News Briefing for Thursday, October 20, 2022

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

Beijing summoned its chipmaking giants to a series of closed-door emergency meetings this past week, Bloomberg reports, to assess the impact of the Biden administration’s new sweeping curbs on technology exports that severely limit China’s access in producing semiconductors.

“To dare to fight is the spiritual character of Chinese diplomacy,” China’s vice foreign minister of foreign affairs, Mǎ Zhāoxù 马朝旭, told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday, amid the fallout of a violent clash on the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester on Sunday.

• Meanwhile, Consul General Zhèng Xīyuán 郑曦原 defended his actions during the clash, saying he “did not attack anybody” in a video interview with Sky News that aired on Wednesday.
• But when pressed about the video footage of himself pulling the hair of a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester, Zheng said (01:45): “Yeah, the man abused my country, my leader. I think it’s my duty.”
• Some members of Parliament are urging the British government to take harsher action against Zheng’s “unacceptable” behavior, with many criticizing the response so far as “weak.”

Markets are panicky: It was another dark day for Chinese ADRs in the U.S. yesterday, which plunged to a nine-year low. Earlier today, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange reported revenue for the first three quarters of HK$13.25 billion ($1.68 billion), a decrease of 18% year-on-year. The Hang Seng Index slumped to the lowest level since April 2009, but the CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) tried to see the positive side, pointing to increased IPO activity by mainland concept stocks in Hong Kong in the third quarter. See today’s Business briefs from the Chinese media, with more links and info on:

• A huge shale gas find in Sichuan.
• Chinese chip consolidation.
• Big profits in new and old energy.