Xi calls for domestic consumption boost, urbanisation rate to near 70% in five years, and South China Sea disputes
+ Zheng Qinwen becomes the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic Games tennis singles final
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THROUGH THE LENS
IN FOCUS
Reimagining China in Tokyo
The New Yorker
A generation ago, the West was the prime destination for China’s élites. Now a lot of them prefer Japan. More than two thousand Chinese reportedly entered Japan in 2022 on the business-management visa, a fifty-per-cent increase from 2019. Among the first to come were China’s tech entrepreneurs. Even their icon, Jack Ma, reportedly made an extended visit to Tokyo after a high-profile fallout with Chinese regulators in late 2020. A steady influx of middle-class professionals and cultural creators has come since. A Chinese writer, whom I’ll call Lu, arrived this past September on a work visa sponsored by a friend. It took him three months, much quicker than what he had estimated for the U.S. While some American politicians are spurning Chinese immigrants, Japan has created visa pathways for skilled workers and recent graduates of top universities. “Only the top-shelf professionals go to North America now,” Lu told me. “For petty intellectuals like me, we go to Tokyo.”
It took Zhang a while to join public life in his adopted city. “For people like us, who grew up on the mainland, freedom is a drug,” he told me. “Once we get here, even if we don’t do anything and just live off our savings, that is enough.” Then, last year, he began to see mentions in messaging groups of familiar names: scholars, journalists, and writers who had recently moved to or visited Japan. Last June, a Chinese historian he had long admired was giving a lecture at the University of Tokyo. “I just had to go,” Zhang told me. He entered the university campus through the gates, unbothered by meddling security guards. Then he went into the room, and saw a scene straight from his memories: there was the professor at the lectern and a rapt crowd of Chinese. “It was just—oh man—it was so emotional,” Zhang told me. His cherished life in Beijing was gone. Somehow, it had reappeared in Tokyo.
XINJIANG
Xinjiang authorities target Uyghurs cadres in ‘dark forces’ crackdown
RFA
Authorities in a central Xinjiang city have detained more than 70 Uyghurs officials after purging them for being “two-faced” — part of a larger operation to investigate and jail those deemed disloyal to China and the Chinese Communist Party, police said.
Authorities in Korla, the second-largest city by population in Xinjiang, told Radio Free Asia they had so far investigated over 200 Uyghurs deemed problematic, as part of a nationwide “dark forces” crackdown on the mostly Muslim group that began on July 15, police said.
The term “two-faced” is used by authorities to describe Uyghur officials who do not willingly follow directives, exhibit signs of disloyalty or show sympathetic tendencies toward other Uyghurs in northwestern China's Xinjiang region where the ethnic group faces repression.
POLITICS & SOCIETY
China Pledges More Support for Rural Migrants to Lift Demand
Bloomberg
China vowed to deliver better public services for workers who moved to cities from the countryside, an effort that would boost the economy by removing an obstacle to urbanization.
Local authorities should provide public services to rural migrants and families settling in cities instead of only those who have an urban hukou, or household registration, according to a five-year plan on urbanization issued by the State Council — China’s cabinet — on Wednesday.
The central government will reward regions that attract more migrant workers from the countryside and population inflows in general. Cities that see an increase in residents should be allocated greater land quotas, according to the document. It also pledged to step up vocational training for migrant laborers, and ensure their children can go to school in the cities where they work.
[…]
Every 1-percentage-point rise in the urbanization rate can drive about 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) of investment and another 200 billion yuan of consumption, Zheng said at the time.
The State Council document has a modest target of reaching a rate of “nearly 70%” in urbanization in five years. It also encourages cities to gradually start providing government-subsidized housing to migrant workers by building more public rental homes.
Xi Urges Stronger Border Defense in Face of Geopolitical Shifts
Bloomberg
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts to build a strong border, coastal and air defense system to meet rapidly changing security needs, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
China should beef up defense construction in border and coastal areas and improve relations with neighboring countries to create a favorable environment for safeguarding security, Xi said Tuesday at a meeting with senior officials, Xinhua reported.
“China faces new opportunities and challenges in border, coastal and air defense” due to drastic changes in the global landscape, Xi said. He made the remarks at a study session of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Party prior to the country’s Army Day on Thursday, an anniversary of the founding of China’s armed forces.
China’s Massive Next-Generation Amphibious Assault Ship Takes Shape
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Chinese defense industrial base continues to churn out ever larger and more capable warships at a stunning pace. New satellite imagery of China’s sprawling Changxing Island Shipbuilding Base shows rapid progress on the construction of the first Yulan-class landing helicopter assault (LHA) ship. Dubbed the Type 076, the vessel represents a substantial step forward in the ability of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to project power farther from China’s shores.
Once completed, the Type 076 will be the world’s largest amphibious assault ship. Satellite imagery from July 4, 2024, shows that its flight deck spans approximately 260 meters by 52 meters, which is over 13,500 square meters (m2)—nearly the area of three U.S. football fields. That is considerably larger than the U.S. America-class LHA and Japanese Izumo-class helicopter carriers (CVHM/DDH). The Type 076 will also be much larger than its Chinese predecessor, the Type 075.
China rolls out new rules to help veterans find jobs and start businesses
SCMP
Beijing has rolled out new rules to help veterans start businesses and advance their education, responding to social pressure to improve welfare for military personnel transitioning to civilian life.
Under the new regulations, state institutions that hire veterans must relax age and educational requirements – a departure from common recruitment policies around the country with rules such as age caps of 35.
Veterans will also be entitled to preferential treatment when competing against equally qualified non-veterans for jobs.
The changes were released by the Central Military Commission and the State Council as an update to regulations in place since 2011, according to a document made public by state news agency Xinhua on Thursday.
The rules will come into effect on September 1.
Chinese veteran's protest in downtown Beijing causes stir
Kyodo News
A Chinese veteran staged a protest over his treatment Thursday evening by holding up a banner in a major shopping district in Beijing, according to images posted on the social media platform X, with police vehicles and ambulances mobilized to the scene.
The veteran, clad in a military uniform, unfurled the banner from the rooftop of a building in the Wangfujing area, accusing a district office in Kunming city, Yunnan Province, of "smothering a retired soldier who had served for 12 years." The Chinese People's Liberation Army marked its 97th founding anniversary on Thursday.
Young Activist Fang Yirong Hung a Protest Banner in Hunan; Speaks Out About Ongoing Persecution
On July 30th, a young White Paper Movement protestor, now identified as Fang Yirong, held a protest on a bridge in Xinhua County, Hunan, by displaying a banner on the overpass and playing the following message from a loudspeaker: “We want freedom, we want democracy, we want votes! Strike and remove the dictator Xi Jinping!” The protest closely resembled that of Sitong Bridge protestor Peng Lifa, who hung a banner from an overpass in Beijing.
China Reaches Back in Time to Challenge the West. Way, Way Back.
WSJ
For years, Xi has pressed China’s scholars, artists and journalists to do a better job telling the country’s story on the global stage. One problem, Xi said in a 2022 speech, is that too few in the West understand the significance and nature of China’s ancient civilization.
“This makes it hard for them to truly grasp China’s past, present and future,” he said.
China is participating in more than three dozen overseas archaeological digs, up from barely any before 2010, according to China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration. The same period also saw a more than tripling of articles written by China-based archaeologists in international journals on topics outside China.
One particular focus is the history along the Belt and Road Initiative, the infrastructure project Xi launched in 2013 to revive the influence Chinese empires once wielded through the Silk Road.
The program is part of Beijing’s effort to build up its “geocultural power” and assert the reach of Chinese civilization beyond the country’s current borders, said Tim Winter, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore who has studied China’s use of heritage to promote the Belt and Road.
Because the evidence it deals with is fragmentary, archaeology offers wide room for interpretation. That ambiguity opens a window for Chinese researchers to push the field in new directions, some archaeologists say.
Typhoon Gaemi: At least 30 dead after storm cut off towns in China’s Hunan province
CNN
Heavy rains and floods from Typhoon Gaemi caused at least 30 deaths and left 35 people missing across eight towns in the southern Chinese province of Hunan, state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday, citing local authorities.
Are These Chinese Couples Really Turning Traditional Marriage on Its Head?
Sixth Tone
Known as the “two-sided marriage,” or liang tou hun, this relationship form represents a break from traditional marriage. Instead of a woman being married into a man’s family, two-sided marriages are more contractual: No bride prices or dowries are exchanged, and couples agree to have two children, one of which will take their father’s family name and the other their mother’s. Most two-sided marriage prenuptial agreements also stipulate that the couple will jointly inherit the property of both sets of parents — and assume responsibility for caring for them as they age.
[…]
Younger parents said that their children will likely care less about tradition and surnames than they do, while older parents thought that their kids will be less interested in involving themselves in their own children’s marriages.
In other words, the current trend toward two-sided marriages in eastern China may just be the product of a particular historical period and socioeconomic environment.
China’s urban pets forecast to outnumber toddlers this year
Financial Times
China’s urban pet population will surpass the number of children under the age of four this year, according to Goldman Sachs, creating a $12bn market for pet food by the end of the decade.
The US investment bank’s estimate of China’s toddler-to-pet balance, which underpinned a research note published this week, forecasts the supremacy of pets continuing to rise in coming years as younger Chinese opt for cats and dogs over starting families.
