All the news that’s not fit to print in China

Beijing relieved Foreign Minister Qín Gāng 秦刚 of his duties this week after an unexplained absence from public view that has already lasted a month. That was the big news out of China this week.

Chinese state media and the country’s beleaguered, highly-censored press and social media barely mentioned Qin. Many column inches and broadcast minutes however, have been devoted to covering the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice. South Korea is not much mentioned in these reports and opinion pieces: the enemy was the U.S.

That history is still very much a part of regional politics: scroll down for a summary or click through for details on how Seoul’s rapprochement with Japan and growing closeness to the U.S. is affecting its relations with Beijing.

Our Phrase of the Week is: Robbing the opportunities of others (半路截胡 bànlù jiéhú), which is being bandied about on the Chinese internet after parents in the northwestern city of Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, found that this year’s high school exam included students from other provinces.

Phrase of the Week is written by Andrew Methven, who last week also compiled a guide to 10 Chinese-language podcasts you should listen to. He is now offering a short course to help Mandarin learners find the best native Chinese language podcasts to support their language learning and China watching needs.

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Jeremy Goldkorn Editor-in-Chief

In April, China took umbrage when Yoon condemned “attempts to change the status quo by force” in Taiwan. Yoon then enjoyed a state visit to America, where he was feted by Joe Biden. In July, the USS Kentucky submarine, which is capable of firing long-range nuclear ballistic missiles docked at the port of Busan in mid-July, 2023.

These moves aren’t winning Yoon friends in China, writes Duncan Bartlett.

Qin has been missing for weeks as rumors swirl over the reasons for his disappearance, but the government isn’t saying what happened.

This is what else happened this week:

Life in prison for ex-Hangzhou Party boss: From 2018 to 2021, Zhōu Jiāngyǒng 周江勇 was the Communist Party’s top man in Hangzhou, the picturesque lake city that is also one of the country’s internet business hubs. He is now behind bars.

Last week, Beijing released a plan to incentivize entrepreneurs and companies. This week, China’s top economic planning body announced another scheme to encourage private investment in a variety of projects, including public infrastructure.

Eleven people died when a school gym’s roof collapsed on July 23 in Qiqihar City, northeastern Heilongjiang Province. Most of the victims were students.

An American soul singer and Turkish poet released a song to protest Uyghur suffering: Della Miles starred in Michael Jackson’s “Sisterella” and sang backup for Whitney Houston. Now she hopes the song “East Turkistan” will stir listeners to action.

These are the online versions of our Daily Dispatch newsletters this week:

July 24, 2023: 11 die after school gym roof collapses…and Beijing releases yet another plan to encourage private business

July 25, 2023: The amazing disappearing foreign minister…and Barbie in China

July 26, 2023: Life in prison for the former Party boss of Hangzhou…and can rock and roll save Shijiazhuang?

July 27, 2023: ​​New report predicts location of China’s next overseas military base…and China does not like South Korea cozying up to Japan and the U.S.

Other features from The China Project this week:

Chinese wind power companies are huge and so are their turbines. Import tariffs in Western countries and the sheer size of the gear and the cost of shipping it are slowing down their domination of foreign markets.

China and Kuwait have vowed to deepen relations. Kuwait was the first Gulf state to recognize the People’s Republic of China, and has maintained a healthy economic relationship with the country ever since, Alex Colville writes.

China’s next overseas military base will likely be at a Sri Lankan port, according to a new report. The People’s Liberation Army Navy’s first overseas military base was built in Djibouti, an East African port already teeming with Chinese commercial interests. Researchers think Beijing could use the same playbook again.

Deepening divisions across Southeast Asia are giving China leverage. ASEAN’s leading role in Southeast Asia, a key battleground for influence between major powers, and the bloc’s nominal unity have been seriously eroded in the face of China’s rising clout, with considerable geopolitical implications beyond the region, Thompson Chau reports.

The 29-year-old forward, whose Chinese name is Lǐ Kǎiěr 李凯尔, is the latest addition to a growing list of foreign athletes who have opted to compete for China at international competitions. He is the first basketball player to make that decision.

More editor’s picks from this week:

Tapping into the city’s rock ‘n’ roll roots, the local government of Shijiazhuang is hoping to transform its image from a smoggy industrial hub into a popular destination for music lovers. But how much are authorities willing to let people embrace the rock ‘n’ roll spirit?

Barbie has drawn heaps of praise from Chinese female moviegoers, who applaud it for its strong feminist message, with some recommending it to other women as a “test” for their male partners’ thoughts on gender-related issues.

Exiled writer Chiang Yee, through war and loneliness, lived quite the life. Born in Jiujiang, Chiang Yee (Jiǎng Yí 蒋彝) found himself in England in 1933, where he became an exile after war broke out back home. He became a “silent traveler,” and wrote books beloved in his adopted land. Read Paul French’s latest.

Princess Taiping’s coup: During the Tang dynasty, court machinations saw at least two women reach the very cusp of supreme power in two coups in the imperial palace, taking place on consecutive weeks, three years apart. James Carter has this first part of a two-part column.

Forget about avant-garde theatrics and elaborate props — Liú Zǐqiān 刘子千’s simple, elegant, slightly surreal photographs are no ordinary self-portraits.

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.

More from the Sinica Podcast Network:

WeChat lets users link overseas cards for everyday payments in China, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry visits China Rio Tinto warns of slowing iron ore shipments as China recovery falters, and China vows to create a bigger, better, and stronger private sector: Listen to the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief.

Confucius Institutes (CIs) were once known only for teaching Mandarin language and culture classes, but the organization’s mission has evolved recently to now include “training” sessions for African journalists on how to cover China. CIs are now part of a robust Chinese toolkit that Beijing uses to try and frame media narratives in Africa.

During the Tang dynasty, court machinations saw at least two women reach the very cusp of supreme power in two coups in the imperial palace, taking place on consecutive weeks, three years apart. But that’s only the beginning of the story: Listen to part one of two in This Week in China’s History.

On our TikTok channel:

11 died after a middle school gym’s roof collapsed in Heilongjiang Province, drawing attention to a myriad of public safety concerns.

China’s anti-corruption efforts continue, with a few new Party members under the microscope this month.

Kyle Anderson became China’s first naturalized basketball player, the latest addition to a growing list of foreign athletes who have opted to compete for China at international competitions.