Government sets 5% growth target, the ongoing disputes in the South China Sea, and the $27 billion chip fund to counter US tech curbs
+ Hong Kong fast-tracks new security legislation and US congress could pass legislation to ban TikTok
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THROUGH THE LENS
XINJIANG
UN rights chief says China committing violations in Xinjiang, Tibet
Reuters
U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk on Monday called on China to implement recommendations to amend laws that violate fundamental rights, including in the Xinjiang and Tibet regions.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labour in camps. Beijing vigorously denies any abuses.
"I also call on the government to implement the recommendations made by my Office and other human rights bodies in relation to laws, policies and practises that violate fundamental rights, including in the Xinjiang and Tibet regions," Turk told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Xinjiang Authorities Are Retroactively Applying Laws to Prosecute Religious Leaders as Criminals
ChinaFile
Pioner’s verdict is one of the most detailed official government accounts available of the way routine Islamic practice has been criminalized across Xinjiang. His case shows how prosecutors and judges reimagine the past activities of Muslim communities, once accepted by the state, as the behavior of “evil gangs.” The verdict presents evidence against Pioner and a Uyghur bookseller named Tokhti Silam, who the prosecutors say together led dozens of people in the community to practice extremism. It describes in granular detail activities labeled instances of extremism, books that foster extremist thought, how homes and devices were searched for extremist content, even who drove in which cars to religious events and the student status of young people who illegally fasted during Ramadan.
Most importantly, it shows in explicit detail how “crimes” committed before they were deemed illegal have been retroactively prosecuted.
EU reaches deal on forced labour ban, with China’s Xinjiang in its sights
SCMP
The European Union reached a provisional agreement on Tuesday to ban goods made using forced labour, advancing legislation that was broadly written with China in mind.
The ban, which still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council – made up of EU member states – will target specific economic sectors in places where state-imposed forced labour exists, based on a database drawn up by the European Commission.
China is not named in the documentation, given the need to comply with World Trade Organization rules. But the initial proposal was driven by widespread allegations of state-sponsored forced labour in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, which Beijing denies.
Nonetheless, unlike a US ban which specifically targets goods made in Xinjiang, it will apply to products from all over the world, including the EU.
Negotiators clashed over who would administer the ban, with its global remit expected to be a drain on resources. Commission sources on Tuesday said member states would need to afford them more staff to enforce the ban, “otherwise this is just headlines”.
U.S. lawmakers urge Blinken to issue 'do not travel' notice for Xinjiang
Nikkei Asia
American lawmakers have raised concerns about U.S.-based tourism companies advertising trips to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Republican Rep. Chris Smith from New Jersey and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley from Oregon sent letters to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and three tour companies on Thursday. As chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), they sharply criticized U.S. companies that encourage tourism to Xinjiang, where China stands accused of human rights violations.
"Tourism whitewashes the atrocities committed against Uyghurs and other minorities and puts a happy face on genocide in the XUAR," Smith and Merkley said in a statement, abbreviating the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. "U.S. companies should not be complicit in this effort, marketing [Chinese]-controlled tours to U.S. citizens and other foreigners."
POLITICS & SOCIETY
Key takeaways from the China NPC 2024
AP
China’s Premier Li Qiang promoted an image of confidence as he announced modest economic growth goals for the world’s second largest economy, at one of the country’s most important political gatherings.
Li addressed a few thousand delegates of the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, which met in Beijing.
It’s a time when the government reviews the work of the past year, and crucially reveals targets and goals for the coming year, especially in its approach to its economy, military budget and Chinese society.
Xi Urges Coordination of Military, Economic Strategy at Sea
Bloomberg
Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the military to coordinate its maritime strategy with economic development, in a meeting with defense lawmakers during the country’s annual legislative session.
The armed forces “should coordinate the preparation for maritime military conflicts, the protection of maritime rights and interests, and the development of the maritime economy,” Xi said at the Thursday meeting, according to a report by China’s state broadcaster.
Xi’s comments came as tensions have flared up at the South China Sea. Coast guard vessels from China and the Philippines have collided this week during the Southeast Asian nation’s resupply mission. The two countries have been locked in a territorial dispute in the waters, with Beijing claiming nearly all of the resource-rich waterway including areas that Manila says are part of its exclusive economic zone.
Buzzwords For China's Economy: 'Invest in China', 'AI Plus Initiative', More
Bloomberg
As lawmakers and advisers meet in Beijing this week for the nation’s biggest political gathering of the year, the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper released a list of the event’s buzzwords.
Tracking slogans and phrases from government and party documents has become an important way to gain insight into Chinese policymaking, especially as the country has increasingly restricted access to information. This year, Li Qiang will be the first premier in three decades to not hold a press briefing at the National People’s Congress, removing a rare platform to engage with one of the most senior officials in the country.
China ups defence spending amid Taiwan, regional tensions
HKFP
China announced Tuesday it would boost its defence spending in 2024, as hostility over Taiwan and in the South China Sea grows.