By 2030, according to Goldman, China’s pets will be well on their way to outnumbering the nation’s human under-fours by a ratio of two to one.
The Goldman analysis feeds into a wider recalculation by investors of the impact of China’s demographic challenge as the overall population declines, with an ever-increasing cohort of elderly and a “baby bust” of decreasing births.
Why Chinese Propaganda Loves Foreign Travel Influencers
The New York Times
Spend some time browsing YouTube or Instagram and you might come across a growing new genre: China travel vlogs.
[…]
The influencers have denied any ties to the government. Many of the videos in the genre appear authentic, without the typical hallmarks of state involvement, said Fang Kecheng, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studies Chinese propaganda. The market for the videos — in the West as well as China — points to a real hunger for more diverse, human-oriented stories about China, Professor Fang said.
“It actually reflects that the mainstream media do have their problems in terms of China coverage,” he said. “They do tend to focus more on geopolitics.”
But he cautioned that the travel videos, in making sweeping statements about the “real China,” risked being equally one-dimensional. “It’s also another kind of not respecting the agency or autonomy of people actually living in this country.”
Hu Xijin, Ex-China Editor Banned on Social Media After Post on Economy
Bloomberg
Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s state-backed Global Times, has been banned from posting on social media after he wrote controversial comments about the world’s no. 2 economy, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The prominent influencer’s accounts — including on the microblogging site Weibo where he has nearly 25 million followers — have been suspended, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The person didn’t specify the length of the ban.
Hu last posted on Saturday, marking an unusual silence for a prolific voice who was used to posting several times a day on Weibo.
The blackout was triggered by Hu’s assessment that a twice-a-decade conclave President Xi Jinping presided over last month signaled a “historic” shift in putting public and private enterprises on an equal footing, the person said. The ban is a signal that authorities want to limit public discussions about the issue, the person added.
China’s ruling Communist Party has shrunk the space for open economic debate as policymakers grapple with a slowdown caused by a deepening property slump. Authorities have also pressed analysts to avoid writing about sensitive terms such as “deflation,” while official data deemed unflattering to the outlook has increasingly been withheld.
HONG KONG & MACAO
5 years after China's crackdown on democracy, "the Hong Kong we used to know is gone"
CBS News
Five years ago, white plumes of tear gas arced through Hong Kong's humid air. Hundreds of thousands of angry protesters were on the streets, demanding their Beijing-appointed leader resign and calling for universal voting rights to decide their own political future. The city, historically hailed as a gateway between China and the proverbial West, felt on the verge of being torn apart.
But if the summer of 2019 was Hong Kong's summer of discontent, then five years later, 2024 is Hong Kong's summer of disaffection.
Hong Kong young people struggle to rebuild their lives after being jailed under Beijing's crackdown
AP
After spending five months in jail for publishing seditious Instagram posts, Joker Chan returned to a harsh reality.
Chan, 30, was sentenced in 2022 for posts containing slogans like “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” which were popularly chanted during massive anti-government protests in the city in 2019. Authorities said such slogans could imply separating Hong Kong from China — a red line for Beijing.
Upon his release, Chan’s criminal record barred him from returning to the hotel industry, where he previously worked as a chef. Tattoos on his arms, legs and the sides of his neck — some related to the protests — made his job search more difficult. Now, he works as a part-time waiter, earning about half of what he used to make.
Some of his friends severed ties with him, fearing their association might lead to police investigations. His family also expressed disappointment in him, and when he went out with other former protesters they asked him whether he planned to stir trouble.
HK secondary students may be schooled in 'Xi Jinping Thought'
HKFP
The political ideology of China’s leader Xi Jinping could soon be taught to Hong Kong secondary school students, according to curriculum guidelines for new subject Citizenship, Economics and Society.
The new subject, which will be introduced to first-year secondary students when the school year starts next month, highlights the teaching of national security and national identity. On Wednesday, the Education Bureau issued curriculum guidelines for the subject, stating that it should include content related to patriotic education.
[…]
Citing China’s patriotic education law, which came into effect on January 1 and covers Hong Kong and Macau as well as mainland China, the guidelines provide five “examples” of topics for students to learn as part of patriotic education. Among them were: Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, broadly known as Xi Jinping Thought; socialism with Chinese characteristics; and national security and national defence.
Hong Kong registered voters fall for 3rd consecutive year
HKFP
The number of registered voters in Hong Kong has fallen for a third consecutive year to almost 4.21 million, according to provisional government figures published on Thursday.
Hong Kong pollster to stop publicly releasing results of surveys on 10 topics, no questions on China human rights
HKFP
A Hong Kong pollster said it would no longer publish the results of surveys on ten sensitive topics and would stop asking some questions, including those concerning the human rights situation in China.
The announcement was the latest by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) . Last month the institute said it had cancelled the release of a survey on Hongkongers’ views of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, citing “suggestions” made by “relevant government department(s).”
HK pollster stops tracking public attitudes to 1989 Tiananmen crackdown
HKFP
Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) last month announced the “indefinite suspension” of three surveys “due to zero download.” They tracked the popularity of Executive Councillors, and attitudes to the Tiananmen crackdown and the 1997 Handover anniversary.
Hong Kong: Proposed critical infrastructure bill is a fresh assault on free expression online
ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19 is concerned by the threat that Hong Kong’s Protection of Critical Infrastructure (Computer System) Bill poses to further deteriorating freedom of expression online, including independent media, and to the protection of personal data. Any legislation on cybersecurity must narrowly and precisely define critical information infrastructure, guarantee safeguards against arbitrary enforcement, and ensure that restrictions on the freedom of expression and right to privacy comply with international human rights norms. In its current form, the proposal does not meet these standards.
Disappearance of Hong Kong journalist in China deeply concerning
RSF
We are deeply concerned by Minnie Chan’s disappearance as it has become a common practice for the Chinese regime to kidnap journalists and arbitrarily detain them for months in black jails, where they are deprived of their rights and often tortured. We urge Beijing to immediately disclose her whereabouts and, in case she is detained, to proceed with her immediate release.
Domestic workers call on HK gov't to raise monthly wage to HK$6,300
HKFP
Migrant domestic workers rights’ advocates have met with Hong Kong government representatives to call for a “living wage” of HK$6,300 per month, plus food allowance of HK$2,700.
Leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU), as well as those from other migrant groups and NGOs, visited the Labour Department’s headquarters in Central on Wednesday. They met seven officials led by Drew Lai, the department’s assistant commissioner of policy support, to whom they handed a statement detailing their demands.
Domestic workers’ minimum monthly salary currently stands at HK$4,870, while the food allowance is HK$1,236, or roughly HK$40 per day. Members of the Progressive Labour Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong (PLU), which is part of FADWU, told HKFP last month that neither the wage nor the allowance were sufficient.
Top Hong Kong athletes make history at 2024 Paris Olympics
HKFP
Team Hong Kong enjoyed a history-making first week at the Paris Games, as fencers Vivian Kong and Edgar Cheung doubled the city’s Olympic gold medal tally, and swimmer Siobhan Haughey added two bronze medals to become Hong Kong’s most decorated Olympian.
Vivian Kong’s gold at Paris Games inspires more girls to enrol in Hong Kong fencing schools
SCMP
Some fencing schools in Hong Kong are seeing a surge in sign-ups following épéeist Vivian Kong Man-wai’s gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics, with club founders saying the triumph would encourage more girls to take up the sport.
Kong, who was competing in her third Olympics, came back from a six point deficit to win 13-12 in sudden death against her French opponent and clinch Hong Kong’s first gold medal of the Paris games.
Kong became just the third person from Hong Kong to win the top medal and the second in fencing to do so following Cheung Ka-long, who captured gold in the individual men’s foil at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Hong Kong’s Cathay offers Olympic medallists a year of business class or 1 million air miles
SCMP
Cathay Pacific Airways is offering Hong Kong’s medal-winning athletes from the Paris Olympics and Paralympics either a year of unlimited business-class flights or 1 million air miles with the carrier.
The latest rewards will add to those already picked up by gold medallist fencers Cheung Ka-long and Vivian Kong Man-wai, as well as dual bronze medallist swimmer Siobhan Haughey.
Flag carrier Cathay Pacific announced the move in a social media post on Thursday night, with the airline noting the miles could be used to pay for tickets, products or other services it provided.
TAIWAN
Taiwan president urges democracies to unite at largest-ever gathering of foreign lawmakers in Taipei
AP
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te welcomed what he called the “largest-ever” delegation of foreign lawmakers to Taiwan and said Tuesday it showed the importance of democracies uniting, even as Beijing pressured members of the delegation not to visit.
“This demonstrates the support and the value various other countries place on Taiwan,” Lai said. “It also sends an important message to democratic countries around the world. Maintaining democracy requires unity, and we must protect democracy together.”
Lai made his remarks at a conference in Taipei held by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of hundreds of lawmakers from dozens of countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing.
China used ‘shocking’ bullying tactics ahead of Taiwan Ipac meeting, organiser says
The Guardian
China’s attempts to stop foreign parliamentarians from attending a meeting in Taiwan were “massively overstepping” acts of bullying, the organiser has said at the end of the gathering at which the group designed to counter China expanded.
