Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly update on the latest news and developments from the country.
Wishing you a healthy and peaceful Year of the Snake, one with less noise and more substance. For this first issue of the new year, I thought it’d be refreshing to take a break from all the buzz around DeepSeek and talk about something else.
A self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland has been back in the spotlight since President Trump restated his desire to purchase it. “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he said on Truth Social back in December. This comes over five years since he first floated the idea.
“I think the people [of Greenland] want to be with us,” Trump recently claimed. However, a new poll shows 85 percent of Greenlanders oppose becoming part of the United States.
Recently confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking this week on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” warned that “[the Chinese] are not an Arctic power, they do not have an Arctic presence, so they need to be able to have somewhere that they can stage from, and it is completely realistic to believe that the Chinese will eventually, maybe in the short term, try to do in Greenland what they have done at the Panama Canal and in other places, and that is install facilities that give them access to the Arctic, with the cover of a Chinese company, but that in reality serves a dual purpose: that in a moment of conflict they could send naval vessels to that facility and operate from there. And that is completely unacceptable to the security of the world and the national security of the United States.”
“This is not a joke,” said Rubio. “This is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land. This is in our national interest and it needs to be solved.”
As they did in 2019, officials in both Greenland and Denmark have expressed their disinterest in the offer, reiterating that the island is not on the market, a rejection that has been met with Trump’s threats of economic coercion and absorption by military force—Rubio dismissed this threat, saying it’s just leverage used by a businessman turned politician.
Greenland isn’t the only focus of attention in Trump’s apparent obsession with territorial expansion. Recently, he has also threatened to take over the Panama Canal and suggested that Canada should become the ‘51st state.’
Beijing is undoubtedly observing all of this with great interest. With what legitimacy will the U.S. condemn the PRC’s land reclamations in the South China Sea or threats to take over Taiwan, when its own president menaces the territorial sovereignty of other countries—including some of its closest allies?
On a lighter note, to celebrate the Year of the Snake, I’m offering 25% off a 1-year subscription to What’s Happening in China. This special offer is only available until February 12—upgrade today and save 25%.
Let’s get into it.
— PC
Keywords: Lunar New Year • Year of the Snake • Trump 2.0 • trade war • tariffs • DeepSeek • Alibaba • Huawei • Arctic • Greenland • Denmark • Canada • Panama Canal • South China Sea • China–Philippines • China–India • military command center in Beijing • generic drugs • Vanke • CO2 emissions
Through the Lens
In Focus
I. “Those familiar with the DeepSeek case know they wouldn’t prefer to have 50 percent or 10 percent of their current chip allocation.”
Jordan Schneider: What’s your fear about the wrong conclusion from R1 and its downstream effects from an American policy perspective?
Miles: My main concern is that DeepSeek becomes the ultimate narrative talking point against export controls. While I don’t think the argument holds, I understand why people might look at it and conclude that export controls are counterproductive. They are being efficient — you can’t deny that’s happening and was made more likely because of export controls.
However, the more extreme conclusion that we should reverse these policies or that export controls don’t make sense overall isn’t justified by that evidence, for the reasons we discussed. My concern is that companies like NVIDIA will use these narratives to justify relaxing some of these policies, potentially significantly. This might have some marginal positive impact on companies’ revenue in the short term, but it wouldn't align with the administration’s overall policy agenda regarding China and American leadership in AI.
If you’re DeepSeek and currently facing a compute crunch, developing new efficiency methods, you’re certainly going to want the option of having 100,000 or 200,000 H100s or GB200s or whatever NVIDIA chips you can get, plus the Huawei chips. Having access to both is strictly better. This is a straightforward case that people need to hear — it’s clearly in their benefit for these export controls to be relaxed. We shouldn’t be misled by the specific case of DeepSeek.
Those familiar with the DeepSeek case know they wouldn’t prefer to have 50 percent or 10 percent of their current chip allocation. Nobody wants fewer chips. Yes, you have to be more efficient when you have less, but everyone would prefer to have more, and relaxing our policies would only help them.
Read: DeepSeek and the Future of AI Competition with Miles Brundage ( by )
Related:
Chips, China, and a Lot of Money: The Factors Driving the DeepSeek AI Turmoil (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
Everybody Losing Sleep Over DeepSeek: Industry Implications to LLMs and AI Infrastructure ( by )
DeepSeek Debates: Chinese Leadership On Cost, True Training Cost, Closed Model Margin Impacts (SemiAnalysis)
DeepSeek: The View from China ( by , , and )
Gods and Machines ( by )
On DeepSeek and Export Controls (Dario Amodei)
DeepSeek AI Raises Censorship and Data-Security Concerns (China Digital Times)
Chinese accounts hyped DeepSeek launch ahead US stock rout, firm says (CNBC)
DeepSeek breakthrough raises AI energy questions (France 24)
DeepSeek's chatbot achieves 17% accuracy, trails Western rivals in NewsGuard audit (Reuters)
II. “The trade war is almost certainly coming. The question is how damaging will it be.”
During the trade war in Trump’s first term, both sides had guardrails that kept the battle from spinning out of control. For Trump, the stock market provided discipline.
When markets continued to rise after the U.S. first imposed tariffs in July 2018, he took that as a vote of confidence. When they started to tank later in the year as companies worried about the impact of tariffs, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow went on Fox to reassure investors that the president “may perhaps” meet with Xi at a G-20 meeting in Buenos Aires in early December, hinting that might ease the trade war.
After the two leaders met, Trump tweeted Dec. 4 that a deal could happen, but then he added this reminder: “But if not, remember I am a Tariff Man.” And with that tweet, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 800 points, and the S&P fell 3.2 percent — the second biggest drop of the year. Shortly before the year came to a close, Trump looked to bump up the market by tweeting that he and Xi were again negotiating for a deal. On the next trading day, the Dow advanced 265 points.
“What are the benchmarks for success of the presidency?” Trump’s first NEC director, Gary Cohn, asked in a radio interview in March 2019. “The stock market is the most obvious, most transparent, most-talked-about-by-the-president benchmark of success.”
The Chinese government isn’t nearly as transparent as America’s but it’s possible to glean Xi’s guardrails from his actions. Throughout the trade war, Xi worried about frightening away the foreign investment crucial for Chinese growth. While he matched Trump tit-for-tat with tariffs, he never used all the muscle he could, such as blocking the sales and production in China of big-name American firms like Apple or General Motors.
Fast forward to 2025, and the stock market remains pivotal to Trump; what’s changed, though, is the market is now much easier for China to influence. The top seven companies in the S&P 500 now account for 28 percent of the index’s weight, about twice as much as in 2017. A number of those firms, including Apple, Tesla and Nvidia, are deeply dependent on China for profits.
“If China threatens a handful of very big American companies and the stock market falls, that would give Trump pause,” says Derek Scissors, a China analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.
Still, taking such steps would be risky for Xi. In 2017, the Chinese economy was growing nearly 7 percent and foreign investment was increasing. Now China’s growth has fallen to less than 5 percent, its real estate sector has crashed, government debt is increasing and demand and supply are so out of whack that deflation threatens. Foreign investment fell to a 30-year low in 2023 and continued to decline the first half of 2024.
The last thing Xi needs is to further frighten off foreign firms by ham-handed tactics. And his moves so far seem intended more for show than impact.
Read: ‘That Would Give Trump Pause’: How to Game Out the Next Trade War (Politico)
Related: China's businesses brace for impact of Trump tariffs (BBC)
III. Make America last?
In halting foreign assistance spending, the Trump administration has just put America last, while handing a gift to our biggest adversaries, notably China. In fact, Trump may just have conceded great power competition with China before his first week in office was even over – though it is not too late to reverse this spiral.
[…]
Unless it is reversed, this shocking halt, especially with the ramifications of the stop-work order, may represent an extraordinary setback for the United States.
Why? Because foreign assistance, though charitable, isn’t charity. It’s a strategic investment that safeguards America’s most important interests while reflecting its highest values. It protects the United States from threats abroad before they reach America’s shores, from diseases to fentanyl to terrorism. It helps to combat human trafficking, supports democratic elections, and stems the flow of migration, attacking the root causes that force people to flee. It helps secure critical supply chains and builds markets for U.S. exports while creating jobs at home. And in an era of strategic competition, foreign aid wins influence and allies.
That’s why foreign assistance has long been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, seen by both parties as crucial to securing America’s national interests. Programs like the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after World War II demonstrated how aid could secure alliances, rebuild shattered countries, and foster free societies and free markets. And prosperity in post-war Europe helped drive America’s own prosperity at home. As Senator Lindsey Graham recently said, when it comes to competing with China in Africa and elsewhere with U.S. foreign aid, “soft power is a critical component of defending America and our values.”
Few understand this better than the PRC. Since its inception in 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has poured more than $1 trillion into infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, bolstering its global influence. For instance, China has financed massive infrastructure projects in Africa, including the construction of railways in Kenya and ports in Djibouti, giving Beijing significant sway over governments there while creating footholds in a region of strategic importance to the United States. The U.S. suspension of foreign aid now threatens to effectively leave the field wide open for China to expand its influence – and, ironically, to paint Beijing as a better and more reliable partner than Washington.
Read: Stop-Work Order on US Foreign Aid Puts China First and America Last (Just Security)
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Politics & Society
China's Xi Strikes Bullish Tone In Speech To Mark Lunar New Year (Barron's)
Chinese leader Xi Jinping struck a bullish tone during a speech on Monday ahead of Lunar New Year, after acknowledging "complex and severe situations" in recent months.
Xi addressed the gathering of top Communist Party officials as China gears up for its biggest public holiday, which this year runs from January 28 to February 4 and will see people bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and ring in the Year of the Snake.
He leads a country still struggling to cement its economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and beset by a property sector crisis, chronically low consumption and high youth unemployment.
Xi lauds China's solid progress despite challenges in Year of Dragon (People's Daily Online)
Xi hailed the journey over the past year as "extraordinary" and the achievements "very encouraging."
"We proved once again through our hard work that no difficulty or obstacle will hold back the Chinese people in their pursuit of a better life," Xi said. "Our historical course to build a strong country and rejuvenate the nation will not be blocked."
"We will undoubtedly break new ground in reform and development as long as we strengthen our conviction and confidence, confront problems and obstacles directly, and tackle risks and challenges without hesitation," Xi added.
In 2025, China will further deepen reforms across the board, expand high-standard opening up, guard against and defuse risks in key areas and external shocks, and promote sustained economic recovery, Xi said.
Suggestions for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will be formulated and China will continue to strive towards grand goals, he stated.
China will continue to improve people's living standards and ensure that more benefits of modernization are shared among all the people in a more equitable way, Xi added.
Xi's article on family ties, education, values to be published (Qiushi Journal)
An article by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which stresses the importance of family ties, family education and family values and traditions, will be published on Saturday.
[…]
Noting that the Chinese nation has always valued the family, the article stresses the importance of family civility and virtues and efforts to make Chinese families an important foundation for the country's development, national progress and social harmony.
It highlights the importance of family ties, saying that the future of families is closely tied to the future of the country and the nation, and calling on Chinese households to integrate their love for the family with their love for the country.
Related: 注重家庭,注重家教,注重家风 (Qiushi Journal)
Travel peaks in China as millions head home for Lunar New Year (HKFP)
Train stations and airports across China saw the biggest peak in travellers on Saturday [Jan 25] ahead of the Lunar New Year, as millions of people returned home to spend the holidays with their families in an annual migration that is expected to be a record.
The Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, begins Wednesday.
The Chinese enjoy eight consecutive public holidays, an opportunity to share festive meals with family, attend traditional performances or set off firecrackers and fireworks.
At Beijing West Station, an AFP journalist saw thousands of travellers Saturday wrapped up in parkas, many wearing face masks to avoid catching anything on packed trains, dragging their suitcases through the hallways before boarding the carriages.
During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during and after the holidays, some nine billion interprovincial passenger trips, on all forms of transport combined, are expected to be made, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Train and air travel are expected to “hit record highs” during this year’s migration, Xinhua said.
The transport ministry said it expects 510 million train trips and 90 million air trips during the period.
This Spring Festival, Travelers Are Swiping Right — On Each Other’s Homes (Sixth Tone)
While house swapping for the Chinese New Year first gained traction on the lifestyle app Xiaohongshu last year, what began as a niche trend has since grown into a structured market.
