On the road from Damascus

Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 opened the Asian Games in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on September 23, after a one-year delay due to Beijing’s now-axed COVID-zero curbs. The Games, held once every four years similar to the Olympics, will run until October 8.

• The spectacular opening ceremony, hosted in the city’s 80,000-capacity Olympic Sports Center Stadium, dazzled crowds with futuristic light shows, 3D animations, and a virtual torchbearer. No real fireworks were set off, in an apparent effort to showcase China’s commitment to green development and to cement Hangzhou’s status as a tech and ecommerce hub.
• Visiting dignitaries included International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — who is on his first visit to China since the civil war erupted in Syria in 2011. Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and leaders from Kuwait and Nepal were also among those who attended, Chinese state television CCTV reported.

But political tensions at home and abroad have cast a few shadows over all the fanfare.

• Esports will be treated as an official medal event for the first time, a highly-anticipated debut for the country’s more than 400 million esports fans. But the excitement over its inclusion comes as the Chinese government has cracked down on its gaming industry in recent years, and China unexpectedly dropped the live broadcast of some esports matchups at the games, causing confusion among some esports fans.
• Xi met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo right before the games began. Xi called for “steady and solid advancement” of bilateral ties, while urging their two countries to “meet each other halfway” and shore up supply chains. Xi, who has not visited South Korea since 2014, also reportedly said he is “seriously considering” paying a visit to Seoul, though did not specify any further details.
• India lodged a protest with China after three of its athletes were unable to download the necessary travel documents from an official Chinese website to enter the country, forcing them to withdraw. The three female martial artists are from the disputed Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh, which India says falls under its jurisdiction but is also claimed almost in full by Beijing as “South Tibet.”

Click here for all the details.

Nadya Yeh

World-renowned Uyghur anthropologist Rahile Dawut has been sentenced to life behind bars on spurious charges of endangering state security, according to Dui Hua, a respected advocacy organization that has a long history of engaging with China to attempt to get political prisoners released. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal have further reporting.

China’s Coast Guard installed a floating barrier in a disputed area of South China Sea, blocking access to more than 50 Filipino fishing vessels, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said in a post on X on September 23.

The 300-meter (328-yard) barrier, made up of three inflatable boats of the Chinese Coast Guard and a service boat of the Chinese maritime militia, barred the entrance of a lagoon in the southeast portion of the Scarborough Shoal (黄岩岛 huángyán dǎo;). Philippine officials today removed what it earlier called the “illegal and illegitimate” barrier.

About 400 miles south of the Scarborough Shoal is the disputed Mischief Reef (美济岛 měijì dǎo), where the New York Times has documented China’s military buildup and the increasingly aggressive behavior of Chinese Coast Guard vessels.

China has placed an exit ban on a senior executive from Japanese investment bank Nomura. Charles Wang (王仲何 Wáng Zhònghé) has been ordered not to leave mainland China. The move is “connected to a long-running investigation into the country’s top tech dealmaker Bāo Fán 包凡,” founder of investment group China Renaissance, and his colleague Cóng Lín 丛林, the Financial Times suggests. Bao and Cong went missing in February, and are reported to be “assisting” with a probe into financial crimes.

The chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association was sentenced to five days in jail today for obstructing police officers. Ronson Chan (陳朗昇 Chén Lǎngshēng) had pleaded not guilty to the charges, after he was detained and handcuffed by two plainclothes officers for failing to hand over his Hong Kong ID card while covering a story last September.

Australia will continue pursuing a case at the World Trade Organization against China’s tariffs on wine imports, rejecting a proposal to tie the issue to a separate dispute on steel products.

Chinese and Arab companies signed on to 171 billion yuan ($23.4 billion) worth of deals in sectors including trade, agriculture, energy, and medical care at the sixth China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, capital of the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, from September 21–24.

China has become the Arab states’ largest trading partner in the past decade, with total trade volume almost doubling from 2012 to $431.4 billion dollars last year, according to official data. In the first half of this year, trade between China and the Arab states hit $199.9 billion.

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and his second-in-command Lǐ Qiáng 李强 pledged to intensify support for modern industries at a national conference in Beijing over the weekend, in the latest effort by the Chinese government to boost advanced manufacturing.