[…]
Miriam Lexmann, a Slovak member of the European parliament, said she was among those targeted by local Chinese diplomatic officials.
“I was born into Communist Czechoslovakia and I remember this kind of behaviour when my relatives were called to Communist party headquarters, for intimidation and questioning because they wanted to travel abroad … or had concerns about the Communist regime,” Lexmann told the gathering.
Taiwan, China reach settlement terms over Kinmen speedboat incident
Focus Taiwan
Authorities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait said Tuesday that settlement terms had been reached regarding a deadly chase between a Chinese speedboat and a Coast Guard Administration (CGA) vessel in Kinmen five months ago.
"We will actively implement the agreement," CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-Chin (謝慶欽) told reporters after a one-hour negotiation held at Golden Lake Hotel in outlying Kinmen County.
Taiwan angler held by China expected home next week
Taiwan News
The former Taiwan military officer held in China for more than four months after a fishing trip mistakenly veered into Chinese waters is expected to return home next week, reports said Friday (Aug. 2).
The angler named Hu (胡), 25, went fishing near Kinmen on March 17 with another man, Wu (吳), 40, but as fog closed in, their boat strayed into Chinese waters and they were detained by China’s coast guard. While Wu was allowed to return to Kinmen almost a week later, Hu was forced to stay as Beijing accused him of hiding his identity as an active-duty officer.
Taiwan opens active ETF, multi-asset ETF trading
Focus Taiwan
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the top financial regulator in Taiwan, has lifted a ban on trading of active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and multi-asset ETFs as part of the country's efforts to transform itself into a wealth management hub in Asia.
An ETF, a pooled investment security, which is traded like an individual stock, is able to track from the price of a single stock to a large and diverse collection of securities.
More than two decades after Taiwan launched its first ETF, the FSC announced earlier this week that it will expand the scope of ETF products from passive ETFs to active ETFs and allow trading of multi-asset ETFs.
Taiwanese religion and diversity: Key facts
Pew Research Center
Taiwanese adults practice many religions, and about equal shares of adults there identify with each of the three most popular religious identities. A decade ago, a Pew Research Center analysis found that Taiwan was one of the most religiously diverse places in the world, second only to Singapore.
Our 2023 survey of East Asia and Vietnam offers some insight into how this diversity manifests in Taiwan. Here are four key findings about Taiwan’s distinct position in the region’s religious landscape.
MOFA condemns grabbing of poster from Taiwanese fan at Olympics
Focus Taiwan
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Saturday condemned an incident in which a Taiwan-shaped poster that expressed support for the country was forcefully snatched from a Taiwanese fan during an Olympic badminton match the previous day.
In a statement, MOFA said it condemns violence and described the grabbing of the poster as "despicable," an infringement of the Olympic spirit and freedom of speech.
The ministry did not mention the individual's identity but added that its representative office in France was aware of the matter.
François Wu (吳志中), who heads the office, has met with the Taiwanese female victim and will assist in helping report the incident to the French police, it said.
WORLD
Philippines Fortifies South China Sea Outpost to Last a Decade
Bloomberg
The Philippines has carried out substantial reinforcements on a grounded World War II-era ship in the contested South China Sea, enough to make the outpost at the center of tensions with Beijing last at least another decade, according to four people familiar with the matter.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government ramped up efforts to maintain the military outpost on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands after taking office in 2022, two of the people said. The BRP Sierra Madre was first deposited on the reef in 1999 in a move meant to push back on Beijing’s expansive claims in the region.
In 2021, the rusty and decrepit Sierra Madre was thought to only have a remaining lifespan of three to five years, one of the people said. While some efforts had previously been made to fortify the ship, Marcos’ government accelerated that work, two of the people said.
The improvements to the outpost, on which the Southeast Asian nation maintains a handful of troops it has to regularly resupply with fresh food, water and basic goods, has been sufficient to fortify it for years, according to three of the people.
US boosts alliance with the Philippines with $500 million funding and pact amid concern over China
AP
Washington’s top diplomat and defense chief announced $500 million in new military funding Tuesday to boost the Philippines’ external defense and progress on a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact as both allies renewed their concerns over China’s continuing aggressive actions in the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has fortified Manila’s decades-old treaty alliance with Washington as hostilities between Philippine and Chinese forces flared since last year in the disputed South China Sea.
China Says Philippines Risks 'Greater Insecurity' After US Military Aid Pledge
Barron's
China on Wednesday warned the Philippines it risks "greater insecurity for itself", after the United States said it would provide $500 million in additional military funding to Manila in the face of Beijing's growing assertiveness.
In Manila on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled what he called a "once in a generation investment" to help modernise the Philippine armed forces and coast guard.
Asked about the announcement, Beijing's foreign ministry on Wednesday warned Manila that "wooing countries from outside the region to provoke confrontation in the South China Sea will only undermine regional stability and aggravate tensions".
South China Sea: a visual guide to the key shoals, reefs and islands
The Guardian
Territorial confrontations are rising between China and a host of other nations in waters that are key to global trade. Here is a map and guide to the region, showing why its fate matters
Quad foreign ministers decry dangerous South China Sea actions
Reuters
Foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the United States said on Monday they were seriously concerned about intimidating and dangerous manoeuvres in the South China Sea and pledged to bolster maritime security in the region.
The joint statement came after talks between the so-called 'Quad' countries in Tokyo, attended by Australia's Penny Wong, India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japan's Yoko Kamikawa and Antony Blinken from the U.S..
In security talks between the U.S. and Japan on Sunday, the two allies labelled China the "greatest strategic challenge, opens new tab" facing the region.
"We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion," the ministers said in the statement, which did not directly mention China.
They also expressed serious concern about the militarization of disputed features and coercive and intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea, including dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels.
Asked about the statement at a regular news briefing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the Quad was "artificially creating tension, inciting confrontation and containing the development of other countries".
US to revamp military forces in Japan in ‘historic’ move as regional tensions mount
CNN
The United States will overhaul its military forces in Japan as the two countries move to deepen defense cooperation, Washington and Tokyo said Sunday, in a sweeping step to modernize their alliance in the face of mounting security threats in Asia.
The announcement comes as Japan and the US warily eye a region where China is seen as increasingly aggressive in asserting its disputed territorial claims and North Korea continues its illegal weapons program – while both tighten ties with Russia as it wages war in Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese counterparts Minoru Kihara and Yoko Kamikawa announced the plan in a joint statement following a meeting in Tokyo, where they also called China’s “political, economic, and military coercion” the “greatest strategic challenge” in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
EU's Borrell offers Vietnam security support on South China Sea
Reuters
The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday the EU wanted to guarantee peace in the South China Sea and told Vietnam the bloc could help boost its maritime security and cybersecurity capabilities.
The Southeast Asian country is at odds with China over its boundaries in the South China Sea, a crucial shipping waterway which Beijing claims almost in its entirety - a stance that has caused tensions with other countries in the region as well.
[…]
Vietnam has relied for decades on military gear from Russia, but since 2022 has been publicly saying it wants to diversify its security equipment, and is in talks with multiple countries, including in Europe, over possible defence supplies.
Borrell stressed that the fulfilment of international law, which Vietnam invokes in the South China Sea, should be applied everywhere, including in Ukraine.
Many EU countries see Hanoi's non-committal stance on Russia's military operation in Ukraine as too close to Moscow.
Kyiv hails dialogue with Beijing, hints at potential Zelenskiy-Xi meeting
Reuters
Ukraine has invited China's foreign minister to visit amid growing dialogue that could eventually lead to a meeting between the two countries' leaders, Kyiv's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Beijing casts itself as neutral on the Kremlin's 29-month-old invasion of Ukraine but maintains close ties with Moscow and sat out a Kyiv-organised peace summit in June.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba made his first wartime visit to China last week to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. That was another sign that dialogue between Kyiv and Beijing is "developing very dynamically," said Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi.
EU disputes China claim that it supports Beijing’s proposal to end Ukraine war
SCMP
Josep Borrell met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the margins of an Asean summit in Laos on Friday [July 26].
A foreign ministry statement released shortly afterwards said: “The EU attaches importance to the peace initiatives of China and Brazil on the political solution of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Senior EU sources said Borrell did not use those words. A statement from the bloc’s External Action Service later in the day tried to correct the record.
“Josep Borrell asked China to use its influence on Russia to contribute to ending the war,” said the statement, which was published in both English and Chinese.
“He asked China to support the Ukrainian peace process and believed that the joint statement between China and Brazil in May 2024 did not move in this direction,” it added.
[…]
While discrepancies in diplomatic records are common, they are rarely egregious enough to cause major outcry. In Europe, the Chinese foreign ministry is widely seen to publish its statements quickly to help steer the narrative.
Some governments have tried to counter this. For example, a concerted effort emerged last year when touring Eurasian affairs diplomat Li Hui visited Warsaw to push the Polish version out first, so that journalists would not rely on Beijing’s take of events to guide their stories.
Exclusive: New US rule on foreign chip equipment exports to China to exempt some allies
Reuters
President Joe Biden's administration plans to unveil a new rule next month that will expand U.S. powers to stop exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from some foreign countries to Chinese chipmakers, two sources familiar with the rule said.