One platform capitalizing on this shift is Love Sharing House Swapping, launched last July. The service functions like a matchmaking hub for travelers, allowing users to browse listings and contact potential swap partners. Once both sides agree, they submit an application, pay a deposit, and sign a three-party agreement before exchanging homes. After their stay, they settle utility fees, and if no damages occur, the deposit is refunded.
To address safety concerns, the platform mandates identity verification, property certificates, and facial recognition. It also offers insurance coverage. Its founder surnamed Liu attributes the growing popularity of house swapping to shifting attitudes toward homeownership and the rise of budget-conscious travel. “This trend is likely to see further growth in the coming years,” he tells Sixth Tone.
“In China, houses have long been seen as appreciating assets, while abroad, they are primarily for living,” Liu says. “But as housing investment slows, more people are open to using their homes in new ways, like house swapping.”
Spring Festival 2.0: How Gen-Z Is Changing China’s Biggest Holiday (Sixth Tone)
Red envelopes are going digital, Chinese New Year feasts arrive by courier, and “cyber relatives” pop up in chat groups. For China’s Gen-Z, the Spring Festival is still the biggest holiday of the year, but the way they celebrate is evolving — more online, more personalized, shaped by social media and a growing appetite for niche traditions.
Tracking this shift in real time, two recent reports offer a snapshot of how younger generations are reshaping the holiday. A survey of nearly 6,000 users by Just So Soul — run by Soul, the Chinese social app with approximately 30 million monthly active users — highlights Gen-Z’s changing attitudes toward family gatherings, spending, and traditions.
Meanwhile, e-commerce data from Taobao, China’s top online shopping platform, shows young consumers driving the holiday economy, moving from traditional market hauls to curated, social-media-inspired buys and interactive shopping experiences.
Chinese lion dance troupe shrugs off patriarchal past (HKFP)
The troupe, called Lingdong, counts about 80 members aged between 13 to 33, most of them school students.
Around 20 of them are women.
While the presence of young women in the troupe elicits “mostly positive” feedback, Lin acknowledges that there has been some “mockery” and “negative reactions”.
“Some old-timers think that women should stay at home and do housework. But our generation has a different view,” he said.
“We believe in equality between men and women.”
A growing number of Chinese women are rejecting the rigidity of traditional obligations imposed by their parents, who expect them to marry and have children young.
The cultural shift has been accompanied by the stardom of tennis player Zheng Qinwen, a champion at last year’s Paris Olympics, and the critical success of the Chinese film “Her Story”, which addresses gender inequality in contemporary society.
“Some say that a girl can’t lead a lion. But it’s my passion and it’s up to me alone to take it on,” said performer Lin Xinmeng.
2025 Year of the Snake: Serpents in culture and mythology (DW)
Notable snakes include Chinese premiere Xi Jinping, US singers Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, British physicist Stephen Hawking, South Korean singer and creator of the"Gangnam Style" dance Psy, as well as American talk show mogul, Oprah Winfrey. And finally, British author and creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, whose main antagonist Voldemort, belonged to the House of Slytherin and whose sidekick was the snake, Nagini.
In the Chinese zodiac, the snake is associated with wisdom, charm, elegance and transformation, and those born under this sign are said to be highly wise, intuitive and charming.
New Year’s Gala Celebrates Tech and International Outlook ()
The CMG New Year’s Gala is more than an entertaining New Year’s Eve tradition; it is the most-watched messaging tool of the CCP, and party officials carefully design the programming to tell the story of the last year and set priorities for the year ahead. This year’s show contained the familiar programming of celebrating Chinese culture and history but also presented the PRC as a technology leader, a willing partner for “global south” countries, and a responsible peacemaker with the West.
Chinese lunar new year celebrations 2025 – in pictures (The Guardian)
People joined in festivities around the world to mark the year of the snake – the sixth animal in the Chinese zodiac
Video emerges of explosion at Shenyang market after visit by Xi Jinping (ABC News)
An explosion at a Chinese food market, visited just days earlier by President Xi Jinping and during Lunar New Year celebrations, has caused an unknown number of casualties.
Details about the incident in the city of Shenyang in China's north-east Liaoning province on Sunday remain scarce, with authorities apparently suppressing any reporting.
Chinese social media has been scrubbed of any mention.
However, multiple videos of the blast and immediate aftermath have been posted to social media platform X.
They show a large explosion in a busy street and a number of injured people and damaged vehicles immediately afterward.
The ABC has been able to verify the location of the videos.
The number of injuries and possible deaths remains unknown as does the cause of the explosion.
Xi’s Year of Reshuffles to Provide Clues on Next Set of Leaders (Bloomberg)
President Xi Jinping’s government is set to make a flurry of promotions this year that will give a first glimpse at a rising generation of officials set to become the nation’s next top leaders.
Roughly one-fifth of China’s local leaders are due to retire in 2025 as Xi hits the half-way mark of his precedent defying third term, according to the Asia Society. That shake-up will create space for officials born in the 1970s to start reaching full ministerial rank.
The advances of the post-70s generation are closely watched because they’ll be in their sixties — when Chinese bureaucrats typically hit their career peak — as Xi reaches his eighties. That’s a period when China’s top leader might hand over more power to his lieutenants, or possibly even step down.
Among those marching forward is Liu Jie, who this month became China’s youngest provincial governor after being elevated in Zhejiang province — the wealthy tech hub that helped propel Xi to power. Two others in their fifties are already at the same level of leadership.
“The longer Xi stays in power, the more likely his eventual successor will be drawn from the ranks of the post-70s generation,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. “It’s also possible that Xi breaks more norms and keeps his close allies in power way beyond traditional retirement ages, ushering in a new era of old man politics in Beijing.”
China’s most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong departed from a quarter century of tradition to skip identifying a successor at the last party congress in 2022. The 71-year-old has cleared a path to rule for life and given no indication he’ll step down at the next reshuffle in 2027, after sidelining any challengers. That’s cast doubt over the future of the political system steering the world’s No.2 economy.
[…]
“Xi’s main challenge in identifying and elevating younger officials is paradoxically Xi’s repeated demand of political loyalty from all,” said Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist with the Australian National University. “Because the price of loyalty is the difficulty of bringing in new blood.”
One possibility is that Xi upends age limits altogether, preferring to keep in power those who he’s personally risen up the ranks beside, according to Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Such a move would also limit conversation about rising stars nipping at his heels.
“As Xi effectively removed term limits, it’s likely he doesn’t want any discussions about a potential successor,” Wu added.
Oppose Autocracy without Support for Democracy: A Study of Non-Democratic Critics in China (Cambridge Core)
Opponents of authoritarian regimes are often assumed to desire democracy in place of the current regime. In this paper, we show that authoritarian dissidents hold divergent attitudes towards democracy and identify a key bloc within the regime opposition: “non-democratic critics” (NDCs) or those who are dissatisfied with the current regime but resist adopting democracy. We develop the concept of NDCs, theorize why they exist and how they differ from supporters of democracy and the status quo, and test implications of this framework using interviews and an original survey across China. We find that nearly half of respondents who oppose the current Chinese regime are non-democratic critics who also do not support democracy. Compared to democracy and status quo supporters, NDCs have a distinct set of political and socio-economic demands and higher uncertainty about the performance of democracy in meeting these demands.
China builds huge wartime military command centre in Beijing (Financial Times)
China’s military is building a massive complex in western Beijing that US intelligence believes will serve as a wartime command centre far larger than the Pentagon, according to current and former American officials.
Satellite images obtained by the Financial Times that are being examined by US intelligence show a roughly 1,500-acre construction site 30km south-west of Beijing with deep holes that military experts assess will house large, hardened bunkers to protect Chinese military leaders during any conflict — including potentially a nuclear war.
Several current and former US officials said the intelligence community is closely monitoring the site, which would be the world’s largest military command centre — and 10 times the size of the Pentagon.
Based on an assessment of satellite images obtained by the FT, major construction started in mid-2024. Three people familiar with the situation said some intelligence analysts have dubbed the project “Beijing Military City”.
[…]
One former senior US intelligence official said that while the PLA’s current headquarters in central Beijing was fairly new it was not designed to be a secure combat command centre.
“China’s main secure command centre is in the Western Hills, north-east of the new facility, and was built decades ago at the height of the cold war,” said the former official. “The size, scale and partially buried characteristics of the new facility suggest it will replace the Western Hills complex as the primary wartime command facility.
“Chinese leaders may judge that the new facility will enable greater security against US ‘bunker buster’ munitions, and even against nuclear weapons,” the former intelligence official added. “It can also incorporate more advanced and secure communications and have room for expanding PLA capabilities and missions.”
One China researcher familiar with the images said the site had “all the hallmarks of a sensitive military facility”, including heavily reinforced concrete and deep underground tunnelling.
“Nearly 10 times bigger than the Pentagon, it’s fitting for Xi Jinping’s ambitions to surpass the US,” said the researcher. “This fortress only serves one purpose, which is to act as a doomsday bunker for China’s increasingly sophisticated and capable military.”
Map Shows Chinese Navy Fleet's 300-Day Mission to Three Continents (Newsweek)
Athree-ship fleet of the Chinese navy returned home on Friday from a 339-day deployment, which saw it conduct escort missions, port visits and exercises on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.
Roiling in the Deep: PRC Pushes New Deep Sea Order ()
Access to the seabed is currently restricted by physical and regulatory barriers. Technological advances (and state-led investment) are making headway on the first, while Beijing’s influence within of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and willingness to ignore other states’ maritime claims have led to progress on the second. The degree to which PRC activity is conducted by the People Liberation Army (PLA) and entities affiliated with it suggests that Beijing’s interests in the ocean floor are not limited to the scientific or the commercial, but rather to its wider maritime strategy and conception of its own comprehensive national power.
In China, Government Data on Drugs Blocked From Public After Backlash (The New York Times)
Two separate groups of medical experts and political advisers in Shanghai and Beijing are sounding the alarm over the country’s centralized drug procurement system and the drugs on a list of medications for public hospitals.
The drugs at issue are almost entirely generic versions of drugs that had been largely imported in the past. Among the products doctors are questioning include anesthesia they said often fails to put patients to sleep and stroke medication that has failed to prevent strokes. Even some of the most basic drugs, like laxatives, seem to be ineffective, the doctors have said.
The scrutiny is focusing attention on a campaign by Beijing to reduce costs in its national public health care system, which is coming under increasing financial pressures as the population ages.
The centralized drug system, known as volume-based procurement, has saved the government tens of billions of dollars. But the cost cutting could now come at the expense of drug effectiveness, said Zheng Minhua, the director of surgery at Ruijin Hospital.
Mr. Zheng was one of more than 20 doctors who proposed that the government allow patients access to brand-name drugs even if they are not on the government list.
Another doctor and political adviser in Beijing submitted his own proposal last week calling for similar changes. On Chinese social media, doctors and patients shared their frustrations about domestic drugs and complained about how difficult it was to get the original versions.
Amid the outcry last week, some experts began to dig into public data showing how the generic drugs stacked up against their originals. One doctor and former editor at a popular online health platform, Xia Zhimin, noticed that the data provided by different drugmakers was so similar they had to be fraudulent.
The National Medical Products Administration, which approves generic drugs and published the data, acknowledged the similarities and said they were caused by “editing errors” related to specific years of publication. But that did little to assuage concerns and instead elicited criticism on Chinese social media that a simple apology was not enough.
China to prioritise physical education in schools as obesity rates rise (Reuters)
China is aiming to beef up physical education in schools, making it core to the curriculum rather than a secondary subject, authorities said as they push for a more "holistic education" amid growing concerns about the rise in childhood obesity.
Primary and secondary schools must ensure physical education teachers are treated "the same as their colleagues in subjects such as Chinese, math and English, and intensify efforts to develop key sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball," the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the country's Ministry of Education.
"These measures are part of a broader push for a more holistic approach to education, integrating physical fitness with academic development to cultivate well rounded students who are prepared for the future," the Ministry said.
[…]
Doctors expect obesity to rise over the next 10-12 years as the economy slows and suffers structural changes that lead to poor eating habits and less physical activity.
The proportion of obese boys in China jumped to 15.2% in 2022 from 1.3% in 1990, trailing the United States 22%, but higher than Japan's 6%, Britain's and Canada's 12% and India's 4%. Obesity in girls rose to 7.7% in 2022 from 0.6% in 1990.
