China’s tense relationships over chips and disputed waters in the Indo-Pacific

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

The Quad called for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific during a separate meeting in Hiroshima on Saturday, while taking a veiled swipe at China’s activities in the region. The leaders of the security alliance, which includes Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, stated they “strongly oppose destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” but did not specifically mention China by name.

China barred U.S. chipmaker Micron from key infrastructure projects on Sunday, claiming that America’s biggest maker of memory chips poses “serious network security risks.” The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced (in Chinese) that Micron “posed significant security risks to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain” following a seven-week investigation into the firm.

China is upgrading its elderly care system to support its aging population and stave off a growing demographic crisis. Beijing released a set of guidelines on Sunday for all provinces to help build a basic elderly care system by 2025, including services such as material assistance, nursing, and caregiving. The move follows predictions by China’s National Health Commission that the number of people 60 and older will increase from 280 million now to 400 million by 2035, adding further strain on its pension and healthcare system.

China approved a plan by Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard, the popular California-based video gaming company that created staple titles such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Candy Crush. The deal still faces antitrust opposition in the U.S. and United Kingdom, but Microsoft now has the backing of both China and the EU to go forward with the $69 billion takeover. China’s approval follows a dispute between Blizzard and local publishing partner NetEase earlier this year, which led to Activision Blizzard no longer offering many of its games in mainland China.

A second wave of COVID infections is predicted to hit China, according to Zhōng Nánshān 钟南山, one of the nation’s top respiratory disease experts who is commonly known by American news outlets as China’s Dr. Anthony Fauci. The news was paired with the announcement of two new domestic vaccines made to target the most dominant strains of COVID-19 in the country, with four more vaccines awaiting approval.

China punished 66 public servants for a deadly building collapse in Changsha. The tragedy that took place last April had led to the deaths of 54 people, the majority of which were college students. According to an official report released Sunday, the collapse was caused by illegal construction and the failure of local officials to enforce standards.