But shipments from allies that export key chipmaking equipment - including Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea - will be excluded, limiting the impact of the rule, said the sources who were not authorized to speak to media and declined to be identified.
US Weighs New Restrictions on China’s Access to AI Memory Chips
Bloomberg
If enacted, the measure would capture HBM2 and more advanced chips including HBM3 and HBM3E, the most cutting-edge AI memory chips being produced right now, the people said, as well as the tools required to make them. HBM chips are required to run AI accelerators like those offered by Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
Micron would largely be unaffected as the Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker has refrained from selling its HBM products to China after Beijing banned its memory chips from critical infrastructure in 2023, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government information.
It’s unclear what authority the US would use to restrict the South Korean firms, the people said. One possibility is the foreign direct product rule, or FDPR, which lets Washington impose controls on foreign-made products that use even the tiniest amount of American technology. Both SK Hynix and Samsung rely on US chip design software and equipment from the likes of Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Applied Materials Inc.
US says start of new China tariffs will be delayed by at least two weeks
Reuters
The U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Tuesday, opens new tabsome of the steep U.S. tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles and their batteries, computer chips and medical products will be delayed by at least two weeks.
USTR said in May those tariffs would take effect on Aug. 1 but the office said it is still reviewing 1,100 comments received and now expects to issue a final determination in August. The office added the new tariffs will take effect approximately two weeks after the final determination is released.
China pushes nuclear ‘no first use’ while expanding its atomic arsenal
Financial Times
“By emphasising its unconditional NFU declaration, China aims to deflect international pressure to join official nuclear arms control talks. Beijing also gains moral high ground by promoting NFU globally, aware of the challenges other nuclear states face in adopting such a policy,” said Zhao Tong, senior fellow at the Carnegie think-tank.
Washington said Beijing’s “rapid and opaque build-up” of a more versatile nuclear arsenal called into question the objectives behind its proposal, especially as it refused meaningful discussions about arms control, risk reduction or even its own no first use policy.
“In this context, [China’s] proposal, which followed its cessation of bilateral consultations, appears likely to be an attempt to deflect responsibility for its unwillingness to engage in substantive discussions,” a state department spokesperson said.
[…]
“It is an effort to buy some goodwill from the international community, and frankly, it’s working,” said David Santoro, president of the Pacific Forum, a policy research institute in Hawaii and co-organiser of an unofficial US-China nuclear policy dialogue.
“Most countries are worried about Russia and North Korea. But there is little discussion about China’s nuclear expansion,” Santoro said about the Geneva meeting. “So they’re doing really well: building up their arsenal but getting no heat for it.”
US-China fentanyl cooperation gathers momentum with senior meeting in Washington
SCMP
China and the US have agreed to further strengthen dialogue and promote “in-depth” drug control, in the first senior-level meeting of the working group formed after the mechanism was agreed to at a summit in November.
The delegations met in Washington, where they “exchanged their respective concerns, exchanged views and suggestions, and clarified the direction of cooperation”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The White House said on Thursday that discussions had focused on ways to strengthen coordination on law enforcement actions, disrupt the illicit financing of transnational criminal organisation networks, and accelerate the scheduling of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals.
The meeting also covered measures to address the illicit diversion of precursor chemicals, exchange information on emerging threats and advance progress in multilateral forums, the White House said.
We bought what’s needed to make millions of fentanyl pills–for $3,600
Reuters
At the tap of a buyer’s smartphone, Chinese chemical sellers will air-ship fentanyl ingredients door-to-door to North America. Reuters purchased enough to make 3 million pills. Such deals are astonishingly easy – and reveal how drug traffickers are eluding efforts to halt the deadly trade behind the fentanyl crisis.
US sues TikTok and ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy
The Guardian
The US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy on the social media app.
The government said TikTok violated a law that prohibits collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, follows similar cases in the UK and EU that resulted in regulators fining TikTok millions of dollar over claims that it was failing to keep children safe on the platform and mishandling their data. It is also part of a wider standoff between the US government and ByteDance, after Congress passed a bill earlier this year that gives the China-based company one year to sell TikTok or face a total ban on the app.
China sanctions US Rep. McGovern for 'interference' in its domestic affairs
AP
China sanctioned a U.S congressman Wednesday for “frequently interfering” in China’s domestic affairs, in its latest effort to express displeasure with U.S. politicians who have criticized China’s policy and practice.
Rep. Jim McGovern is the top Democrat on the House Committee on Rules, and he co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He represents Massachusetts and is a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on China’s human rights record.
The sanctions against him are symbolic, since McGovern has no assets or business dealings in China. The sanctions include freezing his assets and properties in China, prohibiting any organization or individual in China from conducting transactions or working with him, and denying him and his family a visa to enter the country, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Xi’s Embrace of Italy PM Meloni Shows China Has Use for Friends in Europe
Bloomberg
Italian diplomats hailed Giorgia Meloni’s five-day trip as a success after she secured a sit-down with Xi and a clutch of cooperation deals, as well as glowing reviews in Chinese state media. To pull that off, she avoided criticizing her host for supporting Russia’s war machine or overcapacity in key tech industries, according to public statements, though did warn trade ties between Italy and China must be rebalanced.
Her reception suggests Beijing is seeking to fan tensions between European Union members with the promise of lucrative bilateral ties for some, even as the 27-nation bloc as a whole moves closer to the tougher US approach to trade with the world’s no. 2 economy.
“There is probably a bit of that divide-and-conquer mindset informing the welcome,” said Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.
Italy PM Giorgia Meloni denounces Chinese economic support for Russia's war in Ukraine
Euronews
China's economic support for Russia's war effort against Ukraine is a source of "great friction," said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during her official visit to China this week.
Beijing, an ally of Moscow, has been accused by NATO of playing "a decisive" role in the Ukrainian conflict. It does not supply Moscow with arms, but it does provide it with essential equipment for its war effort.
Germany says China was behind a 2021 cyberattack on a government agency and summons its ambassador
AP
An investigation has determined that “Chinese state actors” were responsible for a 2021 cyberattack on Germany’s national office for cartography, officials in Berlin said Wednesday. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a protest for the first time in decades.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said the German government has “reliable information from our intelligence services” about the source of the attack on the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, which he said was carried out “for the purpose of espionage.”
China dismisses Germany accusations over cyberattack
Reuters
China's embassy in Berlin on Thursday dismissed as groundless German charges that Beijing was behind a cyber attack on a German government agency in 2021, accusing it of "anti-China political manipulation".
[…]
A Chinese embassy statement released late on Wednesday said: "Germany has publicly made groundless accusations against China on the grounds of the so-called cyber intrusion into the Germany federal mapping office, which China has firmly rejected and lodged solemn representations with the German side."
Chinese EVs Nab Record 11% Share in Europe Ahead of Tariffs
Bloomberg
Chinese brands captured 11% of the European electric-car market in June, notching record registrations as manufacturers raced to beat stiff European Union tariffs that took effect early this month.
SAIC Motor Corp. led the charge, shipping its MG4 hatchback to dealers in volume, according to analysts at researcher Dataforce, which compiled the figures. Cars registered before July 5 could be sold on to customers without the added duties on imported EVs.
[…]
Whether the volume gains can be sustained will be closely watched in the coming months, as the added EU tariffs take hold. The EU’s provisional charges subject SAIC to an additional 38% charge, while BYD will pay an extra 17% on the existing 10% customs duty.
Carmakers on both continents are rushing to add European EV manufacturing so they can avoid the new duties, while tensions between Beijing and Brussels risk devolving into a trade war.
China’s SAIC Motor Downplays EU Tariff Concerns
Caixin
SAIC Motor Corp. has downplayed the impact of EU's new 37.6% anti-subsidy duties on its EV sales, citing its diverse product lines including hybrids and traditional vehicles.
SAIC President Jia Jianxu announced plans to roll out MG-branded hybrids in Europe and predicted stable sales by leveraging the hybrids' fuel efficiency.
SAIC is accelerating efforts to establish a manufacturing plant in Europe and may announce progress soon, while continuing to challenge the EU's duty imposition legally.
Ride-hailing giant Uber strikes EV deal with China Tesla rival BYD
BBC
Uber has announced a deal which aims to bring 100,000 electric vehicles (EVs) made by China's BYD to the ride-hailing giant's global fleet of cars.
The two companies say they will offer Uber drivers incentives to switch to electric cars, including discounts on maintenance, charging, financing and leasing.
The multi-year agreement will be rolled out first in Europe and Latin America, before being made available in the Middle East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The announcement comes as EV sales around the world have slowed and Chinese car makers face higher import charges in places like the US and the European Union.
"The companies aim to bring down the total cost of EV ownership for Uber drivers, accelerating the uptake of EVs on the Uber platform globally, and introducing millions of riders to greener rides," the two firms said in a statement.
EU prepares for COP29 showdown with China over climate aid
Politico
The European Union plans to pressure emerging economies such as China to contribute funding for climate action in developing nations at global negotiations in November, according to a document seen by POLITICO.
Financing is at the center of this year's United Nations climate conference, known as COP29, with developing countries clamoring for a significant increase in funds to help them cut emissions and prepare for the consequences of global warming.