"Obesity has become a major public health issue in China, ranking as the sixth leading risk factor for death and disability in the country," the country's National Health Commission said in October.
David Daokui Li calls for 1.25 trillion yuan pension increase for Chinese farmers ()
High-profile Tsinghua economist exposes artificial inequality among different classes of Chinese people and says the Chinese government can absolutely afford it.
Quality Journalism in China Is Not Dead; It’s Just More Dispersed Than Ever (Made in China Journal)
One full cycle of the Chinese zodiac has passed since the beginning of the Xi Jinping era, marking 12 years of significant transformation in the landscape of Chinese journalism. While some observers declared its demise several years ago, in this essay, I argue that despite the formidable challenges it faces, journalism in China remains remarkably resilient. It has adapted, evolved, lost some traditional strongholds, and found new life in alternative spaces. Using key events and prominent journalistic works from 2024 as examples, I will explore the continuing vibrancy of Chinese journalism, identify its new locations, and analyse the complex challenges it confronts.
Now or Naver: The Korean Apps Packing Shanghai’s Restaurants (Sixth Tone)
In recent months, clusters of Korean tourists have packed select spots across Shanghai’s bakeries, hotpot chains, and street food stalls. The surge stems from China’s visa-free policy, introduced in November 2024, allowing stays of up to 15 days.
Since then, bookings from South Korea have more than doubled year over year. Among Chinese destinations, Shanghai stands out — modern, historic, and just over an hour’s flight from South Korea, making it an easy, familiar getaway. In December alone, over 130,000 Korean passengers passed through Shanghai Pudong International Airport, according to Shanghai Customs.
But with little travel info in Korean or English on Chinese platforms, most South Korean tourists stuck to what they knew. Wherever Naver or Instagram pointed, they followed.
The surge has sent local businesses across Shanghai racing to adapt. Some restaurants now have Korean-language menus at the door. Hotpot chains and cafés are hiring Korean-speaking staff. Even street food vendors have picked up basic phrases, hoping to draw in tourists searching for a taste of home.
Xinjiang
UK urged to probe spate of Chinese flights for forced labor (Politico)
A flurry of new cargo flights from China’s Xinjiang province to Britain may be trafficking goods made with forced labor, the U.K. government is being warned.
Three brand-new routes connecting Xinjiang — at the center of international human rights concerns over the treatment of the Uyghur ethnic group — to major U.K. airports have opened up since last summer.
It's prompted demands for an investigation from the head of the British parliament's cross-party human rights committee, who fired off a letter to the U.K. government earlier this month — and is considering calling freight bosses to give evidence in Westminster.
“I fear that these routes are being used to bring goods made with forced labor into the U.K.,” said David Alton in a Jan. 17 letter to Home Office Minister David Hanson, seen by POLITICO.
Hong Kong & Macao
HK pollster taken in by national security police for 2nd time - reports (HKFP)
Hong Kong pollster Robert Chung has been taken in by national security police to assist with an investigation for the second time in two weeks, according to local media.
Multiple local media reports said on Monday that Robert Chung, the CEO of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), was taken from his home in Hong Kong Island to Wan Chai police station by the force’s national security department.
Related: What is the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute? (HKFP)
Hong Kong slams US lawmakers' reintroduction of sanctions bill (HKFP)
Hong Kong authorities have condemned American lawmakers’ reintroduction of a bill urging sanctions on the city’s top officials, judges and prosecutors, calling the move “political grandstanding.”
In a statement on Saturday [Jan 25], the government responded to US Representatives Young Kim and Jim McGovern’s updated Hong Kong Sanctions Act.
The bill, published last week, asks US President Donald Trump to determine if the 48 people named have violated human rights, and whether sanctions should be imposed on them.
The latest bill adds four top officials who were hit with sanctions by Washington in August 2020: Chief Executive John Lee, Chief Secretary Eric Chan, Secretary for Security Chris Tang, and director of the central government’s liaison office Zheng Yanxiong.
It also includes other top officials such as Secretary for Justice Paul Lam; police chief Raymond Siu; Chief Justice Andrew Cheung; and national security judges Esther Toh, Amanda Woodcock, Victor So, and Peter Law.
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US-bound refugees in Hong Kong despair as Trump halts arrivals (France 24)
After 13 years in Hong Kong as a refugee, John received plane tickets that would grant his family new lives in the United States -- only for them to be snatched away with a stroke of the pen by President Donald Trump.
Trump's executive order to suspend all refugee admissions and halt the US asylum programme, signed hours after taking office, has left adrift dozens in the Chinese city approved for US resettlement.
John's scheduled flight to Los Angeles barely missed the Monday January 27 deadline -- had he been allowed to board, the executive order would have taken effect while he was in the air.
"It was devastating news for the whole family," said the 37-year-old, who fled persecution in an East African country and spoke to AFP using a pseudonym.
Flights from Hong Kong to Japan ‘every 15 minutes’ over Lunar New Year (SCMP)
A plane will be departing Hong Kong for Japan every 15 minutes on average during the Lunar New Year period amid strong demand, as the city’s airport expects its post-pandemic recovery to continue with overall flight numbers growing by 30 per cent year on year over the festive break.
Vivian Cheung Kar-fay, acting CEO of the Airport Authority, said on Wednesday that there were close to 150 flights a day between Hong Kong and 13 Japanese cities during the festive period.
BN(O) passport holders in the UK: settled but undervalued (The Hong Konger)
Hong Kongers taking part in the survey said employment and the cost of living presented the biggest challenges to life in the UK. Consequently, British Future and WCHK conducted further, qualitative research into the barriers that BN(O)s face in these areas.
The results, published in Working It Out: Hong Kongers, Employment and the Cost of Living, found the barriers to BN(O) holders finding work – especially jobs that are a good match for their skills and experience – are considerable, preventing them from making a full contribution to the UK economy.
It concluded that the reasons for such skills mismatches include: low confidence in spoken English; difficulties in gaining recognition for professional qualifications; little understanding of the UK jobs market; employers lacking awareness of BN(O) holders’ right to work under the visa scheme; and, insufficient suitable employment and careers support.
Can Hong Kong's 'panda economy' boost growth (HKFP)
Hong Kong’s giant panda population grew by 200 per cent last year, and authorities hope that the bears’ presence can help boost domestic consumption following a continued decline in retail and restaurant spending.
After Beijing announced that it would gift a pair of giant pandas to the city last summer, and the birth of panda twins was revealed weeks later, officials and lawmakers were quick to tout the idea of a “panda economy.”
In the months since, panda-themed items, events, and even trains have popped up across Hong Kong in the hopes of attracting tourists and encouraging both visitors and locals to part with their money.
Macau Gaming Revenue Misses Estimate in Further Sign of Slowdown (Bloomberg)
Macau’s gaming revenue fell 5.6% in January, missing analyst expectations and adding to signs that China’s weak consumer sentiment is dragging down a recovery in the world’s biggest gambling hub.
Gross revenue reached 18.25 billion patacas ($2.3 billion) for the month, according to data released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau on Saturday. That compared with the median analyst estimate of a 0.9% year-on-year increase, and is 26.8% lower than the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
Taiwan
President Lai calls for cross-party harmony in Lunar New Year address (Focus Taiwan)
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Monday called for cross-party unity in his first Lunar New Year address since taking office, amid months of political wrangling in the Legislature between his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the nation's opposition parties, which hold a majority of seats.
In his pre-recorded address released the night before Lunar New Year's Eve, Lai began by expressing gratitude to military personnel, the coast guard, police, firefighters, medical personnel and other first responders working in the public sector.
It is because of their hardwork that Taiwanese citizens are able to enjoy peace of mind over the holiday period, Lai said.
He also thanked everyone in Taiwan for their efforts over the past year, praising every citizens as "heroes of Taiwan."
President Lai embarks on 3-day tour across Taiwan for Lunar New Year (Focus Taiwan)
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) embarked on a three-day journey across Taiwan on Wednesday to make public appearances and give out auspicious blessings and gifts to the general public in celebration of the Lunar New Year.
Lai's trip is in observation of the Lunar New Year custom of paying visits to bring auspiciousness.
Taiwan to hold emergency discussions after Trump pledges tariffs on chips (Focus Taiwan)
Taiwan's government will soon hold emergency discussions after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for sweeping tariffs on imported semiconductors, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said Wednesday.
Speaking with reporters as he visited a temple on the first day of the Year of the Snake, Cho said the MOEA and related agencies had been closely watching Trump's possible tariff actions.
These agencies are set to meet soon to discuss what help the local semiconductor industry will need to react to Trump's possible massive tariffs, Cho said.
Responding to Trump tariff threat, Taiwan says chip business is 'win-win' (Reuters)
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the United States is a "win-win" model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said on Tuesday in response to tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Home to the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the island is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple and Nvidia.
Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the United States.
"Taiwan and the U.S. semiconductor and other technology industries are highly complementary to each other, especially the U.S.-designed, Taiwan-foundry model, which creates a win-win business model for Taiwan and U.S. industries," Taiwan's economy ministry said in a statement in response.
The ministry "will continue to pay attention to U.S. policy going forward, and there will be close contact and cooperation between the two sides to ensure that Taiwan's and U.S.' industries and national interests can develop in a mutually beneficial way in the face of global challenges".
What Trump Means for Taiwan by CASS Analyst Zhang Hua ()
Today’s edition offers a rare glimpse into how Chinese analysts are evaluating Trump’s impact on Taiwan and cross-Strait relations. The piece summarised below is authored by Zhang Hua (张华), a senior researcher at CASS's prestigious Institute of Taiwan Studies.
Overall, Zhang believes that Trump will maintain the US’s existing policy towards the island, with his aversion to war prompting him to restrain Lai Ching-te’s pro-independence “provocations”. However, Zhang argues that Taiwan is likely to rank low on Trump’s list of priorities. Washington’s primary focus, he suggests, will remain on domestic issues, while any attention given to foreign affairs will centre primarily on Ukraine and the Middle East.
Will Trump strike a deal with Xi over Taiwan? Zhang is sceptical. He believes the island will be kept as a lever for his administration to apply pressure on Beijing whenever US-China relations sour. He also shares the prevailing view among Chinese analysts that Trump’s volatility may cause spikes in tensions, but that an armed conflict over Taiwan remains highly unlikely during his presidency.
Taiwan blacklists Chinese-owned ‘shadow fleet’ ships (Financial Times)
Taiwan has drawn up a blacklist of 52 Chinese-owned ships that use flags of convenience, which it will track and proactively inspect in an effort to regulate part of a rapidly growing “shadow fleet” that is causing global security concerns.
The move comes amid explosive growth in the number of ageing vessels that evade oversight and hide their identity with deceptive signalling.
While international attention has focused on Russia’s use of this shadow fleet to export oil in circumvention of sanctions over its war on Ukraine, the ranks of such ships have swelled beyond tankers and pose increasing maritime and national security risks to coastal states.
Taipei launched its crackdown after a dilapidated Chinese-owned freighter was suspected of cutting one of its subsea cables this month, following similar incidents involving Chinese and Russian-owned ships in the Baltic Sea.
The tighter inspection regime targets cargo ships sailing under the flags of Cameroon, Tanzania, Mongolia, Togo and Sierra Leone whose owner companies are registered in mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau, according to the blacklist seen by the Financial Times.
Can China cross the strait? ()
Xi appears determined to create a military which can and will do as he says. And, crucially, a military whose ability to win in a large-scale contingency is not hampered by corruption. If successful, this, like much else in this ‘Taiwan Take’, does not bode well for cross-strait developments in the medium to long term.
Can does not mean will. But Beijing’s intentions cannot be gleaned only from what officials say (nor from what they do not). We need to watch how Xi walks, not just how he talks.
Taiwan's TPP to pick new leader as Trump looms over domestic politics (Nikkei Asia)
Taiwan's third-biggest political party is primed for a succession race over the next two weeks, after its founder was embroiled in a corruption scandal and gave up the chairmanship.
The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) will vote to elect a leader to replace Ko Wen-je on Feb. 15, with the results due out four days later. The winner will have considerable influence, as the TPP's eight sitting lawmakers serve as crucial swing votes in a coalition with the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT).