Chinese state media: The People’s Daily highlights the Asian Games in Hangzhou, noting that the Chinese team has already won 31 gold medals.

Xinhua News Agency leads with a review of Xi Jinping’s inspection visit to his old stomping grounds of Zhejiang Province, where he urged Party members to “write a new chapter in Chinese-style modernization.”

The Asian Games continues in Hangzhou this week: See above for details of what’s happened so far.

Several United Nations events: The General Assembly High Level Week continues in New York, with the General Debate concluding on September 26, and the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council continues in Geneva until October 3.

The 10th China-EU High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue in Beijing on September 25. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis will represent the EU side, which he will co-chair alongside Hé Lìfēng 何立峰, Vice Premier of the State Council.

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will hold hearings on “countering China’s malign influence operations in the United States” on September 27. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold hearings to examine opportunities to counter the People’s Republic of China’s control of critical mineral supply chains on September 28.

For more on the above and other political events, as well as details on economic data releases, IPOs, and academic and think tank conferences, and all the times and links you need to know, please click through to the full China Agenda.

Arran Hope

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Zhao Yuanyuan

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Economic gloom or boom
Opinion: China’s economic turmoil was inevitable / Foreign Policy (paywall)
Yasheng Huang writes: “As China’s economy steadily grew in recent decades, its advocates championed the country as an antithesis — and an antidote — to liberal economics and politics.”

The global electric vehicle competition
China urges EU to show restraint in EV probe and to use caution / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China’s Vice Premier Hé Lìfēng 何立峰 expressed ‘strong concern and dissatisfaction’ on Monday to the European Union’s chief trade negotiator Valdis Dombrovskis over the bloc’s anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles.”

Local debt
China heads off ‘triangular debt’ quagmire with demands for state repayments / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s top leadership is cranking up the pressure on provincial authorities and state-owned enterprises to pay back money owed to private companies, calling on them to ‘shoulder the responsibility’ as the country eyes a sustainable solution to its overall debt load.”

Huawei
Huawei disappoints viewers by not discussing Mate 60 phones at product launch / Reuters
“Huawei Technologies on Monday showcased a series of new products from a gold smartwatch to a smart car but disappointed viewers by not revealing more details about its new Mate 60 smartphone series, prompting an outpouring of complaints online.”
Huawei unveils slew of new products but keeps quiet on breakthrough Mate 60 Pro and chip inside / SCMP (paywall)
Huawei ‘working extra hours’ to meet surging smartphone demand / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Huawei said on Monday it was ‘working extra hours’ to meet surging domestic demand for its smartphones after the Chinese tech company last month quietly unveiled its first 5G-capable handset, despite U.S. sanctions that had cut off vital chip supplies since 2020.”
Opinion: What the most ‘Chinese’ smartphone yet tells us about politics / FT (paywall)
Chris Miller writes: “What is the significance of Huawei’s new smartphone chip? The controversial Chinese telecoms company has attracted headlines because its new Mate 60 Pro phone has a sophisticated homegrown chip. SMIC, the Chinese chipmaker that Huawei collaborated with, has never previously made such an advanced semiconductor.”

U.S.-China flights increasing slowly
More direct China-U.S. flights on the horizon, but return to 2019 traffic far more distant / SCMP (paywall)
“Direct flights between two countries [are] set to increase in October, a fraction of pre-pandemic routings.”

Stock market
How Xi Jinping is taking control of China’s stock market / FT (paywall)
“By using listing and trading rules to direct capital into sectors that fit his priorities, the president wants the market to serve the state.”

Chinese pork industry back on the rise
China’s pork prices climb after government tops off reserves / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Pork prices in China have picked up appreciably since the government intervened in the market via bulk purchasing.”

Chinese security company in lawsuit following failed investment
China’s Everbright to pay $361 million in British sports media fiasco / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China’s state-owned Everbright Securities agreed to pay 2.64 billion yuan ($361 million) to settle lawsuits in connection with its failed 2016 investment in a now bankrupt U.K. sports media company.”