The current funding pledge of $100 billion a year — which runs until 2025 and needs to be replaced with a new target at COP29 — is financed by countries classified as industrialized when the U.N. climate treaty was drawn up in 1992.
[…]
The statement does not mention a specific country, but European diplomats and officials have sought to push Beijing in particular to contribute funding, given China has not only become the world's second-largest economy but also the top emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gasses.
Last week, senior German climate negotiator Jochen Flasbarth told POLITICO that rich countries would only step up funding if China starts paying up.
EU firms resist European Commission plan to screen private investment in China
SCMP
“The introduction of state controls on European companies’ outbound investments is not the right policy path to achieve economic security since it would constitute a major interference within the realm of companies’ business decisions and international investment flows,” read a submission from SEMI Europe, the industry association representing the global electronics manufacturing and design supply chain.
BusinessEurope, an umbrella lobby group representing national-level business chambers in EU member states, said it had a cautious approach towards “any limitations on outbound investment that do not arise from sanctions”.
“There is a potential chilling effect that should not be underestimated as this can have a significant impact on research and innovation, operations of European companies globally and inbound investments,” its submission read.
Groups from the Netherlands and Sweden also expressed scepticism, joining a chorus of voices against a policy proposal that also remains deeply unpopular among national governments.
According to diplomatic sources, just one of the EU’s 27 member states – Lithuania, arguably the bloc’s most hawkish towards China – has expressed full support for Brussels’ plans to screen outbound investments.
TSMC to start construction of first European chip plant in August
Nikkei Asia
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will hold a groundbreaking ceremony next month in Dresden, Germany, for its first plant in Europe, the latest milestone as the world's top chipmaker expands its global production footprint, sources briefed on the matter told Nikkei Asia.
TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei will lead a delegation from the company and host equipment and material suppliers, clients and government officials on Aug. 20 in a sign of the chipmaker's commitment to its investment in Germany, sources said. The Dresden plant -- formally known as European Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (ESMC) -- is scheduled to go into operation by late 2027.
The plant will represent a "new dimension for sustainable semiconductor production in Europe," according to the invitation seen by Nikkei Asia.
Olympics Games Boost Air Travel Between China and France
Caixin
The Olympic Games in Paris increased air travel from China, with bookings more than doubling from the previous year and hotel bookings rising 194%.
Despite increased flights and a 60% rise in weekly flights since July, air travel between China and France has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Factors affecting the slow recovery include air rights negotiations, longer routes due to avoiding Russian airspace, and constrained visa regulations.
Direct flights from Milan to Chengdu launched by Air China
TravelDailyNews
A new connection between Italy and China has been inaugurated with the direct flight from Milan Malpensa to Chengdu Tianfu, the city’s modern airport that has been operational since June 2021. The ceremony, held at Milan Malpensa Airport, marked a significant milestone for Air China‘s collaboration with the Milanese hub: this is the fourth direct flight operated by Air China from the Lombard city to China, bringing the weekly connections with Italy, including those from Rome Fiumicino, to 31 frequencies.
Future Prospects: What Lies Ahead for China-UK Relations?
China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe (CHOICE)
The Labour party has called for a more consistent approach in dealing with China and promotes a kind of pragmatism, similar to the EU trifecta. In the election manifesto the party pledged to “co-operate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must.” Should the election manifesto be taken as an indication of the course of the government on China, it would strive to improve the UK’s capability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China presents, while continuing to defend the UK sovereignty and democratic values.
However, the significant challenges in UK-China relations over the past few years have stemmed from changes within China. These internal changes are unlikely to reverse, leading the UK to continue responding robustly to the increasingly authoritarian and repressive policies of Xi Jinping, which fundamentally contradict British values.
China condemns assassination of Hamas political chief Haniyeh
Global Times
"We are closely following the incident. China firmly opposes and condemns the act of assassination and is deeply concerned that the incident may plunge the region into greater turmoil. China has been calling for settling regional disputes through negotiation and dialogue and an early, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and there should be no more escalation of the conflict and confrontation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.
Cash-starved Pakistan engages in debt ‘reprofiling’ talks with China
VOA
Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Sunday that he had engaged in "very constructive" talks with Chinese counterparts on rescheduling billions of dollars in debt owed to China, but he reported no immediate progress.
Islamabad is asking that Beijing, its close ally, delay at least $16 billion in energy sector debt repayments and extend the term of a $4 billion cash loan facility because of Pakistan’s economic troubles and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
Saudi Fund’s $50 billion Bank Deals Deepen Ties With China
Caixin
Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund signed preliminary agreements worth as much as $50 billion with six Chinese financial institutions, in the latest example of the kingdom’s deepening ties with Beijing.
The deals were done to boost two-way capital flows through both debt and equity, according to a statement from the $925 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The memoranda of understanding were signed with the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp., China Export & Credit Insurance Corp., Export-Import Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd.
While the United States remains by far Saudi Arabia’s most important economic and strategic partner, the kingdom — and neighboring United Arab Emirates — have moved closer to Beijing in recent years.
China’s growing influence in the Middle East
The Strategist
As Beijing’s economic clout in the Middle East has grown, so has the recognition by regional powers of China’s strategic value. Middle Eastern leaders, increasingly disillusioned with policies of the United States—including its invasion of Iraq in 2003, support for the Arab Spring in 2011, hurried exit from Afghanistan and withdrawal from nuclear negotiations with Iran—have turned towards China as a potentially more reliable partner. For Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries especially, the relationship with China has become strategic rather than opportunistic. China’s ability and willingness to cooperate with regional players without imposing political or human rights ideals align with the visions of Middle Eastern leaders. This strategic approach suggests a reorientation of regional relationships and positions, in which China is gaining prominence as a key economic and developmental partner.
China and neighbors pressure Myanmar as regime reels from battle losses
Nikkei Asia
Stunning gains by resistance forces in Myanmar and resulting shifts in territorial control between key armed groups have prompted concerned countries -- notably China, the U.S., Thailand and Japan -- to recalibrate their stances toward the military regime.
Ahead of Wednesday's expiry of the current six-month period of emergency rule in Myanmar, pressure has intensified on regime head Min Aung Hlaing for a leadership change and implementation of long-promised elections. Speculation is also growing about the possible release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the state counselor whose elected government was overthrown on Feb. 1, 2021. This has been fueled by at least two recent visits by top regime officials to Suu Kyi, who is being held at an undisclosed location in Naypyitaw, the capital.
China, an increasingly reluctant patron of the Myanmar regime, has stepped up pressure on Min Aung Hlaing to hold elections, and recently urged him to make way for an interim leader, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Beijing has signaled particular concern about the fall of key towns and territory in northern Shan state, with which it shares a border.
Southeast Asia pushes back on cheap Chinese imports
Nikkei Asia
Around 49,000 workers in the textile, garment and footwear sectors have been laid off this year as factories have closed in the Indonesian provinces of Banten, West Java and Central Java.
In response to pleas from textile producers, Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan in June said the government would look at imposing duties of up to 200% on imported fabrics, potentially multiplying the current tariff rate. He indicated that new duties are also under consideration to deal with surging imports of ceramics, clothing, shoes, cosmetics and electronics.
[…]
For Southeast Asian governments, the flood of discounted Chinese products poses dilemmas. While domestic retailers and manufacturers are seeking relief from what they see as unfair competition, government officials are courting Chinese companies to invest in local production, especially in high-tech sectors.
Balancing these priorities has become more difficult as economic malaise spreads within China, dampening demand for Southeast Asia's exports and leaving Chinese companies with surplus inventory to clear away at rock-bottom prices. This is widening Southeast Asia's trade imbalance with China, fueling further calls for government action on imports.
China's Xi congratulates Venezuela's Maduro on reelection
Reuters
China's President Xi Jinping has congratulated Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro on his presidential reelection, state media said on Tuesday, in contrast to doubt and criticism expressed by some Latin American leaders and the United States.
Electoral authorities said Maduro won a third term with 51% of the vote, extending a quarter-century of socialist rule, though the opposition said it had voting-tally proof of having won as anti-government protests erupted nationwide, with police firing tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital Caracas.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & FINANCE
China’s Xi Jinping calls for faster measures to boost domestic consumption
Financial Times
China’s President Xi Jinping has called to speed up measures to boost domestic consumption as concerns mount that the world’s second-largest economy is falling short of growth targets.
Citing “insufficient” domestic demand, China’s leadership on Tuesday endorsed the acceleration of fiscal and monetary policies, including the use of government bonds to fund spending and stimulus programmes to upgrade industrial equipment and consumer goods.
“The focus of economic policies should shift more towards benefiting the people and promoting consumption,” the politburo, the Chinese Communist party’s senior leadership body headed by Xi, said at the conclusion of a meeting, according to state news agency Xinhua. “It is necessary to increase people’s income through multiple channels.”
The statement added to signals that China’s leadership is concerned about economic growth, which fell to 4.7 per cent year on year in the second quarter, slower than the previous three months and behind its full-year forecast of 5 per cent.
PBOC Adviser Issues Rare Criticism of China’s Economic Policies
Bloomberg
A People’s Bank of China adviser issued a rare critique of Beijing’s economic policies for being overly conservative, urging the government to ramp up fiscal stimulus and promote inflation.
