The amazing disappearing foreign minister

• Wang has been director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office since January 2023, when Qin replaced him as Foreign Minister, a role Wang had held since 2013.
• The decision was announced at a special session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee today, and reported tersely by various state media.

Qin, 57, has not been seen in public since a June 25 meeting with officials from Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Russia in Beijing.

• All kinds of rumors to explain his absence have been circulating about Qin, including that he is being sidelined for an extramarital affair with a TV journalist, but the Standing Committee did not comment on his whereabouts, highlighting the opaque nature of decision-making at the Party’s senior levels.

The NPC Standing Committee holds a session once every two months, usually near the end of even-numbered months, but interim sessions can be scheduled by the committee’s chairman, currently Zhào Lèjì 赵乐际. Today’s session also made two unsensational announcements:

• Yì Gāng 易纲 will depart his post as governor of the People’s Bank of China, to be replaced, as expected, by the current deputy governor and Party Secretary of the bank, Pān Gōngshèng 潘功勝.
• A draft amendment to China’s Criminal Law was reviewed.

Jeremy Goldkorn

Super typhoon Doksuri is on track to hit Taiwan and China. The powerful storm is sweeping across the Pacific Ocean with winds of about 240 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour), barreling toward the Philippines. It is projected to continue northwest, passing close to the eastern side of Taiwan and Hong Kong, and making landfall in southern China later this week. Even if the typhoon never touches land, its sheer size of nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in diameter means that it will likely bring rain, strong winds, and flooding to affected areas.

Taiwan has suspended parts of its largest military drills, which began yesterday to test Taipei’s defenses in case of an attack from Beijing, in preparation for what could be the strongest typhoon to hit the island in four years. Meanwhile, China’s National Meteorological Center projected that Doksuri will hit coastal regions in the eastern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong on Friday morning, and has urged fishing boats to return to port as soon as possible.

China and Japan agreed to resume high-level trilateral talks with South Korea, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said today, after he and top Chinese diplomat Wáng Yì 王毅 made the agreement at the ASEAN gathering in Indonesia on July 14.

“It’s highly meaningful for the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, which share a big responsibility towards the region’s peace and prosperity, to get together” to discuss cooperation and other issues, Hayashi said at a daily press conference.

Life in prison for corruption was the sentence for Zhōu Jiāngyǒng 周江勇, the former Communist Party chief of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, Chinese state media reported today.

In April, Zhou, 55, had pleaded guilty to taking 193 million yuan ($27.9 million) in bribes over his two-decade career from 2001 to 2021. He had provided favors including “construction projects, contracting, land acquisition, and other commercial favors” in exchange for illegal properties, either directly or indirectly through his family.

Swedish retail giant H&M is suing Chinese fast fashion rival Shein for copyright infringement in Hong Kong, accusing Shein of ripping off dozens of its designs in 2021.

Chinese-Canadian rapper Kris Wu (Wú Yìfán 吴亦凡), who in November was sentenced to 13 years in prison for sex crimes and ordered to pay a $84 million fine, appealed the decision in a Beijing court today.

The 32-year-old, once one of China’s biggest pop stars, was detained in July 2021, after Dū Měizhú 都美竹, a 19-year-old university student and social media influencer, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was too drunk to give consent. Her account had prompted other young women to come forward that described a detailed pattern of predatory behavior.

Toyota slashed 1,000 factory contract jobs in China, as the world’s top-selling automaker adjusted its production in the country’s slowing economy and a domestic market that is rapidly shifting to electric vehicles (EVs). Toyota explained that the decision was made in light of the “current production situation.”

Chinese state media: The People’s Daily print edition today highlights yesterday’s Politburo meeting on the current economic situation, repeating various themes the Party is currently pushing, most importantly that there are economic headwinds but the government is determined to restore confidence.

Xinhua News Agency leads their Chinese-language coverage today with an article about a letter Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 wrote to a middle school in Hong Kong in which he “pointed out that patriotism is the core of the spirit of the Chinese nation, and the majority of Hong Kong compatriots have a glorious tradition of loving the country and Hong Kong.”