Real estate
Chinese investors scramble to sell overseas properties amid shaky economic conditions / SCMP (paywall)
“As the Chinese property crisis continues and the growth of household wealth dwindles, some have had to sell their overseas investments.”
How to break the deadlock on China’s real estate market / Caixin (paywall)
“Among China’s first-tier cities, Guangzhou is once again the first to ease restrictions on buying a home.”
Distressed developer China Oceanwide declared bankrupt in Bermuda / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China Oceanwide Holdings, a Beijing-based private developer, said on Monday that the company was to be wound up by a court in Bermuda.”

Evergrande
China Evergrande suffers new blow as curbs on offshore bond sales raise survival alarm, hobble $20 billion debt workout / SCMP (paywall)
“The debt crisis at China Evergrande Group deepened after it failed to meet the nation’s capital-market rules on offshore bond sales, as efforts to repay $20 billion of defaulted debt to foreign creditors hit a critical roadblock and heightened concerns about its survival.”
China Evergrande says it can’t issue new debt / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China Evergrande Group is unable to issue new debt, the embattled real estate group said Sunday, adding to uncertainty over its efforts to restructure offshore debt.”
Former Evergrande CEO and CFO face probe, sources say / Caixin (paywall)
“Multiple current and former executives of China Evergrande Group and its subsidiaries have been swept up by investigations, as authorities look into whether the embattled conglomerate has violated rules over how funds can be used, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.”
China developers drop most in 9 months on Evergrande woes / Bloomberg (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

COVID-19
Opinion: Essential questions for investing in post-pandemic China / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s current macroeconomic landscape is intricate, characterized by a challenging investment environment with increasingly volatile returns. For astute investment decisions, addressing the five queries I have laid out here is paramount.”

Solar panel supply chains
Solar supply chains must diversify away from China, warns EDP / FT (paywall)
“One of the world’s leading solar developers has warned of the need to diversify supply chains for renewable power after it was hit by delays in shipping solar panels from China to the US.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Uyghur scholar received life sentence
China sentences Uyghur scholar to life in prison, rights group says / Reuters
“China has sentenced a high-profile Uyghur academic to life in prison on charges of ‘endangering state security,’ a U.S.-based rights group said, citing a Chinese government source.”
A court in China sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says / AP
Star Uyghur scholar who vanished was sentenced to life in China / NYT (paywall)
China sentenced scholar of Uyghur culture to life in prison, rights group says / WSJ (paywall)

Nomura banker unable to leave China
Senior Nomura banker barred from leaving mainland China / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“A senior Nomura banker has been banned from leaving mainland China, a move connected to a long-running investigation into the country’s top tech dealmaker Bao Fan, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Senior Nomura banker barred from leaving mainland China / FT (paywall)

Democracy in China?
How to get Chinese elites to support democracy / Foreign Policy (paywall)
Yasheng Huang writes: “The sudden fall of former Chinese Foreign Minister Qín Gāng 秦刚 and Defense Minister Lǐ Shàngfú 李尚福 in recent weeks shows how precarious life can be at the top in China. We do not know much about what happened, but one thing is certain: There will be more purges in the future. This is a feature, not a bug, of the country’s system, and one day, it just might serve as a motivation for political change in Beijing.”

Rural development
China village lures young workers with perks in transformation push / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“A village in China’s Shandong province has risen to fame as a model for rural development, attracting young people with generous benefits and businesses whose profits are distributed among residents.”

Legal practice in China
Infringing on lawyers’ rights to practice must stop / Caixin (paywall)
Recently, there have been an alarmingly frequent number of incidents in which lawyers have had their rights infringed upon.

Hong Kong journalist arrested
Head of Hong Kong journalists’ group sentenced to jail for obstructing police / Reuters
“The head of Hong Kong’s leading journalists group was sentenced on Monday to five days jail for obstructing police officers in September last year after a case seen by some critics as a further blow to media freedoms in the financial hub.”

Taiwan
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s popularity hit by #MeToo and egg scandals / SCMP (paywall)
“Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s (Cài Yīngwén 蔡英文) approval rating has dropped to its lowest level in a year – a result that could affect the ruling party’s performance in January’s presidential and legislative elections.”

