Investigation into clash at China’s Manchester consulate ongoing
Notable China news from around the world
Here’s what else you need to know about China today:
Investigation into clash at China’s Manchester consulate ongoing: British police said in a Monday statement that they had identified “a number of offenses” committed during the incident on October 16 and were “actively seeking” more potential victims. So far, no arrests have been made. Cell phone video footage appeared to show staff dragging one of the protesters into the consulate grounds where he was beaten.
Six former employees of Hong Kong’s now-defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily and its parent company, Next Digital, pleaded guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces in a Hong Kong court on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s national security police have arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of sedition over social media posts, including one in which he thanked South Korea for “recognizing Hong Kong’s national anthem.”
U.S. carmakers have been pushing for a loosening of Joe Biden’s flagship climate legislation, which will offer generous tax credits to electric vehicles made in North America when it goes into effect in 2024. However, Goldman Sachs predicts that demand for finished EV batteries could be met without China within the next three to five years, largely thanks to big investments in the U.S. by South Korean conglomerates LG and SK.
New social credit law: On November 14, several government agencies jointly released a draft law on the “Establishment of the Social Credit System.” For MIT Technology Review, Zeyi Yang says that while “the West has largely gotten China’s social credit system wrong,” the new draft legislation “offers a more accurate picture of the reality.”
In China, the silly electric car money might be at an end: Yesterday, Freeman Shen (沈晖 Shěn Huī), CEO of EV brand Weltmeister, issued an internal company letter announcing salary cuts of 50% for managers and 70% for other employees, the cancellation of awards and bonuses, and the suspension of purchase subsidies. See today’s Business briefs from the Chinese media, with more links and info on:
- Hozon Auto might still have a silly money fund for its EVs.
- Shanghai wants to be a biomedical hub.
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