Expulsion of PRC Media Outlet Reveals Scale of Taiwan’s Information Challenge ()
The presence of PRC media organizations in Taiwan highlights the complex interplay between press freedom, foreign influence, and national security. The expulsion of Strait Herald underscores Taiwan’s determination to counter Beijing’s propaganda efforts, but it also exposes the inadequacy of current laws to meet the challenges posed by the PRC’s information warfare. It also raises broader questions about how democracies should respond to hostile state-directed media operating within their borders.
Star Hostage: TSMC, China’s Drive to Conquer Taiwan, and the Race to Win AI Superiority ()
Beyond ceding crucial information and skills to competitors in the PRC via personnel movements, TSMC faces two additional risks. First, if TSMC were to stumble in its attempt to expand into other parts of the value chain, detailed below, a slowdown in technology advancement worldwide could ensue, caused by a dwindling chip supply and steep price increases on their products. This would negatively impact the company’s fortunes as well as those of its customers. Second, in the event of a war over Taiwan, TSMC’s fabs would be damaged, perhaps irreparably, which would also severely affect the global supply of leading-edge chips.
Taiwan advises government departments not to use DeepSeek (Nikkei Asia)
In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said that government departments are not allowed to use DeepSeek's AI service to "prevent information security risks".
"DeepSeek's AI service is a Chinese product, and its operation involves cross-border transmission and information leakage and other information security concerns, and is a product that jeopardises the country's information security," the ministry said.
The ministry will continue to keep abreast of relevant technological developments and make "timely adjustments" to its information security policies in order to safeguard security, it added.
World
Asia
China tests US commitment to South China Sea by pressuring Philippines (VOA)
A little more than a week after Beijing and Manila reached an agreement aimed at easing tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippines has accused Chinese coast guard vessels of fresh incursions, harassment and “aggressive maneuvers.”
Analysts say the pressure campaign, which has stepped up in recent days, is part of Beijing’s attempt to test the United States’ commitment to support the Philippines.
“They want to see how far they can push the Philippines under the new administration in the U.S.,” Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone.
Philippines to remove US missile system if China ends 'coercive behaviour' (France 24)
"I don't understand the comments on the Typhon missiles. We don't make any comments on their missile systems, and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have," Marcos told reporters Thursday during a visit to the central city of Cebu.
"Let's make a deal with China: Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water-cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us, and stop your aggressive and coercive behaviour," Marcos said.
"If they stop doing all these things, I will return" the Typhon system to the United States, he added.
Philippine soldiers to train on US Typhon missile system (Reuters)
Philippine soldiers will train on the U.S. military's intermediate range missile system during unilateral army drills next month as part of preparations for bigger exercises with U.S. counterparts, a military official said on Tuesday.
The Typhon missile system was deployed by U.S. forces to the Philippines in April last year as part of their Balikatan or "shoulder-to-shoulder" military exercises, and has since stayed in the country, angering China which has repeatedly called for its withdrawal.
Reuters reported last week the launchers were redeployed to a new location in the Philippines, which officials decline to disclose.
Tomahawk cruise missiles used in the launchers are capable of hitting targets in both China and Russia from the Philippines. The SM-6 missiles it also carries can strike air or sea targets more than 200 km (165 miles) away.
A platoon of about 20 soldiers from the army artillery regiment will train with the U.S. Army Pacific's First Multi-Domain Task Force in mid-February, Philippine army spokesperson Louie Dema-ala said.
The exercise will focus on the "payload delivery system" and will highlight the system's capabilities, Dema-ala said, adding it would not include live-fire exercises.
Philippines’ arrest of more alleged Chinese spies fuels concerns of ‘deeply entrenched’ networks (SCMP)
Five more Chinese nationals accused of espionage have been arrested in the Philippines, fuelling concerns that foreign spy networks are “deeply entrenched” in the country.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Thursday the five were taken into custody for allegedly conducting surveillance on a Philippine coastguard (PCG) ship in Palawan, which is strategically close to maritime flashpoints such as the Spratly Islands.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Friday said he was “very disturbed” by the arrests.
“We are very disturbed by anyone conducting such espionage operations against our military,” Marcos Jnr told reporters.
The arrests come just over a week after authorities presented another Chinese national arrested on suspicion of espionage, Deng Yuanqing, to the public.
Officials said the five men had posed as Taiwanese tourists, installing high-resolution, solar-powered cameras at a seaside resort to monitor PCG and Philippine Navy movements near the strategically located Spratly Islands.
Philippines, US, Vietnam, Indonesia train for maritime law enforcement cooperation (The Straits Times)
Coast guard and fishery officials from the Philippines, United States, Vietnam and Indonesia practised vessel boarding and arrest techniques at a joint maritime law enforcement training, the US Embassy in Manila said on Jan 27.
The two-week course on the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao comes as part of a regional effort to boost law enforcement cooperation as fears of maritime conflict with China grow.
There have been frequent clashes or tense stand-offs between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the strategic waterway, as well as recent incidents involving Vietnamese and Indonesian vessels.
“Together, we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that our maritime sovereignty remains a zone of peace, safety and prosperity for all,” Philippine Coast Guard District Commander Rejard Marfe said in a statement released by the US Embassy.
China and Vietnam Are Driving Reef Destruction in the South China Sea (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
Commercial satellite imagery analysis has revealed that over 7,000 acres of coral reef has been destroyed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan through dredging and landfill. These activities cause irreparable and long-term changes to the overall structure and health of the reef.
China has caused the most reef destruction, having buried roughly 4,648 acres of reef since 2013. Vietnam comes in second, having destroyed approximately 2,362 acres of reef, with a significant amount of dredging and landfilling activities having taken place in early 2024.
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Thailand expects high-speed rail link to China to be ready in 2030 (Reuters)
Thailand expects its 609-km (378 miles) portion of a high-speed railway that will connect it with China through Laos to begin operations in 2030, its government said on Wednesday, nearly a decade later than originally planned.
More than a third of construction has been completed in the segment connecting the capital Bangkok to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, about 220 km away and the whole line to Nong Khai at the border with Laos would be ready by 2030, said Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub.
A $6 billion, 1000 km rail line from the Laotian capital Vientiane to the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming began service in 2021, a venture 70% owned by Beijing. That line will connect with Thailand's Nong Khai via Vientiane, about 25 km away.
"This is an opportunity for Thailand to connect to the global economy," Jirayu said, adding it would bring Thailand closer to its goal of becoming a logistics hub.
The announcement comes a year after China urged Thailand to progress faster on the rail link.
Thailand denies mistreating detained gambling tycoon wanted by China (Reuters)
Thailand denies abusing a jailed gambling tycoon fighting extradition to China over charges he ran illegal online gambling operations in Southeast Asia, the country's justice minister said on Tuesday.
China-born She Zhijiang claims he received inhumane treatment" in a Thai prison, including violence that has left him unable to stand, according to a letter his lawyers sent to Interpol and seen by Reuters.
"Our conduct towards him is like others (inmate) with regular access to lawyers," Thai Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong told reporters at Government House in Bangkok.
Tawee said that there are security cameras in place that would prevent any abuse or torture of inmates.
The minister did not comment on allegations by She's lawyers in the letter to Interpol that Chinese embassy officials visited the tycoon in prison against his will to persuade him to return to China.
Suspect in Wang Xing telecoms scam case arrested and returned to China (SCMP)
A key suspect wanted in connection with human trafficking and telecoms fraud cases – including that of Chinese actor Wang Xing – has been arrested and sent to China, Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday.
The man, a Chinese national identified earlier by mainland media as Yan Wenlei, arrived in China on Saturday night after joint efforts from the ministry, the Chinese embassy in Thailand and Thai law enforcement authorities, the ministry said.
It did not say where the suspect had been arrested.
India, China to Resume Direct Flights After Nearly Five Years (The New York Times)
India and China have agreed to resume direct flights between the two countries after nearly five years, the latest thaw between the two Asian giants that until recently were on war-footing over a deadly border dispute.
The rapprochement also included agreements on improving access to journalists from both sides and facilitating pilgrimages to a Hindu holy site in Tibet. They were announced by both sides on Monday, after India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, visited Beijing.
The two nations have made substantial progress in recent months to restore some normalcy in ties. Their relationship had plunged to its worst in decades following an incursion by Chinese soldiers into the Indian side of a disputed border in 2020. The skirmishes left soldiers dead on both sides.
In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of a summit in Russia. It was the first time the two leaders had sat down for proper talks in five years. That conversation was made possible by more than two dozen rounds of negotiations between military leaders and diplomats over disengaging their forces along the border high in the Himalayas.
Harnessing Hydropower, Sparking Tensions: PRC Mega-Dam and India's Water Security Fears ()
The proposed hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo is primarily motivated by domestic priorities, including Tibet’s economic development, the PRC’s clean energy goals, and national security concerns. While the project is expected to boost regional industries and contribute to national energy security, its potential hydrological impacts on downstream regions introduce uncertainties, underscoring the risk tied to its ambitious scope. For this reason, and for several other factors, observers should not hold their breath in anticipation—the project is unlikely to be operational any time soon, if indeed it is ever completed.
India lauds Chinese AI lab DeepSeek, plans to host its models on local servers (TechCrunch)
India’s IT minister on Thursday praised DeepSeek‘s progress and said the country will host the Chinese AI lab’s large language models on domestic servers, in a rare opening for Chinese technology in India.
“You have seen what DeepSeek has done — $5.5 million and a very, very powerful model,” IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday, responding to criticism New Delhi has received for its own investment in AI, which has been much less than many other countries.
Since 2020, India has banned more than 300 apps and services linked to China, including TikTok and WeChat, citing national security concerns. The approval to allow DeepSeek to be hosted in India appears contingent on the platform storing and processing all Indian users’ data domestically, in line with India’s strict data localization requirements.
“Data privacy issues regarding DeepSeek can be addressed by hosting open source models on Indian servers,” Vaishnaw said at an industry conference.
What went wrong with ‘Pakistan’s Dubai’? – inside the Chinese initiative that is prompting terror attacks (The Guardian)
Gwadar, with its Chinese-sponsored airport, deepwater port and proposed economic zone, has been touted as a jewel in the crown of the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), under which China pledged to build around $62bn of infrastructure “megaprojects” spanning airports, highways, railways, ports and power plants for cash-strapped Pakistan. CPEC began in 2015 as a flagship project of China’s belt and road initiative, which aims to give China access and influence over trade routes in Asia and Africa.
But after a turbulent decade, questions are being raised about CPEC’s future. In Pakistan’s impoverished region of Balochistan, where the Chinese have constructed the airport and taken control of the deepwater port, it has provoked a full-blown security crisis, stirring up tensions between the two countries.
Starkly unfulfilled promises that Gwadar would be transformed into “Pakistan’s Dubai” have led to potent anger towards China among locals, who accuse it of turning the city into something akin to a high security prison, with high fencing, segregated areas for Chinese workers, security checkpoints, and heavy police and military presence on the streets.
Among the projects in Gwadar that have been met with local distaste is a donkey slaughtering factory – not yet operational – where up to a million donkeys imported from Africa are to be killed to harvest products, including an ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Access to the sea has also become restricted around Gwadar’s deepwater port, which sends 90% of its profits to its Chinese operator. Local fishers say they can barely survive because they are no longer allowed to freely sail, and have had their boats raided by security forces while out fishing.
Bangladesh Could Turn to China as Trump Pulls Aid From the Country (Council on Foreign Relations)
Before Sheikh Hasina’s fall, Bangladesh had developed very close economic and strategic relations with China while maintaining generally friendly links with India.
If the United States essentially abdicates any role in a country that seeks U.S. links and could be a major strategic partner next to China, Beijing is sure to offer Bangladesh even more aid and loans than it already does. Beijing has backed several Belt and Road projects in Bangladesh and has provided its own support to the caretaker government. Unsurprisingly, in the wake of the U.S. aid freeze, the caretaker government has reached out to China and pushed to boost bilateral links to a higher level, which would not be good for U.S. regional strategic aspirations.
Does China have interests in the potential British transfer of BIOT to Mauritius? ()
What do the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), Mauritius and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) all have in common? They are all keeping a beady eye on a sprinkling of remote islands in the Indian Ocean, in excess of 1,000 miles away from the next nearest landmass. Until late last year, many had never heard of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), made up of the Chagos Archipelago of islands. If one were to look closely at a map, it might seem that the UK, US and Mauritius were fighting over breadcrumbs. But if one zooms out, it might make sense as to why.