U.S.-China competition
Don’t be surprised if Xi Jinping is a no-show at U.S. APEC summit / SCMP (paywall)
“In light of the Russia-North Korea summit and China’s chip breakthrough, it’s unlikely that Beijing can be easily talked into another Biden-Xi meeting.”
United States and China launch economic and financial working groups with aim of easing tensions / AP
“The U.S. Treasury Department and China’s Ministry of Finance launched a pair of economic working groups on Friday in an effort to ease tensions and deepen ties between the nations.”
How China can hurt the U.S. economy / Foreign Policy (paywall)
Biden to host Pacific island leaders in U.S. charm offensive vs China / Reuters
“President Joe Biden will host a second summit with Pacific island leaders this week, part of a U.S. charm offensive to block further Chinese inroads into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard.”

Canada
Why did Trudeau dawdle on Chinese election meddling? / Foreign Policy (paywall)
“After months of resisting the idea, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a major public inquiry tasked with investigating how China has meddled in Canadian politics.”

Germany
Berlin takes closer look at sale of MAN gas turbine division to China / Reuters
“The German government is taking a closer look at the sale of Volkswagen subsidiary MAN Energy Solutions’ gas turbine division to a Chinese company, the German company said on Monday.”

Japan
U.S. ambassador to Japan calls Chinese ban on Japanese seafood ‘economic coercion’ / AP
“U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel accused China on Friday of using ‘economic coercion’ against Japan by banning imports of Japanese seafood in response to the release of treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, while Chinese boats continue to fish off Japan’s coasts.”

Pakistan
U.S. envoy’s Gwadar tour shows Pakistan’s evolving China strategy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“A U.S. diplomat’s recent visit to the Pakistani port of Gwadar, the heart of China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in the country, has highlighted Islamabad’s delicate task of balancing ties with rival superpowers and efforts to gain leverage for itself.”

India
Why India’s new U.S.-backed trade corridor to Europe is no ‘anti-China project’ for the Middle East / SCMP (paywall)
“Narendra Modi has great expectations for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) he helped unveil to great fanfare at the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month, but observers say not all nations involved in the belt and road alternative view it as an ‘anti-China project.’”

Afghanistan
Taliban weighs using U.S. mass surveillance plan, met with China’s Huawei / Reuters
“The Taliban are creating a large-scale camera surveillance network for Afghan cities that could involve repurposing a plan crafted by the Americans before their 2021 pullout, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters, as authorities seek to supplement thousands of cameras already across the capital, Kabul.”

Vietnam
Inside Vietnam’s plans to dent China’s rare earths dominance / Reuters
“Vietnam plans to restart its biggest rare-earths mine next year with a Western-backed project that could rival the world’s largest, according to two companies involved, as part of a broader push to dent China’s dominance in a sector that helps power advanced technologies.”

Philippines
China says it took ‘necessary measures’ to drive away Philippine vessel in South China Sea / Reuters
“China’s coast guard took necessary measures in accordance with law to block and drive away a Philippine vessel in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.”
Philippines to remove barrier placed by China in South China Sea – national security advisor / Reuters
“The Philippines will take ‘all appropriate actions to cause the removal of barriers’ in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the country’s national security advisor said on Mond”
Philippines vows to remove floating barrier placed by China’s coast guard at a disputed lagoon / AP
Philippines condemns Chinese ‘floating barrier’ in South China Sea / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
China installs ‘floating barrier’ in South China Sea, Philippines says / WSJ (paywall)

Syria
Leaders of Syria and China announce strategic partnership as part of Asian Games diplomacy / AP
“China and Syria announced the formation of a strategic partnership on Friday as Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 kicked off a series of diplomatic meetings ahead of the upcoming Asian Games.”
China, Syria deepen ties with ‘strategic partnership’ / Caixin (paywall)

The Koreas
China’s Xi seriously considering South Korea visit, Yonhap reports / Reuters
“China’s President Xi Jinping on Saturday said he will seriously consider visiting South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported, as part of efforts to support peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.”
Kim Jong Un tells Xi Jinping in letter he hopes to promote cooperation / Reuters
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to promote cooperative relations with China in a letter to President Xi Jinping, the North’s state media KCNA reported on Sunday.”

Thailand
Chinese tourists get VIP welcome as Thai visa waiver programme begins / Reuters
“Chinese tourists landing in Bangkok got a VIP welcome on Monday, as Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin personally greeted the first batch of visitors to arrive in Thailand after it waived visas for Chinese nationals to boost the key tourism industry.”