The policy concept of “focusing on investment and neglecting consumption” should be changed, according to an article citing Huang Yiping, a prominent Chinese economist and member of the PBOC monetary policy committee. He said the government should adopt measures to boost consumption, such as allowing migrant workers to settle in cities, and directly giving money to the people.
China Rejects $1 Trillion Housing Rescue Plan Pitched by IMF
Caixin
Chinese authorities have rejected a proposal from the International Monetary Fund to use central government funds to complete unfinished housing, dealing a blow to hopes for more forceful support to an industry that has been a major drag on the economy.
The IMF called on China to deploy “one-off” fiscal resources to complete and deliver pre-sold properties or compensate homebuyers, according to an annual review of the world’s second-largest economy published Friday. It put the cost at the equivalent of 5.5% of gross domestic product over four years.
That would amount to almost $1 trillion based on last year’s GDP, according to Bloomberg calculations. It is a solution that China all but ruled out in an official response included in the report.
“We believe that we should continue to apply market-based and rule-of-law principles in completing and delivering these units,” said Zhang Zhengxin, the IMF’s executive director for China who was elected to the fund by the government in Beijing.
“It would be inappropriate for the central government to directly provide fiscal support, as it could lead to an expectation of future government bailouts and therefore moral hazards,” Zhang said.
Zhengzhou Scraps New Home Price Cap to Help Wake Up the Real Estate Market
Caixin
Zhengzhou lifted its price limit for new homes, ending a policy from 2016 aimed at curbing rising housing prices.
Developers now set prices independently amid a significant downturn in Zhengzhou's property market, with new home sales dropping 46% in the first half of 2024.
Despite loosening regulations, developers doubt a significant price recovery, citing a still-weak market and substantial unsold inventory.
China’s Home Sales Slump Again, Signaling Crisis Not Over Yet
WSJ
A fresh batch of China property data suggests that the sector remains in bad shape, heaping pressure on policymakers to take bolder action to address what has become a major drag on the economy.
Sales of new homes at China’s largest property developers declined at a faster pace in July, according to figures from data provider China Real Estate Information Corp. Transactions at the country’s top 100 real-estate developers fell 20% to 279.1 billion yuan last month from a year ago, equivalent to about $38.7 billion, widening from the 17% drop seen in June. On a monthly basis, sales slid 36%.
The data, plus a bundle of surveys showing continued weakness in China’s sprawling manufacturing sector, suggest that the economy isn’t off to a great start in the third quarter. And after a weaker-than-expected performance in the second quarter, economists are skeptical that Beijing’s efforts to revive the real-estate market and the broader economy are yielding results.
Over 60 Small, Medium-Sized Banks Were Dissolved, Merged in Last Two Months
Yicai
More than 60 small- and medium-sized lenders were dissolved or merged in China in the past two months, according to incomplete statistics from the National Financial Regulatory Administration.
Twenty-five legal entities in Henan province, including Henan Rural Commercial United Bank, which was established last November, will merge to form Henan Rural Commercial Bank, according to an announcement released on July 28.
At the end of last month, Liaoning Rural Commercial Bank received the regulatory approval to incorporate and consolidate Liaoning Xinmin Rural Commercial Bank and 35 other small- and medium-sized rural lenders. In early June, China Minsheng Bank was given the nod to acquire Meihekou Minsheng Rural Bank and set up a branch institution.
[…]
Regulators encourage consolidations and restructurings among small- and medium-sized rural banks because they face difficulties, such as insufficient profitability, weak assets, and supplementing capital restrictions, said Liu Chengxiang, chief banking analyst at Kaiyuan Securities.
China tells companies to put worker reps in boardrooms
Nikkei Asia
China is requiring big companies to guarantee worker representation in boardrooms as part of President Xi Jinping's push for "common prosperity."
Under China's amended company law, which took effect July 1, limited liability companies that employ 300 or more people must have an employee representative on the board, unless they have a separate supervisory board with employee representation.
The representative must be elected by the employees themselves.
The amended law aims to protect the interests not only of companies, shareholders and creditors, but also of the employees.
"The goal is to get employees involved in management to return the earnings from companies' growth to workers," said Wang Wen, a partner at Shanghai-based Kaizawa Law Firm. "Private-sector and foreign-owned companies are not exempt."
China to Stop Publishing Daily Global Stock Flows in Mid-August
Bloomberg
China took another step to obscure information about overseas funds going into and out of its sagging stock market, saying it will stop publishing daily flows data in the middle of August.
The decision, which was hinted at in April and made explicit by the country’s stock exchanges on Friday [July 26], follows a move in May to end data on intraday flows through trading links with Hong Kong. Investors will lose the ability to calculate net flows at the end of each trading day from Aug. 18.
The only daily data published by the exchanges from that date will be the total turnover and the number of trades made in stocks and exchange-traded funds via the Hong Kong links, as well as the turnover of the 10 most active securities.
Starting from the August deadline, the combined data on so-called northbound flows into individual stocks will only be made available quarterly, the exchanges also said. Data on the holdings of global investors in individual stocks will be released on the fifth trading day of each quarter, for the close of the previous period.
Chinese low-tech manufacturers hanging on by ‘their fingernails
Financial Times
While President Xi Jinping wants China’s economy to focus on “new quality productive forces” — such as green technology and electric vehicles — low-end factories have long been the backbone of the country’s explosive growth and one of the largest sources of jobs.
But these factories are increasingly struggling with anaemic orders from western buyers, trade restrictions in foreign markets and growing competition from rival hubs, particularly southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as Bangladesh and India.
The world’s largest exporter of apparel and a major producer of toys and furniture, “China remains the behemoth when it comes to labour-intensive goods”, said Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC. But in the face of rising competition from lower-cost rivals, “these are all industries that are hanging on with their fingernails”.
China’s Manufacturing Shrinks for First Time in Nine Months as Demand Falls, Caixin PMI Shows
Caixin
China's manufacturing PMI fell to 49.8 in July, marking the first contraction in nine months and a decline from 51.8 in June.
The decline in demand led to the first decrease in total new orders in 12 months and a reduction in manufacturers' purchases.
The official PMI also showed contraction, aligning with indicators of a slowing economy and lower-than-expected 4.7% growth in Q2.
China Unveils Financial Measures to Elevate Tianjin Status within Beijing-Hebei Region
Caixin
Tianjin, a key port and China’s seventh largest city lying on the shores of the Bohai Sea, is to step out of the shadow of neighboring Beijing and have its status elevated through focused financial support and regional cooperation.
China’s central bank and regulatory bodies have issued a comprehensive plan to boost the high-quality development of Tianjin, a direct-administered municipality.
While Tianjin, despite its strategic location and historical significance, has struggled to match the economic clout of Beijing, this initiative signals a major push to elevate Tianjin’s standing, particularly within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic corridor.
The plan proposes 34 key measures designed to strengthen financial support for innovation, integrate finance with digital technology, and enhance green finance and financial supervision.
Beijing Financial Assets Exchange to Become a Bond Market Powerhouse
Caixin
The Beijing Financial Assets Exchange will transition to a bond trading exchange by August 30, as part of a central government crackdown on financial risks.
Of 28 local financial asset exchanges, only Beijing's will be restructured; 16 have been closed down so far.
Initially founded in 2010, the Beijing exchange will now focus on interbank bond issuance, distribution, and related innovative services.
China’s Giant Invests $690 Million in Dry Docks as Tide Turns For Shipbuilding
Caixin
China Shipbuilding Industry is investing over 5 billion yuan ($690 million) to acquire shipyard assets to boost its capacity.
The acquisitions include a 4.04 billion-yuan purchase in Shanghai and a 1.04 billion-yuan shipyard acquisition in Wuhan.
Growing global demand has driven investment, with Chinese shipbuilders receiving 54.22 million deadweight tons of orders in H1 2024, up 43.9% from the previous year.
China Adds Drone Components With Military Applications to Export Blacklist
Caixin
China will add drone components which can be used for military purposes to a trade blacklist, as international controversy rages over the alleged use of Chinese-made drones by Iran and Russia.
To protect China’s “national security and interests,” Chinese exporters will from Sept. 1 face penalties for exporting without permission equipment that meets certain standards. These include infrared imaging gear, synthetic-aperture radars, lasers for target indication, inertial measurement equipment and wireless communication equipment, according to an announcement jointly issued Wednesday by the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the Central Military Commission’s equipment development department.
China’s BYD Seeks Entry to Canada EV Market Despite Likely Tariffs
Bloomberg
Chinese electric carmaker BYD Co. is looking to enter the Canadian market just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government works to clamp down on imports of vehicles from the Asian powerhouse.
Lobbyists for the company, which sells its electric vehicles for less than $10,000 in China, filed notice with Canada’s federal registry that they plan to approach officials and lawmakers to advocate for BYD’s anticipated entry.
The lobbyists aim to “advise the government of Canada on matters related to the expected market entry of BYD into Canada for the sale of passenger electric vehicles, and the establishment of a new business, and the application of tariffs on EVs,” the filing said.
Southeast Asia seen to ‘tick all the boxes’ as China seeks C919 buyers
SCMP
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) has been flooded with domestic orders for its home-grown narrowbody C919, and while these have shed light on its production capacity, the state-owned manufacturer is already plotting a course for the jet’s overseas expansion to nibble at the duopoly held by Airbus and Boeing.