Americas
Can Trump seize the moment on China? (Brookings)
The U.S.-China relationship President Donald J. Trump inherited is vastly different than the one he handed off to the Biden administration in 2021. China continues to expand its global influence and industrial output, but it also faces challenges at home from a softening economy and an increasingly sclerotic and centralized political decisionmaking process. Trump’s team holds a variety of viewpoints on how to maximize America’s leverage, or even on what objectives America should pursue in its competition with China. Left unaddressed, this variance in views risks leading to policy incoherence. To overcome this risk, Trump will need to set a firm direction, identify specific objectives, and put his advisors on notice that they will pay a cost for actions that undermine his goals. Trump has an opportunity to craft a strong policy to move the U.S.-China relationship toward becoming fairer and more equitable. Whether he seizes this opportunity may depend upon the degree to which he acts with purpose, maintains focus, and imposes discipline over a sprawling set of actors within his administration who will implement America’s China strategy.
Closing the Deal or Closing the Door (German Marshall Fund of the United States)
The risk now is less that there will be a transatlantic rift over China, given that both sides largely agree on their diagnosis of the problem, and more that we enter a period of either: a) drift, in which efforts at coordination between the two sides continue to fall short, without political priority given to closing the gaps given differences that emerge in other areas, whether a trade war, technology regulation, or Ukraine; or b) coerced alignment, which would entail more concerted US efforts to get the European side in line with its own approach, using tools that it has so far deployed sparingly, from sanctions to tariffs to the Foreign Direct Product Rule.
While a level of US pressure may be required to get the more recalcitrant European actors over the line, the likelihood is that either outcome would result in Beijing’s ability to exploit:
gaps in approaches to and enforcement of technology controls
competitive differences between European and US firms
the emergence of separate “islands” of China-related standards
a weakening of transatlantic trade and investment ties
poorly coordinated messaging to deter any moves on Taiwan
erosion of the Western economic and technological lead in critical sectors
There is the opportunity in the months ahead to establish instead a more dynamic form of alignment, in which deepened cooperation on China policy forms one of the pillars of a new, long-term transatlantic settlement, which would also likely include adjustments on bilateral trade, defense spending, and support to Ukraine.
Trump: Nothing Canada, Mexico or China can do to delay Feb 1 tariffs (Reuters)
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would impose hefty new tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% on imports from China, and nothing could be done by the three countries to forestall them.
[…]
China has been more circumspect about its retaliation plans, but has vowed to respond.
China "firmly opposes" Trump's new duties, a spokesperson for Beijing's embassy in Washington said, adding: "There is no winner in a trade war or tariff war, which serves the interests of neither side nor the world."
Chinese and Iranian Hackers Are Using U.S. AI Products to Bolster Cyberattacks (WSJ)
Hackers linked to China, Iran and other foreign governments are using new AI technology to bolster their cyberattacks against U.S. and global targets, according to U.S. officials and new security research.
In the past year, dozens of hacking groups in more than 20 countries turned to Google’s Gemini chatbot to assist with malicious code writing, hunts for publicly known cyber vulnerabilities and research into organizations to target for attack, among other tasks, Google’s cyber-threat experts said.
While Western officials and security experts have warned for years about the potential malicious uses of AI, the findings released Wednesday from Google are some of the first to shed light on how exactly foreign adversaries are leveraging generative AI to boost their hacking prowess. This week, the China-built AI platform DeepSeek upended international assumptions about how far along Beijing might be the AI arms race, creating global uncertainty about a technology that could revolutionize work, diplomacy and warfare.
Groups with known ties to China, Iran, Russia and North Korea all used Gemini to support hacking activity, the Google report said. They appeared to treat the platform more as a research assistant than a strategic asset, relying on it for tasks intended to boost productivity rather than to develop fearsome new hacking techniques. All four countries have generally denied U.S. hacking allegations.
White House evaluates effect of China AI app DeepSeek on national security (Reuters)
U.S. officials are looking at the national security implications of the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, while President Donald Trump's crypto czar said it was possible that intellectual property theft could have been at play.
The National Security Council is reviewing the app's implications, Leavitt said. "This is a wake-up call to the American AI industry," she added, echoing Trump's comments from a day earlier while also saying the White House was working to "ensure American AI dominance."
US Probing If DeepSeek Got Nvidia Chips From Firms in Singapore (Bloomberg)
US officials are probing whether Chinese AI startup DeepSeek bought advanced Nvidia Corp. semiconductors through third parties in Singapore, circumventing US restrictions on sales of chips used for artificial intelligence tasks, people familiar with the matter said.
‘Sputnik moment’: $1tn wiped off US stocks after Chinese firm unveils AI chatbot (The Guardian)
The race for domination in artificial intelligence was blown wide open on Monday after the launch of a Chinese chatbot wiped $1tn from the leading US tech index, with one investor calling it a “Sputnik moment” for the world’s AI superpowers.
Investors punished global tech stocks on Monday after the emergence of DeepSeek, a competitor to OpenAI and its ChatGPT tool, shook faith in the US artificial intelligence boom by appearing to deliver the same performance with fewer resources.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 3.1%, with the drop at one point wiping more than $1tn off the index from its closing value of $32.5tn last week, as investors digested the implications of the latest AI model developed by DeepSeek.
Nvidia, a leading maker of the computer chips that power AI models, was overtaken by Apple as the most valuable listed company in the US after its shares fell 17%, wiping nearly $600bn off its market value. Google’s parent company lost $100bn and Microsoft $7bn.
Nvidia’s fall was the biggest in US stock market history.
DeepSeek’s Deeper Impact Is Positive for Some Hard-Hit Stocks (WSJ)
While DeepSeek has indeed made some breakthroughs—mostly driven by the constraints in its access to the most advanced chips—there are reasons to believe that demand for the high-end chips may continue. For one, cutting-edge AI models will still rely on the fastest, most capable chips available.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the phenomenon known as Jevons Paradox: When a resource becomes more efficient to use, overall consumption often increases rather than decreases. Cheaper AI could unlock applications in industries and devices previously priced out of the AI revolution, driving greater demand for semiconductors across the board.
The fact that Apple’s stock rose 3% during Monday’s rout is telling. If AI models become efficient enough to deliver compelling functionality on smartphones, this could expand AI adoption while boosting demand for consumer devices.
The selloff in names like TSMC, therefore, may represent an opportunity. Yes, TSMC manufactures the high-end chips powering today’s most advanced AI models, which could face pressure if demand shifts. But, as the world’s largest contract chip maker, it is well-positioned to benefit from broader growth in electronic devices and semiconductors as AI becomes more accessible.
Why DeepSeek could mark a turning point for Silicon Valley on AI (CNN)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called DeepSeek’s R1 model “impressive” in an X post Monday, adding that “we will pull up some releases” of new models in response. OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil also said the company’s upcoming o3 model, set to launch in the coming weeks, would “be another major step up.”
“It’s a super competitive industry, right? And this is showing that it’s competitive globally, not just within the US,” Weil said on a call with reporters about OpenAI’s new ChatGPT offering for government agencies, in response to a question from CNN. “We’re committed to moving really quickly here. We want to stay ahead.”
But analysts also expect the Big Tech companies to scale back their data center spending plans and potentially rethink how much they’re charging consumers. DeepSeek has proved it’s possible to provide the technology at a lesser cost, although some industry experts have raised eyebrows at the startup’s claims about spending just under $6 million to build its model.
Microsoft Probing If DeepSeek-Linked Group Improperly Obtained OpenAI Data (Bloomberg)
Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI are investigating whether data output from OpenAI’s technology was obtained in an unauthorized manner by a group linked to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, according to people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft’s security researchers in the fall observed individuals they believe may be linked to DeepSeek exfiltrating a large amount of data using the OpenAI application programming interface, or API, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Software developers can pay for a license to use the API to integrate OpenAI’s proprietary artificial intelligence models into their own applications.
Microsoft, an OpenAI technology partner and its largest investor, notified OpenAI of the activity, the people said. Such activity could violate OpenAI’s terms of service or could indicate the group acted to get around OpenAI’s restrictions on how much data they could obtain, the people said.
Pence Says Trump Should Uphold TikTok Ban, Allow US Steel Deal (Bloomberg)
Former Vice President Mike Pence called on his former boss to uphold a law banning TikTok for national security reasons and to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. to purchase US Steel in support of global business ties, both positions more in line with traditional Republican orthodoxy.
Pence, who served in President Donald Trump’s first term, has been seeking to steer the Republican Party toward a brand of conservatism that Trump has largely upended through his “Make America Great Again” movement.
The relationship between the men has shattered since Pence refused Trump’s demands four years ago to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former vice president said he wants to use “whatever remains of my bully pulpit” to be an anchor of “traditional conservatism.”
Speaking with reporters Friday [Jan 24], Pence reiterated his support for a law requiring the Chinese owners of social media platform TikTok to sell or shutter the service in the US. Even though the Supreme Court upheld the law, Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to extend the deadline for a sale.
Texas governor orders ban on DeepSeek, RedNote for government devices (AP)
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a ban on Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek for government-issued devices, becoming the first state to restrict the popular chatbot in such a manner. The upstart AI platform has sent shockwaves throughout the AI community after gaining popularity amongst American users in recent weeks.
The governor also prohibited popular Chinese-owned social media apps Xiaohongshu, or what some are calling RedNote, and Lemon8 from all state-issued devices.
The world should take the prospect of Chinese tech dominance seriously, and start preparing now (Chatham House)
Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s breakthrough model tanked US tech stocks this week, as it became clear that it rivals the performance of Western models like ChatGPT – but was reportedly developed at a fraction of the cost.
Earlier in the month, US users of China’s TikTok, anticipating a ban, fled to the closest alternative – another Chinese social media app called Xiaohongshu. And on the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, China’s EAST reactor set a new record for sustainable fusion power.
An entrenched Western school of thought holds that China, being communist, conformist, or Confucian, cannot innovate effectively. That may have seemed credible while China was in a period of catching up with Western technological leadership: it was hardly likely to innovate its way to parity where replication was a more efficient solution.
But as the above examples show, in many areas China now keeps pace with or possesses the technological edge. China is increasingly a technology leader rather than a follower and more than capable of innovation.
Rise of RedNote Shows Americans Need to Study Abroad in China ( by )
US Students have stopped studying abroad in China but the migration to the TikTok replacement proves there is appetite for bolstering people-to-people exchanges.
Michigan University Shuts Down Lunar New Year Party Over Fears of Violating Trump's Anti-DEI Order (The Latin Times)
Michigan State University (MSU) abruptly canceled its annual Lunar New Year celebration, citing concerns over recent executive orders from President Donald Trump targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The event, scheduled for Wednesday, was called off the day before. In an email obtained by The State News, the college's DEI director, Lauren Gaines, said the cancellation was in response to "concerns shared by members of our community regarding the current issuance of Executive Orders related to immigration and diversity, equity and inclusion."
"These actions have prompted feelings of uncertainty and hesitation about gathering for events that highlight cultural traditions and communities," Gaines stated.
A follow-up email from Dean Heidi Hennink-Kaminski stressed that the decision was not a formal shift in the school's policy. "I ask you to view this decision not as a statement of policy, but rather as an appropriate on-the-ground response given a very short decision window," she wrote. The dean also acknowledged internal disagreements over the move, thanking faculty and staff for their feedback.
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Federal Reserve advisor spied for China, DOJ says (CNBC)
A former senior advisor for the Federal Reserve was arrested Friday on charges that he conspired to steal Fed trade secrets for the benefit of China.
The data that the advisor John Harold Rogers allegedly shared with his co-conspirators could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market “in a manner similar to insider trading,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
China promises to take back illegal migrants after Trump’s Colombia threats (The Straits Times)
China pledged to accept the return of undocumented Chinese citizens in the US, after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit Colombia with tariffs of up to 50 per cent for refusing to take back deported migrants.
“China will receive people who are confirmed as Chinese nationals from the mainland after verification,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Jan 27 at a regular press briefing, when asked if Beijing would take back citizens living without documentation in the US.
“The Chinese government firmly opposes any form of illegal migration.”
