 20th CCP Congress. This comes after he drew criticism for backing Chinese state-owned COSCO’s stake in the Port of Hamburg amid a boycott by six federal cabinet ministers.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 28, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/de-acquisition-10282022112232.html

Briefings | | November 1, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

VOA’s Interview of the Chair of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China

As the 20th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress came to an end on Sunday October 23, Xi Jinping, the Party’s general secretary, not only won his third term as expected, but installed his cronies and supporters in the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the CCP’s highest authority. The result has worried many executives of the foreign companies that operate in China.

In an interview with the Voice of America, Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, was pessimistic about the future of the Chinese economy. Wuttke is considered to be one of the most knowledgeable Westerners about China. He went to China in 1982 and has lived there on and off for 33 years.

He stated, “It’s definitely a surprise. I had a completely different line-up in mind (of the new leadership). I had of course the Prime Minister Li Keqiang as the head of parliament. I thought about two candidates for Prime Minister. I know both candidates quite well. It was a surprise to see that basically all of them were rooted out. Also, of course, the visual realization that president Hu Jintao was sent out of the room has already painted a picture that an era is gone. We have a greater clarity now that it is obviously Xi Jinping who is calling the shots to an extent which we did not see before. He has aligned a group of people that are totally loyal to him. We have basically left this sphere of achievements and meritocracy. It’s all about loyalty. We have to see where this group of people are leading China.”

“My struggle is I am trying to be realistic in order to give it a taste of which direction this might go. Obviously, Monday (October 24) was a very pessimistic market reaction, and reflects what many of my colleagues are thinking. But again, we have not entered the space in which we know where we are heading.”

“I am a child of the 90’s. I have been here about 30 years. I grew up in the opening up mode of Deng Xiaoping. My first party Congress I witnessed personally was in 1982, where Deng Xiaoping was trying clearly to integrate China and open up. Maybe at the tail of my career in China, I have to witness China actually closing up again to some extent. So, in a way it’s a full circle, which is, of course, disappointing. But at the same time, its their country; it’s their choice.”

“So many of them (the business leaders) put their operation on auto pilot. We have not seen companies moving away, and I don’t expect this. But we have noticed this – that new investment and new additional activities from those companies that normally would come up in China has been rerouted to other regions. So we see more interest in Thailand, Southeast Asia, India, but even close to home in Turkey and eastern Europe, for the simple fact that executives can fly there in and out easily.”

“They have also realized that the world bank has predicted China will grow this year at 2.8 percent, and rest of Asia 5.3 percent. These leaders follow the money. Hence there will not be an exodus of European business out of China, but we will definitely see an underachiever given the potential of this economy.

Source: Voice of America, October 28, 2022
https://www.voachinese.com/a/voa-interview-joerg-wuttke-china-party-congress-20221028/6810661.html

Briefings | | November 1, 2022 | Economy/Resources

Student Informer Reported on Chinese University Professor

On October 27, Xu Songyan, a professor at China’s Southwest University (SWU) located in the city of Chongqing, posted on Weibo, a Twitter-like Chinese microblogging platform, that a student informer who, after secretly sitting in his class, told him that Xu will be questioned (by the authorities). The post, which was subsequently deleted from Weibo, received attention from millions of Chinese netizens.

Chinese universities have what are called “information officers,” who are students appointed by the school to collect information on teaching activities, and who regularly file reports with the university. These student “informers” also report faculty members’ views and opinions to the university’s Communist Party and administrative authorities. The academic fields are under close watch including programs of literature, history and philosophy.

Xu Songyan is currently a professor at SWU’s School of History and Culture, where he teaches ancient Greek and Roman history. Recent years have seen criticism of the promotion of ancient Greek culture in mainland China, as ancient Greece was known as the birthplace of western democracy. Communist Party chairman Xi Jinping once said that the “path to socialism with Chinese characteristics must be deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture, that one should have a firm confidence in Chinese culture, and that one should not ‘always talk about Greece.’”

This is not the first time that a student “information officer” reported a professor. In May 2018, Zhai Juhong, a professor at the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, was reported by a student informer and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by the CCP Committee of the university. She was also dismissed from her position and disqualified as a teacher because of her comments on constitutional amendments, the state-owned enterprises and the institution of the People’s Congress.

Source: Ming Pao (Hong Kong), October 28, 2022
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/article/20221028/s00013/1666895213286/

Briefings | | November 1, 2022 | @CS Social Stability

China Is Building Its Influence In Central Asia

The French newspaper Le Monde published an article on how China is building up its influence in Central Asia. Russia used to provide military security guarantees to the countries there that were former republics of the USSR. However, as Russia is trapped and weakened in the Ukraine war, it has started losing its grip in Central Asia. Recently confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan demonstrated that Russia is not very effective as the police there.

On the other hand, China’s influence is growing. Beijing is the dominant economic power in that region. Its involvement in the past related more to grabbing local natural resources, such as Kazakhstan’s uranium and oil and Turkmenistan’s natural gas. It has also built up its influence through the Belt and Road Initiative. Now, Beijing is expanding to the security field. It supports these countries to be more independent and to have less control from Russia.

Source: Radio France International, October 20, 2022
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/专栏检索/法国世界报/20221020-趁俄罗斯受到削弱，中国正在中亚布网络，准备伏击

Briefings | | November 1, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

SK Hynix Considers Abandoning Fab Factories in China

Chinese online high-tech news site ICS Smart recently reported that major South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix just reported its poor third-quarter results. To make matters worse, SK Hynix has doubts about the future fate of its fab factories in China due to new US export control regulations. The company explained that, due to the deteriorating global macroeconomic environment, sluggish demand for DRAM and NAND products, sales and prices have declined, resulting in a sharp decline (-20.5 percent) in revenue month-over-month. Also, on October 7 this year, the United States issued new export control regulations against China, restricting wafer manufacturers located in China from obtaining multiple advanced chip technologies, unless licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This impacts the fab factories of Korean companies such as SK Hynix and Samsung in China. Although on October 11, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both obtained a license from the US Department of Commerce for an additional year, yet after that, what will happen? SK Hynixs’ chief marketing officer Kevin Noh said on a conference call that, as a contingency plan, the company is considering selling fab factories, selling equipment, or moving equipment to Korea. Records show that, as of 2020, SK Hynix had invested more than US$20 billion in China. Under the new U.S. regulations, the operation of SK Hynix in China will be subject to many restrictions.

Source: ICS Smart, October 26, 2022
http://www.icsmart.cn/57115/

Briefings | | November 1, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

Xinhua: In October, Chinese Manufacturing’ PMI Fell

Berlin May Give Green Light to a Chinese Takeover of German Chip Factory, Ignoring Opposition from Intelligence

VOA’s Interview of the Chair of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China

China Is Building Its Influence In Central Asia

SK Hynix Considers Abandoning Fab Factories in China

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