Xinhua’s English website features another report from yesterday’s Politburo meeting, but focusing on Xi’s speech about the “high-quality development” of China’s armed forces.

• According to Chinese online movie-ticketing agency Maoyan, Barbie earned a modest 50 million yuan ($6.95 million) between Friday and Sunday in China, concluding its opening weekend in fifth place in the world’s second largest movie market.

Although it was less of a cultural phenomenon in China than it was in the U.S. — where legions of pink-clad moviegoers swarmed theaters — the film still generated a notable amount of discussion on Chinese social media.

• On popular Chinese film review site Douban, Barbie currently has more than 210,000 reviews and an admirable rating of 8.6 out of 10. The majority of the comments are positive, with many pointing to its feminist message as a highlight.

But, of course, there is controversy, with a slew of social media posts about men walking out of Barbie screenings in displeasure.

Zhao Yuanyuan

• Things started to heat up between the two back in the 1980s, when both countries were in need of allies. Kuwait was rich thanks to its oil reserves, and keen to lend.
• Oil — a lot of oil — is China’s primary import from Kuwait: there was a $21.5 billion gap between the goods Kuwait imported from China and the oil Kuwait exported to China in 2022.

The Belt and Road Initiative, meanwhile, is meant to provide for one of Kuwait’s dream projects. The $130 billion “Silk City” complex, across the bay from Kuwait City, is designed to turn the country into an international business hub.

• But things seem to have stagnated since the pandemic. Local news in 2022 reported that funds hadn’t been distributed for the year, leaving projects abandoned.

Silk City is meant to be ready by 2035, so perhaps a delay in construction isn’t a concern. But it’s unclear what’s going on with the promised Chinese financing, writes Alex Colville.

Alex Colville

• Forget about avant-garde theatrics and elaborate props — Liú Zǐqiān 刘子千 uses simple, everyday objects like mirrors, fruits and flowers, and eggs as her co-stars in her intimate self-portraits.
• This week on Sinica: Kaiser is joined by Maggie Lewis, professor of law at Seton Hall University and veteran Taiwan observer, and Paul Heer, former national intelligence officer for East Asia in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) under the Obama administration. Both were members of the Council on Foreign Relations’s task force on U.S.-Taiwan policy, which produced a report titled “U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era: Responding to a More Assertive China.” Both also wrote dissents, included in the report, about some of its findings and recommendations. They discuss what they think the report got right — and what it got wrong.You can wait for the general podcast release on Thursday, or you can get the ad-free, subscriber-only version of Sinica using any major podcast app on your phone by following the instructions at this link.

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Government plans and rhetoric on economic recovery
Chinese stocks pop as Beijing vows more measures to boost weak economy / CNBC
“Chinese stocks soared Tuesday as Beijing pledged to ramp up measures to bolster China’s sputtering economy.”
What China’s economic measures mean in practice / FT (paywall)
“Details scant in politburo statement but markets welcome acknowledgment by Xi Jinping of growth headwinds.”
China leaders vow to boost ‘tortuous’ economic recovery / FT (paywall)
“China’s leaders have vowed to spur consumer spending, tackle unemployment and give more support to the ailing property sector as the world’s second-largest economy makes a ‘tortuous’ recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.”
China’s top economic planner unveils new database for private investment projects / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s top economic planner has unveiled a batch of measures aimed at creating a better business environment for the private sector, including a database for promoting approved projects to private investors.”
China Politburo targets boosting domestic demand, private sector / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s top decision-making body on Monday highlighted the need to boost domestic demand and for policies to prop up the country’s private economy.”

Local economies
Opinion: China’s budget-strained local governments need to be cut some slack / Caixin (paywall)
Wang Dehua writes: “Since the beginning of the year, China’s fiscal conditions, especially the fiscal stress on local governments, have drawn wide attention. Now in the middle of the year, we need to take stock of the country’s fiscal outlook and objectively assess the challenges.”