There were some 210,000 undocumented Chinese migrants in America in 2022, according to the US government, including those from Hong Kong and Macau.
That number has likely risen, with tens of thousands of people with passports from China crossing the US border without proper paperwork since the Covid-19 pandemic ended.
CIA believes COVID likely originated from a lab (AP)
The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.
The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report released Saturday [Jan 25] was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was declassified and released Saturday on the orders of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in Thursday as director.
The nuanced finding suggests the agency believes the totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely than a natural origin. But the agency’s assessment assigns a low degree of confidence to this conclusion, suggesting the evidence is deficient, inconclusive or contradictory.
China rejects CIA claims Covid-19 'more likely' came from lab leak (HKFP)
China said Monday it was “extremely unlikely” Covid-19 came from a laboratory, after the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said it believed the virus had more likely come from a lab rather than natural transmission.
“The conclusion that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely was reached by the China-WHO joint expert team based on field visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
“This has been widely recognised by the international community and the scientific community,” she added.
Beijing demands inquiry into Washington mid-air crash that killed 2 Chinese nationals (SCMP)
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded a full investigation into a collision between a passenger jet and a US Army helicopter in Washington on Wednesday night that killed 67 people, including two Chinese nationals.
In a statement on Friday, the ministry expressed its “deepest condolences to all the victims and sympathies to the bereaved families”.
“Two Chinese citizens were unfortunately among the 67 victims of the tragic plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 29,” the statement said.
Rubio warns of risk of China shutting down Panama Canal in any conflict (The Straits Times)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Jan 30 he had “zero doubt” that China has a contingency plan to shut down the Panama Canal in the event of a conflict with the US, and that Washington intends to address what it sees as a national security threat.
Just days before visiting Central America on his first foreign trip as top US diplomat, Mr Rubio, in an interview with Sirius XM’s The Megyn Kelly Show, echoed some of President Donald Trump’s concerns about Chinese influence over the strategic waterway.
US has options to address Chinese influence in Panama, US official says (The Straits Times)
The head of the Federal Maritime Commission will tell a U.S. Senate committee that the United States has options to address the growing presence of China and Chinese firms in Panama.
President Donald Trump has vowed that the United States would take back the Panama Canal but has given no further details on when or how he intended to reclaim the canal - which is the sovereign territory of an ally.
"We need to increase support for American companies seeking to do business in Panama and throughout the Americas. Chinese companies must not be the sole bidders on contracts," Federal Maritime Commission Chair Louis E. Sola said in written testimony to be presented on Tuesday at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the Panama Canal. The testimony was seen by Reuters.
Sola added that "Chinese companies have been able to pursue billions of dollars in development contracts in Panama, many of which were physical infrastructure projects, some on or adjacent to the Panama Canal."
Panama Canal: What's at stake for China amid US threats? (DW)
There are concerns in Washington that Chinese operations around the Panama Canal could morph into a capacity to control it, especially if a hot conflict were to break out between the two superpowers.
In testimony to the US Congress last year, the then-commander of the United States Southern Command responsible for Central and South America, General Laura Richardson said, "[China] messages its investments as peaceful. But many serve as points of future multi-domain access for [China] and strategic naval chokepoints," before citing the Panama Canal by name.
This stands in stark contrast to how Beijing characterizes its relationship with Panama. In a message congratulating Panamanian President Mulino on his election victory last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that establishing diplomatic ties had brought "tangible benefits to the people of both nations."
But Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the US Army War College, said that in a Chinese invasion scenario of Taiwan, existing Chinese access, influence and technical knowledge could be used to "shut down the canal in deniable ways." Ellis told DW that could come through "arranging" the sinking of a ship or through either physical or cyber-sabotaging of locks.
Ellis added that in the context of a war in the Indo-Pacific, such activity could be used by China to impede US deployments and other war-fighting efforts. In the case of Taiwan, delays to US support by even a few days could be the difference between China's invasion being successful or not. There are several ways China could do this, Ellis said, "but one of those big pins on the drawing board is shutting down the Panama Canal."
The workers who traveled from China to northeast Brazil to build a new factory for electric car maker BYD earned roughly $70 per 10-hour shift, over twice the Chinese hourly minimum wage in many regions. For many, that made signing up an easy decision - but getting out would be much harder.
The Chinese workers hired by BYD contractor Jinjiang in Brazil had to hand over their passports to their new employer, let most of their wages be sent directly to China, and fork over an almost $900 deposit that they could only get back after six months' work, according to a labor contract seen by Reuters.
The three-page document, signed by one of 163 workers who labor inspectors said were freed from "slavery-like conditions" last month, includes clauses that violate labor laws in both Brazil and China, according to Brazilian investigators and three Chinese labor law experts.
Other previously unreported clauses gave the firm the power to unilaterally extend the labor contract for six months and issue 200 yuan fines for conduct such as swearing, quarreling or walking around shirtless at the site or in their living quarters.
Many of the clauses "are textbook 'red flags' of forced labor," said Aaron Halegua, a lawyer and fellow at New York University Law School, who won compensation for Chinese workers who sued their employers for forced labor in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory.
He added that withholding workers’ passports or requiring any form of performance bond or security payment would not be permitted under Chinese laws and regulations.
Jinjiang, which works on BYD factory construction across China in cities such as Changzhou, Yangzhou and Hefei, has disputed the allegations, saying the findings by Brazilian labor inspectors are inconsistent with the facts and the result of confused translations.
"The claim that Jinjiang's employees were 'enslaved' and 'rescued' is totally off base," said Jinjiang in a statement last month.
Canada report on foreign interference: no evidence of ‘traitors’ in parliament (The Guardian)
Canada’s democratic institutions are “robust in the face of foreign interference” attempts and there is “no evidence of ‘traitors’” in the country’s parliament, a landmark report into election meddling has found.
But the commission’s lead said on Tuesday that the federal government should take steps to better safeguard democratic institutions and better inform the public of foreign interference threats.
In her final report on foreign interference in Canada, Marie-Josée Hogue, a leading judge, rebutted a previous survey by the country’s intelligence watchdog that alleged that lawmakers had been “witting or semi-witting” participants in foreign meddling – although she concluded that some had been found to be “behaving naively” and displaying “questionable” ethics.
[…]
Canada has been repeatedly rocked by allegations of foreign meddling in its electoral system in recent years.
One of the more troubling accusations involved leaked intelligence reports of Chinese election “meddling: in 2023, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat after an intelligence report accused him of trying to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. The commission also found India had used disinformation campaigns and an extensive network of pressure against diaspora communities.
Neither country is believed to have swayed the results of the last two elections.
Europe
EU unveils plan to 'reignite' innovation in response to pressure from China, Trump (France 24)
Promising a "simplification shock", the EU unveiled a much-anticipated blueprint to revamp Europe's economic model on Wednesday, as the bloc struggles to keep up with China and the United States.
Coming early in EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's second term, the publication of the "competitiveness compass" aims to mark a change of tack towards a more business-friendly Brussels.
"We need to reignite Europe's innovation engine," von der Leyen told a news conference to present the roadmap – vowing the bloc remained committed to meeting its ambitious carbon-reduction goals while also cutting red tape for businesses.
"I want to be very clear: the European Union stays on course for the Green Deal objectives without any question," said the European Commission head.
EU keen to work with Donald Trump on China’s ‘non-market policies’: trade chief (SCMP)
The European Union wants to work with Donald Trump to tackle China’s economic “non-market policies”, its trade chief said on Wednesday, in a rare public admission that the bloc wants to partner with the new US administration on issues tied to Beijing.
At a hearing in the European Parliament, Maros Sefcovic, the trade and economic security commissioner, said the EU should be “ready to explore deeper EU-US cooperation on economic security, an area where both the EU and the US want to progress, including on how to deal with the joint challenges coming from China’s non-market policies and practices”.
In private, however, the coordination is something Brussels officials have been eyeing for months, as they put together a package of carrots and sticks designed to stave off the worst of the American president’s trade threats.
Sefcovic outlined a litany of Europeans’ issues with Beijing’s trade practices, referring to “the overcapacities driven by illegal state subsidies” and asserting “we would not accept the situation where Chinese jobs are protected at the expense of Europeans”.
Euro zone manufacturers fear China imports more than US tariffs, ECB survey shows (Reuters)
Euro zone manufacturers are more worried about cheap imports from China than tariffs from the United States, a European Central Bank survey showed on Friday.
Only half of the manufacturers contacted by the ECB in a regular poll thought their business in the euro area would be affected by U.S. tariffs.
Many pointed out they were already producing "local for local" and some were only exporting highly sophisticated, hard to substitute products to the United States.
The "overriding concern", however, was about the indirect impact, with more imports coming to the European Union from China if trade with the United States is curtailed.
"In the absence of protective EU measures, this led more contacts to expect a negative effect on prices in their sector in the euro area than a positive one," the ECB said.
"In the event of protective measures and retaliation leading to a more generalised tariff war, it was much more likely that costs and prices would rise."
Europe’s AI hopes rebound after DeepSeek success (Politico)
Europe doesn’t have the tech giants able to splash billions of euros on the AI hardware needed to train models. Last week, that was seen as a crippling factor.
But the rise of DeepSeek suggests European leading firms like France's Mistral, Germany's Aleph Alpha and many other, smaller ventures could also gain ground in the AI race — perhaps even on the cheap.
“This shows that the race for AI is far from being over,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters on Tuesday in Brussels.
Some saw in DeepSeek’s rise a sign that Europe’s lack of cash to splash on massive computing power won’t necessarily hold it back in the AI race. Others focused on the effect that it would bring down costs for AI developers.
DeepSeek quizzed by Irish watchdog over China data fears (Irish Examiner)
Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is being quizzed by Ireland’s privacy watchdog amid concerns over the way it’s processing data related to citizens in the nation.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said it’s written to the company to flag its worries over potential breaches of European Union privacy law. The watchdog is the main regulator for tech firms in the bloc due to many having their local base in the country.
Italy's regulator blocks Chinese AI app DeepSeek on data protection (Reuters)
Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, said on Thursday it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after the Chinese artificial intelligence startup failed to address the regulator's concerns over its privacy policy.
The watchdog had questioned DeepSeek this week about its use of personal data, particularly seeking information on what personal data is collected, from which sources, for what purposes, on what legal basis and whether it is stored in China.
French privacy watchdog to quiz DeepSeek on AI, data protection (Reuters)
France's privacy watchdog said on Thursday it will question DeepSeek to gain a better idea of how the Chinese startup's AI system works and any possible privacy risks for users.
DeepSeek attracted global attention after writing in a paper last month that the training of DeepSeek-V3 required less than $6 million worth of computing power from Nvidia H800 chips.
"The CNIL's AI department is currently analysing this tool," a spokesperson for the French watchdog said.
Car industry wants EU to clone US local content rules (Politico)
The EU should impose “minimum local content” rules to protect the industry from foreign competition, according to a demand from a coalition of some of Europe’s biggest automotive suppliers.
It’s a response to the growing troubles of the car industry, which has seen demand for electric vehicles slump while worries rise about a possible flood of Chinese cars into the EU and whether U.S. President Donald Trump will unleash a global tariff war.
In a letter to the European Commission, obtained by POLITICO, the group says the executive needs to create a regulation mirroring the one among the U.S., Canada and Mexico requiring 75 percent local production content in North America. The European letter doesn’t specify what percentage the group wants.
Tesla sues EU over tariffs on electric vehicles from China (Financial Times)
Tesla is suing the EU over tariffs the bloc imposed on imports of electric vehicles from China, in the latest confrontation between the carmaker’s billionaire boss Elon Musk and Brussels.
The European Court of Justice published confirmation of the case, filed by Tesla’s Shanghai subsidiary, on its website on Monday without giving further details.
Tesla’s lawsuit follows similar claims filed by Germany’s BMW and several Chinese carmakers.
In October the EU imposed anti-subsidy tariffs of up to 7.8 per cent for Tesla and up to 35.3 per cent on other Chinese electric vehicle imports produced by other carmakers. They were in addition to a 10 per cent standard import tariff for the industry.
Chinese online influence operation called for overthrow of Spain's government, Graphika report says (Reuters)
A Chinese social media operation that aims to whip up political anger in the West has called for the overthrow of a foreign government when impersonating protesters criticising flood relief efforts in Spain, online analysis outfit Graphika said.