Russia
Russia’s top oil and gas chiefs to accompany Putin on China visit / Reuters
“The heads of Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft, Alexei Miller and Igor Sechin, will join President Vladimir Putin’s retinue during his visit to China next month, sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.”

East Timor
China, resource-rich East Timor upgrade bilateral ties / Reuters
“China and East Timor have upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, potentially giving Beijing more influence in the region while satisfying the young half-island nation’s desire for stronger ties with major economies.”

EU
China could do ‘a lot’ to reduce EU perception of risk – EU trade chief / Reuters
“The European Union has no intention of cutting ties with China even as the bloc takes steps to lower economic dependencies and de-risk, but China ‘could do a lot’ to help reduce the perception of risk, the EU trade chief said on Monday.”
Can Europe go green without China’s rare earths? / FT (paywall)
“EU officials fear that a move by Brussels last week to launch an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles could provoke retaliatory trade measures on other key materials.
EU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them / AP
China’s ‘unfairness’ warrants a more assertive EU approach, warns trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis / SCMP (paywall)
Brussels trade chief says China-EU ties ‘at a crossroads’ / FT (paywall)
Western companies take slow steps towards China ‘de-risking’ / FT (paywall)
“Western companies are slowly insulating their China operations from the mounting tensions over trade and geopolitics between Beijing and the west, as governments call for increased ‘de-risking.’”

NATO
NATO’s €1 billioillion venture fund offers defense start-ups an alternative to China / FT (paywall)
“A NATO-backed €1 billioillion venture capital fund plans to inject some financial firepower into defense start-ups to boost the US-led military alliance’s technological edge and fend off competition from China.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Chinese dissident seeks asylum
A Chinese dissident in transit at a Taiwan airport pleads for help in seeking asylum / AP
“ A Chinese dissident known for regularly commemorating the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square fled to Taiwan on Friday and pleaded for help in seeking asylum in the United States or Canada.”

Mining accident kills sixteen
Sixteen killed in accident at state-owned coal mine in China’s Guizhou province / Reuters
“Sixteen people were killed in a coal mine accident in Panzhou city in southwestern China’s Guizhou province on Sunday, according to a filing by the mine’s owner, Guizhou Panjiang Refined Coal Co, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday.”

Asian Games
China’s Xi opens Hangzhou Asian Games, ceremony dazzles / Reuters
“China’s President Xi JinpingXi Jinping opened the COVID-delayed 19th Asian Games in the Eastern city of Hangzhou during a spectacular and at times raucous ceremony on Saturday, which organizers hope will lift the mood in a nation struggling with an economic slump.”
Asia Olympic council ‘looking into’ Indian athletes’ China visa issue / Reuters
“The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Asian Games organizers are examining the issue of three Indian athletes unable to join the games in China due to a visa problem, acting OCA President Raja Randhir Singh said on Sunday.”
Lots of dignitaries but no real fireworks — only electronic flash — as the Asian Games open / AP
CGI torch-bearer in opening ceremony modeled after Chinese middle school boy, organizers reveal / SCMP (paywall)
“The Asian Games opening ceremony was billed as a technological masterclass, the pinnacle of which was a giant CGI torch-bearer running on the Qiantang River and lighting a ceremonial cauldron at the Hangzhou Olympic Sport Centre Stadium.”
China’s gold haul / Caixin (paywall)
“Chinese athletes had a stellar start on the opening day of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, capturing 20 gold medals in 31 events in categories including rowing, shooting, wushu, swimming and gymnastics.”

Education
‘What adjectives describe Xi Jinping?’ China’s new English textbook asks / FT (paywall)
“Tens of thousands of Chinese college freshmen began their English language classes this month with an in-depth study of ‘Never Forget Why You Started,’ an article in which President Xi Jinping describes his tough working life in the impoverished north-west in his youth.”

Charity
Fraudulent fundraising to aid sick children tarnishes China’s charity sector / Caixin (paywall)
“The China Charities Aid Foundation for Children (CCAFC), a nongovernmental group that provides financial assistance to needy families, is one of the country’s most respected charitable institutions. That reputation is now threatened by reports that a staff member for one of the organization’s programs defrauded donors of nearly 10 million yuan ($1.37 million).”