IPOs and private funds
The dangerous game of floating by China’s new rules / FT (paywall)
“Chinese companies have gotten bogged down in a bureaucratic quagmire, and none have yet gone public overseas under the new regime. But at least banks had a roadmap to list a Chinese company on an overseas exchange, even if they had more hoops to jump through.”
China’s new rules for private funds are just the beginning / Caixin (paywall)
“More regulations governing China’s 21 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion) private fund industry may be in the pipeline to flesh out a new overarching legal framework that doesn’t address some controversial issues such as the role of custodians, industry sources told Caixin.”

Lithium
China lithium futures bounce back from debut bloodbath / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s lithium futures clawed back some lost ground Tuesday after two straight days of declines in a brutal debut for the contracts, with the most-traded contract holding above the key psychological threshold of 200,000 yuan per ton ($28,010).”

U.S.-China tech war
Chinese chipmakers urge Beijing to do more amid tension with U.S. / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“As the U.S. continues to tighten its export controls on semiconductors to China, domestic chip companies are calling upon Beijing for more support and urged the two sides to enhance communication to avoid making the situation even worse, Caixin has learned.”

Youth unemployment
China’s jobless graduate army falls through cracks in economy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Caught between a long-running regulatory crackdown by Beijing on private enterprise, and a slide in hiring by foreign firms in the country, young people now face a record jobless rate of 21.3%. Since the official number only includes people actively seeking work, some economists say the percentage of young people not in employment, education or training could be significantly higher.”

Development and real estate
China’s property firms rally after Beijing pledges economic support / Reuters
“Investors piled into Chinese property developers’ shares and bonds on Tuesday following a sharp selloff in the previous session, after policymakers said they would step up support for the embattled sector.”
China’s cement makers race to consolidate amid property woes / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The depressed real estate market in China is prompting cement manufacturers to remix their operations, with industry leader China National Building Material Group merging production units and its rivals acquiring smaller players.”

Toyota
Toyota slashes 1,000 jobs at operations in China / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Toyota Motor has cut 1,000 jobs at its business in China. The slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy has resulted in lackluster sales of new cars, creating more headwinds for automakers.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Extreme weather
China, Taiwan prepare for their most powerful typhoon this year / Reuters
“China urged fishing boats to seek shelter and farmers to speed up their harvest while Taiwan suspended annual military drills as Super Typhoon Doksuri spiraled closer to East Asia, potentially reaching deep into China.”
Powerful typhoon may graze the Philippines on its way to China / NYT (paywall)
“Typhoon Doksuri, packing winds equivalent to those of a Category 4 hurricane, is expected to hit China later this week. It also threatens Taiwan.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

China’s Cambodian naval base
China’s Cambodia base nears completion, challenging U.S. naval power / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China has made significant progress building a naval base in Cambodia and is close to completing a pier that could berth an aircraft carrier, according to satellite imagery.”

Foreign Minister and governor of PBoC replaced
China removes outspoken foreign minister Qin Gang and replaces him with his predecessor, Wang Yi / AP
“China on Tuesday removed outspoken Foreign Minister Qín Gāng 秦刚 from office and replaced him with his predecessor, Wáng Yì 王毅, in a move that has already fueled rumors over the personal lives and political rivalries of China’s Communist Party elite.”
China replaces foreign minister Qin after brief stint and weeks of speculation / Reuters
China removes Qin Gang as foreign minister after month-long absence / SCMP (paywall)
China replaces missing foreign minister Qin Gang / FT (paywall)
China removes foreign minister Qin Gang, reappoints Wang Yi / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
China’s foreign minister dismissed / Caixin (paywall)
China replaces foreign minister missing from public view since June / NYT (paywall)
China’s foreign minister replaced after unexplained absence / WSJ (paywall)
Disappearance of Xi favorite Qin Gang adds to confusion on Chinese diplomacy / FT (paywall)
“With Qin out of public view for a month, analysts, diplomats and officials are trying to make sense of his absence, which threatens to complicate U.S. efforts to revive top-level engagement and China’s bid to restore foreign confidence in its economy.”
China names Pan Gongsheng to lead central bank, succeeding Yi Gang / AP
“Pān Gōngshèng 潘功胜 was named China’s central bank governor Tuesday in the widely anticipated final major appointment of the ruling Communist Party’s once-a-decade change of power.”
China names Pan Gongsheng new central bank governor as twice-a-decade finance conference approaches / SCMP (paywall)
China’s new central banker once fixed a crisis. He may need to again. / NYT (paywall)
Safety first in China under new central bank governor / Reuters