New York-based Graphika said an operation dubbed Spamouflage, which it believed was linked to the Chinese state, posed this month as human rights group Safeguard Defenders to spread online calls for the government to be toppled in response to the catastrophic floods in October that killed 224 people.
"This is the first time we have seen Spamouflage directly calling to overthrow a foreign government," Graphika said in its latest report.
Graphika says the Spamouflage campaign has been operating in several countries since 2017, impersonating U.S. voters during last year's election, while Canada said last year that the operation had targeted members of parliament including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Graphika said it detected dozens of accounts across social media platforms masquerading as Safeguard Defenders to seed videos and images criticising the handling of the floods by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government and by the Valencia regional government.
Chinese spies set to be exempt from toughest new national security law by Starmer (The i Paper)
China is expected to be exempted from the toughest restrictions of the UK’s new spying laws, The i Paper has been told.
The Government is facing a major imminent row over its relationship with Beijing as it puts the finishing touches to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).
The scheme, designed to track people working for hostile states in the UK, will for the first time compel anyone in the UK acting for a foreign power or entity to declare their activities.
It will have two levels – political influence, for basic lobbying activity by people from designated countries, and enhanced, designed to curb the activities of hostile states that could threaten the UK’s national security.
Those who fall into the enhanced category will be required to make extra disclosures about their obligations to the country concerned.
Sources said Russia and Iran will be included in the enhanced tier, which will be published shortly following sign-off from Downing Street, but China will not.
While a decision on China has not yet been taken, business and diplomatic sources told The i Paper they did not expect Beijing to be placed in the enhanced tier of restrictions at the moment.
The expected move risks a major row with MPs, including those in Labour, who are hawkish on Beijing, and potentially with the US with the Trump government intent on taking a tough line with China.
Middle East & North Africa (MENA)
Moroccan Media on Xi Jinping’s Visit and Increasing Cooperation with China ()
Our analysis reveals that although the Moroccan press often echo European narratives that portray Chinese investments as a pragmatic or even opportunistic attempt to circumvent EU tariffs, local news outlets also celebrate the potential benefits these investments could bring to the Kingdom. These include enhancing infrastructure and fostering industrialization in emerging sectors. Nevertheless, Moroccan engagement with China, including Xi’s visit, is carefully framed as one part of Rabat’s broader strategy of foreign policy diversification, rather than alignment with Beijing—especially as Morocco braces for the second Trump administration.
Explosion forces crew to abandon Hong Kong-flagged container ship in the Red Sea (AP)
An explosion has struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship traveling north through the Red Sea, sparking a major fire that forced its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said.
The ship was drifting and ablaze about 225 kilometers (140 miles) off the coast of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen held by the country’s Houthi rebels, said the Diaplous Group, a maritime firm. It didn’t name the vessel.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Chinese Firms to Build $2 Billion Tanzanian Rail to Nickel Mine (Bloomberg)
Tanzania signed a $2.15 billion deal with two Chinese firms to construct a railway linking its main port of Dar es Salaam to a nickel mine in neighboring Burundi.
Tanzania Railways Corp. awarded the contracts to China Railway Engineering Group Ltd. and China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group Co. in Dar es Salaam.
“The signing of this contract is the coming into fruition of a bilateral agreement between the governments of Tanzania and Burundi,” Tanzania’s Transport Minister Makame Mbarawa said.
Mbarawa said the main purpose of the 282-kilometer (175-mile) Uvinza-Musongati standard gauge railway line is to facilitate export of the critical mineral and open up cross-border trade between the two East African nations.
Global Institutions & Multilateral Relations
Trump threatens BRICS with tariffs if they replace US dollar (DW)
US President Donald Trump threatened BRICS member states with 100% tariffs on Thursday to dissuade them from replacing the US dollar as reserve currency.
Trump had made a similar statement right after winning the November 2024 elections.
"We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs," he said on his Truth social media platform.
"There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade, or anywhere else, and any country that tries should say hello to tariffs, and goodbye to America!" he added.
Business, Economy & Finance
Developer China Vanke May Be Too Big to Fail as It Gets Government Support (Bloomberg)
China Vanke Co. has been thrown a lifeline by state authorities, a rare show of support that signals the developer may be too big to fail even after dozens of property firms defaulted amid China’s punishing housing slump.
As part of an overhaul unveiled late Monday, Vanke’s two top veteran executives stepped down after the company warned of a record $6.2 billion loss. An official from Shenzhen Metro Group Co., its largest state shareholder, will take over as chair. Shortly after the surprise announcement, local and state governments in Vanke’s home base of Shenzhen vowed to “proactively support” its operations through state media.
Vanke’s bonds soared as investors bet that the embattled developer will avoid the fate of China Evergrande Group and Country Garden Holdings Co. that defaulted in recent years with little help from Beijing or other government entities.
“Vanke is the first developer to see direct state intervention, it’s almost like a bailout,” said Raymond Cheng, head of China property research at CGS International Securities Hong Kong. “I expect Shenzhen Metro to eventually become Vanke’s majority shareholder.”
The unusual support shows that Vanke holds a special place within China’s moribund property sector. The developer is known across the country and already has state backing via the subway operator in Shenzhen. Vanke has deep roots as just the second company to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1991, with a ticker symbol of 000002.
A default by Vanke would batter home sales further and erode confidence in other state-controlled developers such as Poly Developments and Holdings Group Co. and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd., which are now the country’s biggest builders by sales. Vanke, which employs about 130,000 people, ranked fifth in 2024.
The Vanke lifeline also signals that China is willing to take more steps to halt a housing slump that’s now in its fourth year. The government announced a slew of stimulus measures last year — from lower mortgage rates to eased buying restrictions — but they’ve done little to reverse the downturn.
China Vanke's CEO, chairman resign as $6.2 billion forecast loss deepens concerns (Reuters)
Property developer China Vanke said on Monday its chairman Yu Liang and CEO Zhu Jiusheng stepped down as it forecast a record $6.2 billion net loss for 2024, as concerns over the company's liquidity deepen.
Xin Jie, the chairman of its major state-owned shareholder Shenzhen Metro, will become Vanke's chairman, signalling increased state oversight on expectations that the government would step in to contain non-repayment risks as the developer faces several debt maturity deadlines this year.
Yu will remain at the company as executive vice president, while three others from Shenzhen state-owned firms will join in the same role.
A state media outlet reported earlier this month that Vanke's CEO had been detained and that the firm could be subject to a takeover or reorganisation. The report was deleted within hours of its publication.
China manufacturing activity contracts for first time since September (Financial Times)
China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in January, official data showed on Monday, in a sign of slowing momentum as the country prepares for the lunar new year holiday.
The country’s official purchasing managers’ index, a closely watched gauge amid a gloomy economic backdrop, came in at 49.1, below forecasts and the first contraction since September. A reading of above 50 marks an expansion.
The National Bureau of Statistics said manufacturing activity was “affected by the approaching . . . holiday”, which begins on Wednesday and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese workers travel to their hometowns.
A separate NBS data release on Monday showed industrial profits fell 3.3 per cent over the course of 2024, despite rising 11 per cent year on year in December. The measure, which tracks companies with more than Rmb20mn ($2.8mn) in turnover, has fallen in each of the past three years.
Trump China tariffs: Manufacturers prepare for higher costs (CNBC)
All the businesses CNBC spoke to had a breaking point at which it would no longer make sense to sell to the U.S. The tariff thresholds ranged from 20 to 60%, and depended on the industry and the size of a company’s margins.
Water purifier maker Zheng said another wild card is whether President Trump unleashes proposed universal tariffs that, in his case, would raise costs for Dubai.
“Then the U.S. is out,” he said.
Across Guangzhou, Leng Rong, who makes skin care products, is worried he might have to stop exporting to the U.S. completely.
His goods got hit with tariffs north of 20% during Trump’s first term and it caused big losses for his company, Keni.
With his thin margins, Leng is hoping he can pass the cost of any tariff to his customers.
China deletes warning that youth unemployment is tanking economy (RFA)
Internet censors have taken down a speech by a top Chinese economist that went viral after he warned that a widespread lack of opportunities for young people was dragging down growth, which he said had been overstated by several percentage points in recent years.
Instead of embarking on promising careers and pouring their disposable income into the economy, young people in today’s China are tightening their belts and “turning off the lights and eating noodles,” Gao Shanwen, chief economist at SDIC Securities, told an investor conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
“Turning off the lights and eating noodles” is a catchphrase typically used to describe someone who is down on their luck after failed investments in the stock market, according to Baidupedia.
Gao’s warning, which had been widely shared on social media, was apparently considered sensitive enough to be removed from the “Economist Book Club” public account on WeChat, on which had posted the speech in full.
Growth engine or casino? Global investors rethink China playbook (Reuters)
Global investors who have historically bet on China's economic development are ditching grand narratives of long-term prosperity and instead adopting more modest views that see the market as an opportunity for smaller bets with quicker payoffs.
Frustration over Beijing's efforts to shore up faltering growth and fading investor conviction over where the economy is headed have kept stocks moving sideways, despite some initial excitement over promises of stimulus last year.
The lack of investor consensus and increasing policy uncertainty have fundamentally changed the way analysts and money managers see China's domestic markets and have tightened their investment horizons.
"People basically take China as a trading market," said Goldman Sachs' China equity strategist Kinger Lau. "If they see the catalyst, they will come in, but after a short period of time, they will sell and take profits."
Lau is positive but says clients want to "wait and see," and it's hard to engage them on China until there's clarity on both President Donald Trump's plans on China and Beijing's response.
China 'teapot' refiners halt plants as new fuel tax bites, sources say (Reuters)
Several independent oil refineries in eastern China have halted operations, or plan to do so, for indefinite maintenance periods as new Chinese tariff and tax policies plunge them deeper into losses, refinery and trade sources said.
The rare outages come at a time of nascent consolidation in the world's second-largest oil refining industry as an earlier-than-expected peak in Chinese fuel demand and Beijing's drive to wring out inefficiency starts to squeeze out the weakest of the small independent plants, known as teapots.
At least four plants with a combined annual processing capacity of approximately 18 million metric tons, or 320,000 barrels per day, either closed crude oil distillation units (CDUs) this month or plan to in February after Beijing cut rebates on consumption tax paid for feedstock imports, the sources said.
The plants, all situated in the refining hub of Shandong province, include facilities operated by Shandong Shangneng Group, Kelida Petrochemical, Wonfull Petrochemical and China Overseas Energy Technology (Shandong), according to sources familiar with the situation.
None of the companies have government-granted crude import quotas, limiting their feedstock options and making them less competitive than rivals. Instead, they process straight-run fuel oil, a semi-refined product, or a tar-like heavy residue called bitumen blend, into transportation fuels or asphalt.
At the start of 2025, China raised import tariffs for fuel oil and enforced changes to tax rebates.
China’s ‘Big Three’ warn competition and supply chain pressure prolonged losses in 2024 (Flight Global )
China’s three largest operators have indicated that losses continued last year, blaming supply chain pressures, increased domestic competition, and a slower international recovery.
The ‘Big Three’ – Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – note in earnings guidance that while the overall recovery “gained momentum” in 2024, “operating pressures” remained.
Trademark Filings by China’s Biggest Carmaker SAIC May Point to Deeper Huawei Cooperation (Yicai)
New trademark filings by SAIC Motor may signal that China’s largest automaker is close to forming a deeper collaboration with Huawei Technologies in response to falling sales and earnings amid growing competition.
Earlier this month, SAIC submitted trademark applications containing the name Shangjie, according to data published yesterday on the website of the China National Intellectual Property Administration’s trademark office. It uses the same Chinese character ‘jie’ as in Wenjie, the new energy vehicle brand co-developed by Huawei and Seres Group.
Shenzhen-based Huawei does not produce its own vehicles, but works with carmakers in three ways: as vertical parts supplier, as intelligent systems provider through the Huawei Inside partnership model, and as full-set solutions provider via the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, which has been the most successful approach to date. Seres is in the HIMA grouping.
China bans livestock product imports from numerous countries on disease worries (VOA)
China has prohibited imports of sheep, goat, poultry and even-toed ungulates from African, Asian and European countries due to outbreaks of livestock diseases such as sheep pox, goat pox and foot-and-mouth-disease.