The 7.2 percent increase, identical to last year’s figure, was announced at the start of the annual meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC).
China will spend 1.665 trillion yuan (US$231.4 billion) on defence in 2024, according to the budget report that lays out the government’s financial plans for the year ahead.
China has the world’s second-largest defence budget behind the United States, even though the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) surpasses the US military by number of personnel.
Still, China’s military spend is around three times smaller than Washington’s in recent years.
Surprise move: China eliminates premier's annual news conference
AP
China’s government said Monday it is eliminating an annual news conference by the premier that was one of the rare times a top Chinese leader took questions from journalists.
Lou Qinjian, the spokesperson for the National People’s Congress, said on the eve of the opening of the legislature’s annual session that Premier Li Qiang would not hold a news conference at its conclusion, as it has every year since 1993.
The move appears to be in line with a diminishing of the premier’s power, and that of the government bureaucracy generally, as the Communist Party and leader Xi Jinping centralize control of the nation’s affairs, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.
China Signals Legislature Will Avoid Naming Foreign Minister
Bloomberg
China indicated its legislature will refrain from announcing any personnel moves during its meeting this week, meaning Wang Yi will likely remain in the role for at least the near future.
Personnel appointments were absent from an agenda for the National People’s Congress released on Monday by the official Xinhua News Agency. This suggests the weeklong meeting starting Tuesday won’t reveal a replacement for Wang, who retook the role after Qin Gang was ousted in July without explanation.
More Chinese women choosing singledom as economy stutters
Reuters
Many of the women interviewed cited a desire for self-exploration, disillusionment with patriarchal Chinese family dynamics and a lack of "enlightened" male partners as the main factors behind their decision to stay single and childless.
Gender equality also plays a role: all the women said it was difficult to find a man who valued their autonomy and believed in equal division of household labour.
"There's an oversupply of highly educated women and not enough highly educated men," said Xiaoling Shu, professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis. Decades of the one-child policy have led to 32.3 million more men than women in 2022, according to official data.
"College-educated women become stronger believers in advocating for their rights and status in society," Shu said. "Well-educated women in search of supportive life partners find fewer suitable men who also endorse women's rights."
While not all the women interviewed identified as feminist or viewed themselves as deliberately defying the government, their actions reflect a broader trend of Chinese female empowerment expressed through personal choices.
And even though some analysts believe that the number of people who remain single for life will not grow exponentially in the future, delayed marriages and falling fertility are likely to pose a threat to China's demographic goals.
"In the long run, women's enthusiasm for marriage and childbirth will only continue to decrease," said feminist Lü.
Microsoft’s Bing Helps Maintain China’s Great Firewall
Bloomberg
US internet companies have long struggled with the complications of operating in China. After making significant compromises on issues such as censorship to maintain access to China’s huge market, Google and Yahoo! stopped operating their own search engines there; Facebook, Snapchat and X (formerly Twitter) are unavailable.
Microsoft, by contrast, has continued to run a local version of Bing since 2009 in compliance with Beijing’s censorship requirements. Co-founder Bill Gates has long advocated working closely with China to encourage innovation in health and science—and has dismissed concerns about censorship and the country’s influence on technology. Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board in 2020 but has continued to visit Chinese leaders; he met with President Xi Jinping in June 2023, Xi’s first with a foreign entrepreneur in years. During the meeting, Xi described Gates as his “old friend.”
Behind the doors of a Chinese hacking company, a sordid culture fueled by influence, alcohol and sex
AP
These days, Chinese hackers are a formidable force.
In May 2023, Microsoft disclosed that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army called “Volt Typhoon” was targeting critical infrastructure such as telecommunications and ports in Guam, Hawaii, and elsewhere and could be laying the groundwork for disruption in the event of conflict.
Today, hackers such as those at I-Soon outnumber FBI cybersecurity staff by “at least 50 to one,” FBI director Christopher Wray said January at a conference in Munich.
Over 70% of Trip.com Staff Choose Working From Home
Sixth Tone
Two years after Trip.com, China’s most popular travel platform, implemented a “3+2” hybrid work model allowing employees to work from home two days a week, over 70% of its workforce have adopted the flexible approach. The system is especially popular among younger employees, parents, and women, according to a new report from the company.
The report shows that nearly 80% of employees choosing remote work were born in the 1990s and 2000s, with 21% in team leader positions. Additionally, 63% of fathers and 58% of mothers have opted for a hybrid work arrangement, with women making up for 59% of those seeking hybrid work each week.
China is making it much easier for foreigners to use mobile pay
CNBC
Foreign visitors to China can now spend up to $2,000 a year using the mobile app Alipay without having to register their ID, the app operator said Friday.
That’s four times more than the previous limit of $500, a move that will impact international tourists the most. The number of foreign travelers to China had declined after the country temporarily imposed strict border controls during the pandemic.
The increased transaction limit reflects Beijing’s push this year to make it easier for foreign travelers to pay for daily purchases in a country in which mobile payment has become ubiquitous.
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