Taiwan Strait
PLA sends 29 planes and ships near Taiwan as island holds annual Han Kuang military drills / SCMP (paywall)
“Combat drone crosses median line separating the island from mainland China as Taipei tests strength against full-scale attack…The sorties add to concerns that Beijing is boosting operations in eastern Taiwan where defenses are weaker.”

The Communist Party, elite politics, and government
China city party chief gets life in jail for taking bribes — state media / Reuters
“A Chinese court has sentenced a former Communist Party secretary of eastern Hangzhou to life in prison, with state media saying he had been found guilty of taking more than 182 million yuan ($25.48 million) in bribes.”
Wang Shaojun, bodyguard to China’s top leaders, dies of unknown illness, aged 67 / SCMP (paywall)
“Lieutenant General Wáng Shǎojūn 王少军, former head of the Central Security Bureau, died in Beijing on April 26 at the age of 67, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.”

China’s justifications for internet censorship
Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi calls for cyberspace ‘fairness’, urges Brics, developing nations to oppose tech hegemony / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s top diplomat has called for ‘fairness and justice’ in cyberspace, urging emerging economies to jointly oppose all attempts at scientific, technological or internet dominance, and prevent the web from being used to foment military one-upmanship or ‘color revolutions.’”

Hong Kong
Liu Guangyuan steps down as foreign ministry’s special commissioner in Hong Kong / Reuters
“Liú Guāngyuán 刘光源 has stepped down from the Chinese foreign ministry’s commissioner post in Hong Kong, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.”

South Korea
China investigating reports of hundreds of suspicious parcels sent to South Korea / SCMP (paywall)
“Beijing is investigating South Korean reports of international parcels being sent randomly from China, some of which may have contained unknown hazardous materials.”

Fiji
Fiji’s prime minister cancels China visit after ‘small accident’ / Reuters
“Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Tuesday he was forced to cancel an official visit to China after enduring a minor head injury that required him to stay at home.”

Japan
Japan, China to resume meetings with South Korea – Japan’s Hayashi / Reuters
“Japan and China agreed to resume high-level trilateral talks with South Korea that would include the countries’ leaders and top diplomats, Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.”

Russia
Russian delegation to join Chinese in North Korea visit / Reuters
“A Russian delegation led by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu will visit North Korea this week, state media agency KCNA reported on Tuesday, joining a Chinese group as the first such public visitors to the country since the start of the pandemic.”

Taiwan
Taiwan President Tsai tests positive for COVID-19 / Reuters
“Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文 Cài Yīngwén) tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the Presidential Office said, adding her itinerary for Tuesday afternoon has been canceled.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Feminism
How Janet Yellen’s women’s power lunch exposed China’s divide over women’s rights / SCMP (paywall)
“The U.S. treasury secretary held several meetings on recent Beijing visit but only an all-women gathering drew ire from nationalists on social media.”

Sports
Double delight for China as Qin, Zhang strike gold at worlds / Reuters
“​​China won back-to-back gold medals on the second day of swimming action at the World Aquatics Championships as Qin Haiyang roared to victory in the men’s 100 meters breaststroke while Zhang Yufei took the women’s 100m butterfly title on Monday.”

Visiting Chinese universities
As China’s top campuses reopen, a frenzy for limited visiting slots / Sixth Tone
“With scalpers emerging to sell slots at inflated prices, genuine visitors are turning to social media and searching for tips and strategies on how to secure reservations for university visits.”