Canada-China tensions on the rise again
News briefing for May 9, 2023
Here’s what else you need to know about China today:
Top story: Chinese Foreign Minister Qín Gāng 秦刚 met with top officials from Central and South Asia last week. While China’s influence in the region is growing, so are its security concerns. Click through for the whole thing.
China expelled a Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move, after Ottowa sent home a Chinese consular official, Zhào Wēi 赵巍, for allegedly attempting to intimidate, Michael Chong, a member of Canadian parliament critical of Beijing’s Uyghur policies. Chong has family in Hong Kong. Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, Canada’s diplomat in Shanghai, was removed from her post before May 13 in a “reciprocal countermeasure in reaction to Canada’s unscrupulous move,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “China reserves the right to further react.”
Chinese-born Australian journalist Chéng Lěi 成蕾 will have been in detention for 1,000 days in Beijing as of tomorrow. The former CGTN anchorwoman was arrested and detained by Chinese state security without any explanation in 2020, a case that further deteriorated ties between Beijing and Canberra and highlights the growing concern over the fate of foreign journalists operating in China.
Chinese authorities raided the offices of international consultancy Capvision, in yet another chilling sign for foreign businesses operating in China. State media said that the company was not “earnestly fulfilling the responsibilities and obligations” of preventing espionage, a few weeks after Beijing expanded the scope of its anti-espionage law on national security grounds. The move comes off the back of similar police raids on the Beijing office of U.S. due diligence group Mintz in March, and the questioning of employees at the Shanghai site of American consultancy Bain a few weeks later. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, voiced its concern over the developments, urging guidance from China’s government on conducting due diligence in the country.
LinkedIn is shutting down its last China app after less than two years in operation, ending the Microsoft-owned job seeking platform’s remaining social media presence in the country. InCareer, LinkedIn’s app for mainland China, will cease operations by August 9 due to “fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate,” CEO Ryan Roslansky said in a letter to employees. The company also announced that it would also lay off 716 positions, adding to the slew of U.S. tech companies that have made significant job cuts this year and have scaled back their operations in China.
China and Laos began joint military drills today that will run through May 28, in a rare show of security ties between the two Asian neighbors. The news comes as Beijing forges stronger military cooperation with its Southeast Asian allies — including China’s first ever drills with Cambodia in Cambodian waters in March — amid tensions over disputed waters in the South China Sea and a growing U.S. presence in the region.
China’s imports for the month of April fell sharply year-on-year, contracting 7.9% and causing Hong Kong stocks to fall, despite relatively strong export data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 2.1% at the end of the day of trading Tuesday, while the Shanghai Composite fell 1.1%.
State media: “The market is picking up, orders are increasing, and everyone is busy,” says Xinhua News Agency’s top story, which is all about China’s flourishing private sector. The Party paper People’s Daily highlights the views on economic and social development of Xí Jìnpíng 习近平.