The ban, which also includes processed and unprocessed products, comes after the World Health Organization released information of disease outbreaks in various countries, according to a series of announcements by China's General Administration of Customs dated Jan. 21.
The Cost of “Shopping like a Billionaire” (China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe)
Temu and Shein’s meteoric rise to prominence highlights the complexities of modern consumerism, where convenience and affordability often overshadow ethical and security concerns. While their marketing strategies have captivated millions, the underlying costs of their operations – ranging from forced labor allegations to invasive data collection – are all tied to systems that bolster Beijing’s soft power.
Tech & Media
Alibaba releases AI model it says surpasses DeepSeek (Reuters)
Chinese tech company Alibaba on Wednesday released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model that it claimed surpassed the highly-acclaimed DeepSeek-V3.
The unusual timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max's release, on the first day of the Lunar New Year when most Chinese people are off work and with their families, points to the pressure Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's meteoric rise in the past three weeks has placed on not just overseas rivals, but also its domestic competition.
"Qwen 2.5-Max outperforms ... almost across the board GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3 and Llama-3.1-405B," Alibaba's cloud unit said in an announcement posted on its official WeChat account, referring to OpenAI and Meta's most advanced open-source AI models.
The Jan. 10 release of DeepSeek's AI assistant, powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, as well as the Jan. 20 release of its R1 model, has shocked Silicon Valley and caused tech shares to plunge, with the Chinese startup's purportedly low development and usage costs prompting investors to question huge spending plans by leading AI firms in the United States.
[…]
The predecessor of DeepSeek's V3 model, DeepSeek-V2, triggered an AI model price war in China after it was released last May.
The fact that DeepSeek-V2 was open-source and unprecedentedly cheap, only 1 yuan ($0.14) per 1 million tokens - or units of data processed by the AI model - led to Alibaba's cloud unit announcing price cuts of up to 97% on a range of models.
Other Chinese tech companies followed suit, including Baidu, which released China's first equivalent to ChatGPT in March 2023, and the country's most valuable internet company Tencent.
Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek's enigmatic founder, said in a rare interview with Chinese media outlet Waves in July that the startup "did not care" about price wars and that achieving AGI (artificial general intelligence) was its main goal.
China’s emboldened AI industry releases flurry of model updates (Financial Times)
On Monday, Alibaba’s Qwen released Qwen2.5-1M, a series of new models that are capable of handling longer inputs, an important development that would mean the model could be deployed for AI agent applications with higher memory demands, according to Wang.
On the same day, DeepSeek released Janus-Pro, a text-to-image generation model that it claims can surpass state of the art ones from competitors such as OpenAI’s Dall-E 3 and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion 3 on some benchmarks.
Zhipu, valued at its last funding round in December at $3bn, last week released an update to GLM-PC. The AI agent model is aimed at enterprise customers, enabling computers to automatically complete tasks such as filling out forms or digesting financial reports.
China celebrates DeepSeek’s breakout AI success as tech race heats up (CNN)
People across China are hailing the success of homegrown tech startup DeepSeek and its founder, after the company’s newest artificial intelligence model sent shock waves through Silicon Valley and Wall Street.
“DeepSeek overturns the US stocks overnight” one trending hashtag with tens of millions of views proclaimed on Chinese social media platform Weibo. “DeepSeek makes Meta panic,” said another, in reference to the US tech giant that’s invested heavily in developing its own AI models.
More than a dozen hashtags related to the cutting-edge technology were trending on Weibo early this week as DeepSeek surged to the top of international app store charts, surpassing American company OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Monday.
DeepSeek AI assistant surpasses ChatGPT on US App Store (TechNode)
As of Jan. 27, DeepSeek AI has surpassed ChatGPT, reaching the top spot on the Apple App Store’s free apps list. The app’s description states it is powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, which boasts over 600 billion parameters. Key features include intelligent conversations, AI search, deep thinking, and file uploads.
Huawei Redux: Understanding the World’s Most Infamous Company and Its Geopolitical Significance (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
What is the relationship between the Chinese government and Huawei, the country's infamous telecommunications company? How did Huawei emerge and become so successful? Have restrictions placed on the company effectively limited its advancement and strengthened the U.S.’s economic security? What are the lessons for the broader technology competition with China? In this online event, Eva Dou of the Washington Post will share insights on these questions and more from her new book, House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company, which details the company's rise to multinational prominence over three decades and its key role in political and technology competition today.
Science, Health & Environment
Analysis: Record surge of clean energy in 2024 halts China’s CO2 rise (Carbon Brief)
A record surge of clean energy kept China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions below the previous year’s levels in the last 10 months of 2024.
However, the new analysis for Carbon Brief, based on official figures and commercial data, shows the tail end of China’s rebound from zero-Covid in January and February, combined with abnormally high growth in energy demand, stopped CO2 emissions falling in 2024 overall.
While China’s CO2 output in 2024 grew by an estimated 0.8% year-on-year, emissions were lower than in the 12 months to February 2024.
Exclusive: Images show China building huge fusion research facility, analysts say (Reuters)
China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research centre in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organisations say, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation.
Satellite photos show four outlying "arms" that will house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that will hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers will fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at U.S.-based independent research organisation CNA Corp.
It is a similar layout to the $3.5 billion U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Northern California, which in 2022 generated more energy from a fusion reaction than the lasers pumped into the target - "scientific breakeven".
Eveleth, who is working with analysts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), estimates the experiment bay at the Chinese facility is about 50% bigger than the one at NIF, currently the world's largest.
The development has not been previously reported.
"Any country with an NIF-type facility can and probably will be increasing their confidence and improving existing weapons designs, and facilitating the design of future bomb designs without testing" the weapons themselves, said William Alberque, a nuclear policy analyst at the Henry L. Stimson Centre.
[…]
Igniting fusion fuel allows researchers to study how such reactions work and how they might one day create a clean power source using the universe's most plentiful resource, hydrogen. It also enables them to examine nuances of detonation that would otherwise require an explosive test.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, of which both China and the United States are signatories, prohibits nuclear explosions in all environments.
Countries are allowed "subcritical" explosive tests, which do not create nuclear reactions. Laser fusion research, known as inertial confinement fusion, is also allowed.
Siegfried Hecker, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, another key U.S. nuclear weapons research facility, said that with testing banned, subcritical and laser fusion experiments were crucial to maintaining the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
What's Really Happening in Hainan? ()
Time will tell the success of the satellite factory, but for now, we are seeing satellites and rockets shipped into Wenchang and launched into space, while at the same time seeing an explosion of activity from satellite and rocket manufacturers entering the province. All of this activity is combining to create quite the cluster. Earlier this month we saw an announcement for a “Satellite-Rocket Interconnection Center” at Wenchang (rendering below), indicating big plans for integrating satellites and rockets, and another step forward for industrial activity to take place directly in Wenchang, rather than in Beijing, Tianjin, or elsewhere.
Arts & Culture
New Chinese Music: New Wave Disco Punk, Sichuanese-English Rap, and More (RADII)
2025 is already delivering great new music from China, some of which reflects a semi-global mood at the moment. Chengdu-based artist Xinwenyue Shi’s bilingual Sichuan-English hip hop single “Clouds,” for example, talks about the weather and adaptability in uncertain times. For a sunnier forecast, check out Guangzhou dream pop acts 想想XiangXiang and I’m Fine! Thank You! And You? — the two bands collaborated on a split release that captures the unique creative synergy of their local scene. Meanwhile, Wuhan’s Hardcore Raver in Tears delivers a PS2-era-inspired disco-punk anthem packaged as a vintage video game. Read on for all this plus shimmering guitar psych, a new release from Shanghai club mainstay Heimu, and several compilations casting a net on emerging bands and producers around China.
Han Zhang Is Bringing Contemporary Chinese Fiction to U.S. Readers (Publishers Weekly)
When Han Zhang joined Riverhead Books as an editor-at-large in January 2023, she came with a mandate to find, acquire, and publish two to three books per year by the most exciting voices in contemporary Chinese fiction. We talked with Zhang, who is also on staff at the New Yorker, about her first foray into publishing, the obstacles faced by Chinese-language writers, and the first title on her inaugural list.
The Thrilling Truth ( for China Books Review)
The plot of Shanghai involves a young, anti-Nazi Jewish refugee, Daniel Lohr, arriving from Berlin having met a fellow exile, Leah, onboard the ship from Trieste. When they land in Shanghai, Leah heads to the growing Jewish “ghetto” in Hongkou, while Daniel finds his uncle Nathan, who has reinvented himself as Nate Green, a nightclub-running gangster. Daniel dives into a Shanghai of narcotics, gambling and prostitution; of intelligence agents playing games of cat and mouse with the encroaching Japanese, whose interests often overlap with the criminal underworld. Leah moves between the Jewish Ghetto (also called the Shanghai Ghetto) and the Settlement-side demi-monde — though Kanon never really fleshes out the former, preferring to center the action among the city’s international crowd.
The book has all the ingredients of a typical Shanghai novel of the 1930s. Shanghai was always a city of reinvented pasts, and Nate is but one of many immigrants born again by the Huangpu River. Pudong wharf rats became gang bosses; Baghdadi traders became wealthy merchant princes. It was a city inundated with ex-cons, remittance men, AWOL Marines, rapacious Japanese, embattled Chinese and assorted ne’er-do-wells. Yet in Kanon’s rendering, the east-west fusion of Shanghai, its cheek-by-jowl of wealth and poverty, fails to gel.
Street Market Writer Rewrites the Working Woman’s Narrative (Sixth Tone)
“I’ve been interviewed by many young people in recent years. I never talk to them about grand philosophical ideas or abstract life choices. Instead, I ask them whether they’ve fallen in love.”
Chen Hui is at a packed bookstore in Foshan, in the southern Guangdong province, taking part in a discussion on her latest book, “Going Where the Flowers Are,” published in June. As always, she speaks in simple, straightforward terms rather than in the highfalutin, literary notions that one might expect from a well-read author.
She’s just been telling her audience that life is short, and encouraged them to enjoy romantic relationships as much as possible in their youth. In her view, just as plants need to blossom and bear fruit, people need the nourishment of love.
China’s Lunar New Year box office tops $390 million on second day of holiday (TechNode)
China’s box office for the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday surpassed RMB 2.8 billion ($390 million) as of 12:13 p.m. on Jan. 30, the second day of the holiday, according to data from Chinese cinema ticket site maoyan.com. The top three films at the holiday box office are Ne Zha, Detective Chinatown 1900, and Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force. All three are part of established blockbuster franchises.
Sports
How an Obscure Rule Sparked an International Incident in Go (Sixth Tone)
Although there’s no question that Ke violated the rule on paper, which stipulates that all captured stones must be placed on the lid of the “Go bowl” — a small container holding all the pieces available to players — the decision to penalize him has struck many in the international Go community as unreasonable.
Fueling the controversy is the rule’s clumsy implementation, starting just months before the final and well after the LG Cup cycle began. For South Korean players, placing captured stones on the bowl lid is second nature, ingrained from childhood and codified in the rules for over 20 years. But it was only last November that an update to South Korea’s official Go rulebook added penalties for not placing stones in the correct location: a two-point penalty for the first violation, and a mandatory forfeit if a player violates the rule twice in the same game.
While seemingly minor, the rule change disproportionately affects players from China and Japan, the world’s other two major Go powers, for whom placing stones in the lid is merely a custom, not a rule. Indeed, Chinese player Jin Yucheng, who competes in a South Korean league, was one of the first to be penalized after the new regulations came into effect.
Events
The Art of Dealing with China in the Age of Uncertainty (Asia Society)
Fri 07 Feb 2025, 9 - 10 a.m. New York Time
Online
As the Chinese economy slows and geopolitical tensions rise, multinational companies are reconsidering their footprint in China. Many of the most experienced and knowledgeable China-based businesspeople, analysts, and journalists have left the country in recent years, especially post-COVID. Political tightening under Xi Jinping and growing suspicions of foreign entities have made it more challenging for China analysts to access the top policymakers and to understand recent dynamics in Chinese politics and society.
However, with the uncertainty created by a second Donald Trump administration, it is more important than ever to master the art of dealing with China.
In this virtual event, three veteran China watchers — from business, a think tank, and journalism —make sense of what these dynamics mean for policymakers, investors, businesses, and anyone interested in China.
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See you next week!