Highlighted links for October 5, 2023

Below are links from our NewsBase to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China.

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Electric vehicles
China’s EV threat: A carmaker that loses $35,000 a car / NYT (paywall)
“Nio, a Chinese electric car company that competes with Tesla, employs 11,000 people in research and development, but sells a mere 8,000 cars per month.”

Real estate and property development
China office vacancies worse than zero-COVID levels in top cities / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Office vacancy rates in China are now higher than they were under the country’s severe zero-COVID restrictions, delivering a further blow to the nation’s struggling property sector.”

Evergrande
Evergrande crisis tests Beijing’s fallout management as creditor jitters mount / Reuters
“As developer China Evergrande Group lurched from one crisis to another over the past two years, Beijing avoided directly intervening to rescue what was not too long ago considered one of the country’s ‘too big to fail’ enterprises.”

Huawei
Taiwan to probe 4 firms accused of helping Huawei build chip plants / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Taiwanese authorities will investigate four local companies over reports that they are assisting Huawei Technologies in establishing chipmaking infrastructure in China.”

Alibaba
Alibaba accused of ‘possible espionage’ at European hub / FT (paywall)
“Belgium’s intelligence service has been monitoring Alibaba’s main logistics hub in Europe for espionage following suspicions Beijing has been exploiting its growing economic presence in the west.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

China’s energy supply
China steps up managing peak power demand, energy regulator proposes new gas usage policy / Caixin (paywall)
“China has published new measures aimed at better managing power demand from consumers to ensure energy supply.”

China’s space station
China to double size of space station, touts alternative to NASA-led ISS / Reuters
“China plans to expand its space station to six modules from three in coming years, offering astronauts from other nations an alternative platform for near-Earth missions as the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) nears the end of its lifespan.”
Scientists from China, Europe to target gamma rays from Tiangong space station / SCMP (paywall)
“Scientists in China are working with their European peers to develop the most sensitive space telescope of its kind, in a bid to monitor the most violent explosions in the universe.”

Chinese weddings are going green
E-invites to bike rides, weddings in China get a green makeover / Sixth Tone
“Amid increased awareness among the youth about climate change, carbon-neutral weddings, which promote eco-friendly products, cost money, and recycling, are gaining traction and popularity.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Espionage
Why Russian and Chinese spy scandals are a threat to us all / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Russian and Chinese espionage against the west has entered a hyperactive mode. In the past few months, several suspected intelligence officers and agents have been uncovered by police in Britain, Norway and the US. In return, Russia and China have begun seizing random westerners on flimsy espionage charges. A dangerous cycle is unfolding.”

Military
Analysis: Inside Xi Jinping’s great military purge / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
Katsuji Nakazawa writes: “A great military purge is underway in China. The absence of key military figures at a dinner reception to celebrate the founding of modern China last week made that fact clear and left Beijing’s political circles pondering what President Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 intentions are.”

• Earlier this week on The China Project: Lessons from the black box of Chinese politics

Tibet
China’s foreign minister criticizes ‘lies’ about Tibet / Reuters
“China’s Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 said lies fabricated by ‘some western forces’ about Tibet are untenable and based on ideological bias.”

Taiwan
Taiwan to tighten tech safeguards against China this year / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Taiwan is set to announce this year a list of critical technologies it wants to protect from the reach of China, a top Taiwanese official told Nikkei Asia.”
How China is fighting in the grey zone against Taiwan / BBC
“The 103 fighter jets that China flew near Taiwan — 40 of which entered the island’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) — were yet another escalation in Chinese war games.”

India
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pushes Himalayan neighbors on ‘territorial integrity’ at forum near disputed border with India / SCMP (paywall)
“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pushed Himalayan nations for stronger cooperation on environmental issues while urging them to respect ‘territorial integrity’ as he hosted diplomats near China’s disputed border with India.”

Philippines
China condemns Philippine re-supply mission to disputed atoll / Reuters
“China has condemned a mission by four Philippine ships to re-supply Philippine troops on a disputed South China Sea atoll, saying the vessels had entered its waters in the Spratly Islands without its permission.”

Europe
With eye on China, EU maps out de-risking, economic security strategies / Reuters
“The European Union wants to retain its industrial edge and competitiveness in a world shifting more to digital and green products, but has found itself worryingly dependent on others, particularly China for critical minerals.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Feminism
After crackdown, China sees new wave of ‘everyday feminism’ / WSJ (paywall)
“With Beijing having snuffed out public advocacy, a growing interest in gender issues can be seen in the popularity of books and podcasts.”

Bangkok shooting kills Chinese national
Chinese national killed in Bangkok mall shooting / Caixin (paywall)
“One Chinese national was killed and another injured in a central Bangkok mall shooting Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand has confirmed.”

Tourism
Opinion: Why are tourists not returning to mainland China? Experts cite a host of reasons but it’s anyone’s guess as to when ‘normality’ will resume / SCMP (paywall)
“Mainland China’s tourism sector saw a 70 percent drop in international travelers in the first half of this year compared with pre-COVID levels.”

Demographics
Opinion: Can China overcome its demographic deficit? / FT (paywall)
Martin Wolf writes: “How big a role will China’s demographics play in its economic prospects? Inescapably, a big one. Indeed, it must be one of the most important factors in determining China’s economic prospects.”

Photography
Snapshots of a nation: How Guangdong pioneered Chinese photography / Sixth Tone
“Spanning two centuries, ‘History of Photography in Guangdong: 1844-2020’ delves into the history of Chinese photography. The book chronicles its journey from early daguerreotypes to the prominence of digital imagery in modern times.”