G7 ramps up pressure on PRC over Russia ties, upsets Beijing

Plus, U.S. swaps Chinese detainees and lowers travel advisory for China.

Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly update on the latest news and developments from the country.

I hope you’ve had a great week and, for those who celebrated, I hope you had a joyful Thanksgiving.

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Through the Lens

Children playing in a Beijing hutong.

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In Focus

I. Panda diplomacy

For decades, American zoos have raised tens of millions of dollars from donors and sent the money to China for the right to host and display pandas. Under U.S. law, those funds were required to be spent protecting pandas in the wild.

But the Chinese government instead spent millions on apartment buildings, roads, computers, museums and other expenses, records show. For years, China refused even to account for millions more.

Regulators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the payments, have for two decades raised concerns about this with American zoo administrators and Chinese officials alike. The U.S. government, on three occasions, froze payments to China over incomplete record keeping, documents show.

Zoos, too, have known that the money was not always going toward conservation. But they worried that if Fish and Wildlife cut off the money altogether, China could demand the return of its bears. Zoos count on pandas for visitors, merchandise sales and media attention.

Ultimately, the regulators allowed the money to keep flowing and agreed not to check the spending in China so thoroughly, according to records and former officials.

Read: Millions of Dollars to Protect Pandas Was Spent by China on Roads and Buildings (The New York Times)

II. Chang’erdai

Across China, thousands of family-run factories like Mao’s stand at a crossroads, grappling with the largest wave of generational handovers in the country’s history. Established during the industrial boom of the ’80s and ’90s, these businesses thrived on steady demand and predictable growth.

But for their heirs, that certainty is fading. The dominance of e-commerce, a shrinking labor pool, and shifting consumer expectations are forcing factory owners to adapt quickly — or risk being left behind.

At stake is more than just family tradition. Manufacturing remains the backbone of China’s economy, contributing 26.2% to the country’s GDP in 2023 and nearly 30% of the global total. Among over 100 million private enterprises in China, more than 80% are family-owned, and nearly a third of those are concentrated in traditional manufacturing.

This generational shift has thrust the successors, often referred to as the chang’erdai or “second-generation factory owners,” into the spotlight. Unlike China’s dilettantish fu’erdai, or “wealthy second generation,” chang’erdai are celebrated for their grit in modernizing family businesses.

Read: Factory Reset: A New Generation Races to Save China’s Family Businesses (Sixth Tone)

III. COP29—You pay. No, you pay.

How much of a leadership role China takes in global climate efforts is an important question going forward, particularly with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expected to throttle back U.S. support for climate policies and international funding.

China is now the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the second-largest economy.

China also stands to gain as provider of the market majority of green technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles.

Whether or not China should be expected to contribute funding at a level comparable to the other major emitters was so hotly contested at COP29 that it almost shut down the entire conference.

Previously, only those countries listed by the U.N. as “developed countries” – a list that doesn’t include China – were expected to provide funds. The COP29 agreement expands that by calling on “all actors to work together to enable the scaling up of financing.”

In the end, a compromise was reached. The final agreement “encourages developing countries to make contributions on a voluntary basis,” excluding China from the heavier expectations placed on richer nations.

Read: China’s influence grows at COP29 climate talks as US leadership fades (The Conversation)

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Politics & Society

High-ranking military official in China suspended and placed under investigation (AP)

A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the country’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.

Miao Hua was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption.

China’s defence minister placed under investigation for corruption (Financial Times)

China has put its defence minister under investigation in the latest corruption-related scandal to hit the top of the People’s Liberation Army, according to current and former US officials familiar with the situation.

Admiral Dong Jun, who was named in December 2023 after his predecessor was fired for corruption, is being investigated as part of a broader probe into graft in the PLA, the US officials said.

He is the third consecutive serving or former defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption.

China calls report that Defence Minister Dong Jun is under probe 'shadow-chasing' (Reuters)

China's foreign ministry, responding to a question about a report saying the Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption, said on Wednesday that it was "just shadow-chasing".

Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the reply at the regular news briefing, after the Financial Times reported that Dong was under investigation as part of a wide-ranging anti-corruption probe that has roiled the top ranks of the People's Liberation Army.

Persuasive technologies in China: implications for the future of national security (ASPI)

The report analyses generative AI, neurotechnologies and immersive technologies and focuses on key advances being made by PRC companies in particular. It examines the national-security implications of persuasive technologies designed and developed in China, and what that means for policymakers and regulators outside China as those technologies continue to roll out globally.