The harsh reality is that a lack of a crucial certification from aviation regulators in Europe or the United States, as well as widespread geopolitical problems, may threaten to ground Comac’s high hopes for the C919, which is viewed as a potential challenger to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families of aircraft.
But it is Southeast Asia that offers hope, with Jakarta-based airline TransNusa already firmly on the radar, while Brunei and the Middle East are also being explored.
Shanghai Unveils Plan to Boost R&D in Biopharma Sector
Caixin
Shanghai's biopharmaceutical industry policies have been reformed to promote local innovation and development, in alignment with national plans.
From 2021 to 2023, the industry's scale grew from 761.7 billion yuan to 933.7 billion yuan; manufacturing output also increased significantly.
The new plan includes 37 measures focusing on R&D, clinical resources, foreign investment, and facilitating quicker market access, with specific support systems and international collaborations.
Starbucks and Luckin went through same-store sales decline in Q2
TechNode
Coffee chain Starbucks China and Luckin both experienced a double-digit decline in same-store sales in the June quarter of 14% and 20.9% respectively, sending a signal that consumption headwinds and intensified competition are still dampening the brands’ earnings. Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of US-headquartered Starbucks said China is “one of our most notable international challenges,” citing “unprecedented store expansion” and “a mass segment price war” as reasons for the underwhelming performance in the past year.
Why Should China Borrow Abroad?
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
For those who worry about the risk of an external debt problem, there isn’t much cause for concern. By the end of 2023, China’s total outstanding foreign debt stood at $2.45 trillion, with medium- to long-term debt accounting for 44 percent, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Against that, the PBoC has over $3.2 trillion in reported reserves, and there are another roughly $2 trillion held by other state-controlled financial entities. China has more than enough foreign currency to manage external debt risks quite easily.
China’s sex toy makers in the multi-billion dollar industry are hitting the right spot
Despite a lack of industry standards and long-standing societal taboos, China’s multi-billion dollar sex toy industry continues to boom, albeit with many caveats in today's economy.
TECH & MEDIA
China Wants to Start a National Internet ID System
The New York Times
It’s hard to be anonymous online in China. Websites and apps must verify users with their phone numbers, which are tied to personal identification numbers that all adults are assigned.
Now it could get more difficult under a proposal by China’s internet regulators: The government wants to take over the job of verification from the companies and give people a single ID to use across the internet.
The Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China say the proposal is meant to protect privacy and prevent online fraud.
A national internet ID would reduce “the excessive collection and retention of citizens’ personal information by internet platforms on the grounds of implementing real-name registration,” the regulators said.
Use of the ID system by websites and apps would be voluntary, according to the proposal, which is open for public comment until the end of August.
The Chinese government has for years exercised tight control over information, and it closely monitors people’s behavior on the internet. Over the last few years, China’s biggest social media platforms, like the microblogging site Weibo, the lifestyle app Xiaohongshu and the short video app Douyin, have started to display users’ locations in their posts.
But until now, that control has been fragmented as censors have had to track people across different online platforms. A national internet ID could centralize it.
“With this internet ID, your every move online, all your digital traces, will be monitored by the regulators,” said Rose Luqiu, an assistant professor of journalism at the Hong Kong Baptist University. “That will definitely impact people’s behavior.”
Censors Delete Critiques of Proposed National Internet ID System
China Digital Times
Chinese internet regulators are purportedly considering new methods to safeguard users’ personal information online. Their solution, however, involves giving the government greater control over user data. The proposal has rekindled a debate over online privacy and best practices for data security. Adding to fears about government surveillance and abuse, censors have taken down online posts from experts and commentators who critiqued the plan.
On Network Codes and Credentials
China Law Translate
While the government presents its proposal as a means of further protecting privacy, critics worry that it could have the opposite effect. My own take is that while concerns about the erosion of privacy are very real, the real harm comes from the real-name verification requirements already in place, and the proposed rules don’t add much further damage.
Sellers on Chinese operated Temu revolt against fines and withheld pay
CNN
Online shopping site Temu has faced tough questions before about its business practices. Now it has a new problem: a backlash from independent merchants based in China who sell their products on the wildly popular rival to Amazon.
Hundreds of them staged a demonstration this week at an office affiliated with Temu in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. They were protesting what they called “unjust” fines levied by the company or withheld payment on goods already sold, among other complaints.
The protest, which peaked on Monday and had largely dispersed by mid-week, highlights the myriad challenges faced by Temu, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD (PDD), as it continues an ambitious and expensive global expansion. The platform entered its latest market, Thailand, last month.
Taobao loosens “refund-only” policy months after introduction
TechNode
Taobao said it would relax the half-year in operation “refund-only” policy that allows shoppers to get a refund without returning the product, citing as a reason “optimizing the business environment while ensuring consumer rights.” The policy, perceived as being preferential to customers over e-commerce platforms, was a lesson both Taobao and JD.com learned from the policy’s inventor Pinduoduo. Taobao merchants with good operating records will henceforth have more autonomy to deal with shoppers’ refund requests, according to Alibaba.
Apple Pressures Tencent and ByteDance Over App Fees in China
Bloomberg
Apple Inc. is ramping up pressure on Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. to make fundamental changes to China’s most popular apps, an unusual move that may inflame tensions in the world’s largest smartphone market.
The iPhone maker in recent months has demanded the two companies close loopholes that their in-app creators employ to funnel users to external payment systems, circumventing Apple’s typical 30% commission, according to people familiar with the matter.
In May, the US firm warned Tencent it may reject essential WeChat updates unless the developer eradicates links that mini-game developers use to accept payment off Apple’s platform, the people said. Months later, Apple asked the company to disable a key in-game messaging feature that also diverted users. Tencent has yet to accede.
And in June, Apple told ByteDance it wouldn’t accept new updates of Douyin — TikTok’s Chinese cousin — unless it too plugged similar payment loopholes, one of the people said, asking not to be named discussing private negotiations.
SCIENCE, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT
China records hottest month in recent history
Reuters
China had its hottest month in observed modern history in July, Chinese state media reported, mirroring record hot weather seen around the world last month.
Temperatures averaged 23.21 degrees Celsius (73.78 degrees Fahrenheit) last month, eclipsing the 23.17C in July 2017, China's national television broadcaster reported on Thursday - the highest monthly average since the country began compiling comprehensive data in 1961.
[…]
In July, all of China's provinces had average temperatures higher than the same month in previous years. Temperatures in the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan were the highest, followed by Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
On Aug. 1, temperatures remained elevated in the Yangtze River delta, with Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other provincial capitals forecast to bake under high temperatures for the next seven days.
Hangzhou may sizzle in record temperatures exceeding 40C, according to CCTV.
China sees highest number of significant floods since records began
The Guardian
Halfway through the peak flood season, China has already experienced the highest number of significant floods since record keeping began in 1998, and the hottest July since 1961, authorities said on Friday.
This year so far it has recorded 25 “numbered” events, which the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources defined as having water levels that prompt an official warning or are measured at a magnitude of a “once in two to five years” event.
At a press conference this week, authorities said 3,683 river flood warnings and 81 mountain flood disaster warnings had been issued, state media reported. Almost 5,000 reservoirs had been put into operation diverting 99bn litres of floodwaterto prevent the relocation of more than 6.5 million people.
Controversial CRISPR scientist promises “no more gene-edited babies” until society comes around
MIT Technology Review
He Jiankui, the Chinese biophysicist whose controversial 2018 experiment led to the birth of three gene-edited children, says he’s returned to work on the concept of altering the DNA of people at conception, but with a difference.
This time around, he says, he will restrict his research to animals and nonviable human embryos. He will not try to create a pregnancy, at least until society comes to accept his vision for “genetic vaccines” against common diseases.
During the interview, He defended his past research and said the “only regret” he had was the difficulties he had caused to his wife and two daughters. He spent three years in prison after a court found him guilty of breaking regulations, but since his release in 2022 he has sought to stage a scientific comeback.
He says he currently has a private lab in the city of Sanya, in Hainan province, where he works on gene therapy for rare disease as well as laboratory tests to determine how, one day, babies could be born resistant to ever developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The Chinese scientist said he’s receiving financial support from individuals in the US and China, and from Chinese companies, and has received an offer to form a research company in Silicon Valley. He declined to name his investors.
China to Finalize Looser Controls on Human Genetic Material This Year
Caixin
China’s top health regulator plans this year to finish off revisions to guidelines on how human genetic material can be used in the country amid complaints that current restrictions are choking innovation.
In its legislative work plan for this year, the National Health Commission (NHC) included an amendment to the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Regulation on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources. The NHC released the work plan last week.
The term human “genetic resources” covers materials like organs, tissues or cells containing DNA, along with related data, which can be crucial to researching new drugs and therapies.
The NHC took over supervision of human genetic resources from the Ministry of Science and Technology earlier this year, following a government reorganization plan unveiled during the National People’s Congress in March 2023.
The Bird-Whistling Guardian of Shanghai’s First World Heritage Site
Sixth Tone
Bird conservationist Jin Weiguo has spent 26 years safeguarding the many species that inhabit the Chongming Dongtan Bird National Nature Reserve, which this summer became Shanghai’s first World Heritage Site.