China jails journalist for seven years on espionage charges (Al Jazeera)

A court in China has sentenced journalist Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison on spying charges, according to a statement from his family, who called it a “grave injustice”.

In its verdict on Friday, the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People’s Court deemed the 62-year-old former editor of the Communist Party’s Guangming Daily guilty based on prior meetings with senior Japanese diplomats, his family said.

According to the judgement, the Japanese diplomats Dong met with, including then-ambassador Hideo Tarumi and current Shanghai-based chief diplomat, Masaru Okada, were named as agents of an “espionage organisation”, the statement added.

Overseas Chinese activists mark two years since White Paper protests (VOA)

Chinese exiles gathered in cities around the world to mark the second anniversary of the “White Paper Movement” in China, saying the demonstrations against the COVID-19 lockdown policies have inspired a new generation of pro-democracy Chinese activists.

Is China headed for new White Paper protests? (DW)

"Since the pandemic, we've seen that the government's censorship system is actually quite fragile, with many instances of public opinion backfiring," said Kele, a member of Citizens Daily, an Instagram account dedicated to collecting and preserving voices of political dissent in China.

Kele, who spoke under a pseudonym for safety reasons, said the White Paper protests had caused the young people in China to realize that "even though I do not have many resources, I can make enough noise to make the government take me seriously."

Although individual motives of protesters can vary, activists believe they can be traced back to public frustration amid tightened control and economic slowdown. And for the former protester Huang, this same frustration with China growing less stable and more oppressive can be seen as a catalyst for the recent mass killings.

"It's impossible to maintain a high-pressure state indefinitely. A lone-wolf style of violent attacks in society is becoming more frequent, and this is because people see no justice and no hope." Huang said.

China: X must immediately end shadow ban of prominent human rights account (ARTICLE 19)

On Wednesday, 27 November, the blue tick verified ‘Teacher Li is not Your Teacher’ (李老师不是你老师) X (formally Twitter) account posted to its 1.8 million followers that it believes it had been shadow banned on the platform. The post speculated that the ban was in relation to the two-year anniversary of the White Paper Movement, a protest wave that rocked through numerous cities in China in November 2022 and saw numerous anniversary protests around the world over the past weekend. ARTICLE 19 calls on X to immediately end the shadow ban and provide detailed explanation as to what steps it is taking to push back against requests for censorship from authoritarian governments like China.

Chinese Influencer Sparks Outrage by Mocking Jobless Youth (Sixth Tone)

If there is one thing that young Chinese do not have a sense of humor about these days, it’s the state of the job market.

The influencer Yangmaoyue has learned that lesson the hard way in recent days, after his ill-conceived quip about youth unemployment backfired in spectacular fashion, leading him to lose over 1 million followers and receive a torrent of online abuse.

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Historic Blizzard Blocks Roads, Buries Cars in Northeast China (Sixth Tone)

A city in northeastern China has been caught off-guard by a historic snowstorm that has blocked roads and left cars buried up to their wing mirrors, with experts warning of the risk of building collapses.

Heavy snowfall blanketed the northeastern province of Heilongjiang starting on Tuesday morning, with the city of Hegang near the Russian border hit particularly hard.

Hegang recorded its heaviest November snowfall over the following 24 hours, with 13 of the city’s 17 weather stations reporting “extreme blizzard” conditions.

By Wednesday, the snow was piled nearly half a meter deep in some areas.

Cars parked inside local residential communities were almost entirely submerged, with only their wing mirrors visible. The icy conditions had led to some minor collisions on the roads, a local homestay owner told domestic media.

The Sanitary Pad Scandal Causing Uproar on Chinese Social Media (Sixth Tone)

Chinese women have reacted with fury to revelations that sanitary pads made by several leading brands are often smaller than advertised, forcing the companies to issue a string of groveling apologies.

The scandal, which has embroiled many of the country’s leading sanitary pad makers, is the latest example of young Chinese women launching grassroots online campaigns to defend their interests.

The row first erupted in early November, when a cluster of videos went viral on Chinese social media in which influencers showed that popular sanitary pad products were often significantly smaller than their manufacturers claimed.

Dancing To Prison (China Books Review)

1983’s Strike Hard Against Crime Campaign led to the arrests of many innocent victims, caught up in a culture of fear. One of them was imprisoned for organizing an unofficial dance party — until he broke out in a daring escape.