The wetland reserve was among five sites added on July 26 to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, under protected “Migratory Bird Sanctuaries Along the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China.”
Jin, who is in his mid-60s, has made one of the biggest contributions to building the reserve. Armed with his trusty bamboo bird whistle, an item of Chinese intangible cultural heritage, he has helped capture tens of thousands of migratory birds for tagging, providing valuable data for researchers and conservation groups.
Ironically, Jin wasn’t working on the day of the UNESCO announcement and only learned of the news later through the media. “It’s good news that our application (to be listed) has finally been approved, as it means this place will be protected,” he says.
ARTS & CULTURE
New Chinese Music: The Return of Carsick Cars, Breezy R&B, and More
RADII
The big news on the music scene this month was the return of indie trio Carsick Cars, but that’s not all: their labelmates Muzzy Mum showed that the next generation of Chinese post punk bands are hard at work, while Shanghai’s An Corporation and Beijing’s ShallowEnd both delivered intense doses of post rock. On the more mellow side of things, Wuhan’s Sky King Jack offered a rare taste of Chinese ska, and techno veteran SHAO released an excellent ambient album
China's FIRST International Film Festival Leaves Main Prize Vacant
Hollywood Reporter
When it came time to announce the festival’s top Best feature film, the FIRST jury — led by Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Guan Hu (Black Dog) — left jaws dropping inside Xining’s Qinghai Grand Theater when they said they’d decided against naming one at all.
“The duty of film festival is to call for pioneering and cutting-edge works, to discover those who have set foot on the shores of the future and to honor creators who renew dogma through aesthetics and excavate new worlds through practice,” the jury statement read.
“Reviewing this year’s filmmaking landscape, there is ample diversity but no single outstanding work; many have steadily advanced, yet there is a lack of those who have raised new horizons. Therefore, the jury has decided that the honor for Best Feature Film will remain vacant this year, with anticipation and belief in the future.”
Cue a few squeals, some seat shuffling and side-eyes as the nine-day event came to a close, but there was plenty of applause, too. It was also somehow a fittingly enigmatic ending to a festival that prides itself on introducing the latest trends — and talent — in Chinese cinema.
A centuries-old secret script called nüshu is empowering young Chinese women
AP
Chen Yulu never thought her home province of Hunan had any culture that she would be proud of, much less become an ambassador of.
But these days, the 23-year-old is a self-proclaimed ambassador of nüshu, a script once known only to a small number of women in the south China.
It started as a writing practiced in secrecy by women who were barred from formal education in Chinese. Now, young people like Chen are spreading nüshu beyond the women’s quarters of houses in Hunan’s rural Jiangyong, the county whose distinct dialect serves as the script’s verbal component.
Egyptian Factories, Sichuan Schools, and the Unfilled Promises of Globalization
Los Angeles Review of Books
Other Rivers is overly long and disorganized. There are times when it sparkles, such as when Hessler describes his daughters reciting off-color versions of classic Chinese poems that they learn from their under-pressure classmates. But it often feels like Hessler is stuffing every stray thought he has about China into the narrative before he’s forced to leave the subject behind. The fact that he had wanted to stay longer to complete this book raises a question: if he had not had to leave prematurely, might he have had more material but written a shorter and tighter book?
At other times, it feels like he’s giving up. After Chang and his daughters depart China for the United States for the last time, Hessler spends a few weeks driving around the countryside he had come to know via bicycle as a younger man. He visits friends, often drinks too much, and is driven home. He’s a man out of time realizing that he can’t go home—or at least, back to the China he once knew—anymore.
That wasn’t the promise that China or the world of 1996 held for young, idealistic Americans. For those who embraced the idea that cultures could be bridged, it’s a crushing letdown. Was globalization, and its promise, just a late 20th-century fever dream? Or is it still possible to imagine a world shaped by markets and progressive values? Both of these sequels to star-making debut books suggest that the more things change, the more authoritarian they become. That’s a bleak outlook, and devoted readers of Hessler and Chang should hope that they both turn out to be wrong.
Chinese Art Photography's Evolution
China Books Review
A collection of three decades worth of Chinese art photography shows a country in social and cultural foment, questioning the status quo and pushing aesthetic boundaries.
SPORTS
How Dominant is China at the Olympic Games?
ChinaPower Project
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are taking place in Paris from July 26 through August 11. China’s delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympics includes 405 athletes competing in 236 medal events. The chart below will be updated daily with the medal earnings throughout the games.
Zheng makes China history by reaching Olympic tennis final
CNA
Zheng Qinwen stunned women's world number one Iga Swiatek on Thursday (Aug 1) to become the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic Games tennis singles final.
Seventh-ranked Zheng triumphed 6-2, 7-5 and will face either Croatia's Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the gold medal match.
"I feel more than just happy - happy isn't enough to describe how I feel," said Zheng, who had played back-to-back three-hour matches to make the semi-final.
Table Tennis-China gold medalist Wang's joy cut short by paparazzi paddle accident
Reuters
China's 24-year-old table tennis player Wang Chuqin was overjoyed after securing his first Olympic gold medal alongside teammate Sun Yingsha on Tuesday.
But his elation soon turned to disbelief, anger and frustration when he discovered that his paddle - crucial for his singles and team events - had been damaged by excited photographers rushing to capture the moment.
Visibly upset, Wang tried to ask for an explanation. His coach tried to hug him in an effort to console him and ask him to stay calm.
Wang soon regained his composure despite the setback.
"At that moment, I lost control of my emotions a little. I couldn’t understand why the photographers would do that," Wang said, still visibly affected by the incident.
"I guess they didn’t mean it. I can’t do anything now that it’s already happened. I believe I’ll still be able to play well with my backup bat. Maybe this is fate."
China Cleared Swimmers in Doping Dispute, Citing Tainted Burgers
The New York Times
Two elite Chinese swimmers, including one named to her country’s team in the Paris Olympics, tested positive in 2022 for a banned drug but were secretly cleared of doping late last year by Chinese authorities, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
After a lengthy investigation into the previously undisclosed incident, the Chinese authorities were unable to determine exactly how the swimmers ingested the drug, a powerful anabolic steroid, but concluded that they had most likely done so unwittingly when they ate hamburgers at a restaurant in Beijing.
The Chinese emphasized in their explanation to global antidoping regulators that only trace amounts of the steroid had been detected and said that those levels were consistent with contamination, not doping.
[…]
The latest incident is likely to fuel further debate over whether Chinese authorities and their global counterparts are failing to adequately address violations. At the same time, the incident also could lead to calls for flexibility in how the rules are enforced to account for situations in which testing — ever improving with advancing technology — is picking up banned substances that are being ingested accidentally. Chinese swimmers competing in Paris have vehemently denied doping, and WADA noted in its statement on Tuesday that there have been several cases closed as so-called no-fault violations “with sometimes unusual methods of contamination.”
In particular, it said, “there have been several cases in the United States in the past few months where highly intricate contamination scenarios were accepted.”
Wada: Why the world's anti-doping agency feels stuck between US and China
BBC
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) says it is "unfairly caught" in a row between the US and China, with their geopolitical tensions spilling onto the Olympic stage.
China's top swimmers have been in the spotlight after a slew of doping allegations, followed by contentious US claims that Wada was covering it up.
Chinese swimmers headed to Paris were drug-tested twice as much as some other nations, which, in turn, has fuelled accusations of a conspiracy to disrupt their performance.
Wada said in its statement on Tuesday that it had been caught in "the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers but has no mandate to participate in that".
Catching the Curl: Inside China’s Quiet Surfing Revolution
Sixth Tone
Despite losing in the round of 16, Yang Siqi’s Olympic debut marks a significant moment for China’s fledgling surfing scene. Her journey, though cut short, highlights the challenges Chinese surfers face, from inconsistent training conditions to limited global exposure.
China star Huang to leave Paris with badminton gold around her neck and ring on finger
SCMP
Olympian Huang Yaqiong will be heading back to China with Olympic gold around her neck and a ring on her finger, after her boyfriend proposed just minutes after she won the badminton mixed doubles final.
Following the medal presentation, Huang was stood in the athlete moment zone, an area off-court that allows live interactions between Olympians and their closest family and friends who could not make it to Paris.
While Huang was talking, boyfriend Liu Yuchen, who also plays badminton for China, got down on one knee and popped the question.
Huang, to the delight of millions of social media users, her family and friends and those in the crowd at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, said yes.
There’s a LeBron of Table Tennis. His Name Is Lebrun.
WSJ
No country has ever dominated an Olympic sport the way that China rules table tennis. Since it made its debut at the Games in 1988, the Chinese have won 33 of a possible 38 gold medals. They came to Paris fully expecting to extend their reign atop the podium.
But now China’s table-tennis monopoly is under threat.
And the player who might just be good enough to take down the mighty Chinese in Paris is a bespectacled boy from France.
Felix Lebrun has become the host nation’s breakout star and unlikeliest sensation at the Olympics by holding the paddle unlike almost anyone else in the upper echelons of table tennis. Basically, he walks up to the table and steps into a time machine. Lebrun is 17 years old—and he plays like an old Chinese man.
“It’s a white guy playing a traditionally Asian style,” said American player Lily Zhang. “It’s very refreshing.”
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