China calls for ‘two-state solution’ after Hamas attack
...and Schumer meets Xi | October 9, 2023
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Jeremy Goldkorn
Editor-in-Chief
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
China calls for ‘two-state solution’ in Israel-Palestine conflict |
Hamas militants cheer as they drive the body of an Israeli woman into Gaza after the attack on Saturday. Screenshot from video uploaded to X. |
China called on all parties in the Israel-Palestine conflict to “remain calm, exercise restraint,” after Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist militant group which rules the Gaza Strip, made a large-scale surprise attack on Israel on October 7. The attack on Saturday prompted Israel to unleash retaliatory airstrikes and issue a formal declaration of war yesterday.
China’s relationship with Israel and Palestine is a complicated one.
Click through for the full story.
Anthony Tao |
NEWS BRIEFING
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Here’s what else you need to know about China today:
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is leading a bipartisan delegation of six senators on a trip to China, Japan, and Korea. Today Schumer met Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and called on him to support Israel after deadly attacks by Hamas. Schumer also said the main goal of the trip was to seek economic reciprocity and “provide a level playing field for American companies and workers.” The trip may also serve as preparation for a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi, which Biden said is a “possibility” at next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. However, no sit-down has yet been scheduled. The U.S. added 42 Chinese companies to its export blacklist, along with seven other firms from Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom, for “providing support to Russia’s military and defense industrial base.” On October 6, the Commerce Department stated that the total 49 entities added to its Entity List accounted for “a significant portion” of the global trade in U.S.-origin integrated circuits to Russia from March to July this year, which are used by Moscow in the precision guidance systems in the missiles and drones fired against civilian targets in the Russia-Ukraine war. “Today’s additions to the Entity List provide a clear message: if you supply the Russian defense sector with U.S.-origin technology, we will find out, and we will take action,” Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod said in the statement. India accused Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi and Vivo of helping transfer illegal funds to local news portal NewsClick, which is under investigation on charges of spreading Chinese propaganda. Critics say the investigation is an intentional attack on press freedom. Indian police have leveled wide-ranging charges against NewsClick, raided dozens of homes, and arrested some of its prominent journalists and authors, including founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha. The police have accused them of attempting to sabotage India’s 2019 general election, as well as to “peddle a narrative, both globally and domestically, that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are disputed territories” and are “not part of India.” Typhoon Koinu left one dead and more than 300 injured in Taiwan last week, and the remnants of the storm are now bringing heavy rainfall and floods to southern China. Ferry services connecting the southern Chinese island province of Hainan with the mainland have been suspended, while authorities in the financial hub of Hong Kong temporarily shut schools and canceled some flights, leaving hundreds stranded at the city’s airport. China’s Golden Week saw tourism rebound to near pre-pandemic levels, but still fell short of government expectations. The longer-than-usual holiday from September 29 to October 6 saw domestic tourism revenue hit 753.43 billion yuan ($103.24 billion), up 1.5% from 2019, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported. Meanwhile, a total of 826 million domestic trips were made across China, up 71.3% year-on-year and an increase of 4.1% from 2019. Both figures were lower than earlier predictions from the ministry of 896 million trips and 782.5 billion yuan ($107.3 billion) in domestic tourism revenue. China’s ruling Communist Party expelled the ex-chairman of the state-owned Bank of China Liú Lián’gě 刘连舸, 62, from the Party for allegedly conducting illegal activities and taking bribes, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement on its website on October 7. China named its new Party chief of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Yīn Héjùn 阴和俊, 60, will take the role of Party secretary, replacing 65-year-old Wáng Zhìgāng 王志刚, who will retain a position as a minister, the ministry announced (in Chinese) on October 7. Yin is the former deputy chief of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Chinese state media: In 2017, the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party introduced Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era (习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想) to the world. We now have a new phrase: Xi Jinping Thought on Culture (习近平文化思想), introduced by today’s People’s Daily as the outcome of a two-day National Ideological and Cultural Work Conference held in Beijing over the weekend. Xinhua News Agency leads with a report on the 18th National Congress of Trade Unions of China which opened in Beijing today and was attended by Xi and other senior leaders. (China’s trade unions are controlled by the Communist Party and are not able to organize independently.)
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BELT AND ROAD DISPATCH
Checking in on the ‘green silk road’ |
Illustration for The China Project by Derek Zheng |
The “green silk road” is a sustainability-flavored subtheme to the Belt and Road Initiative, designed to burnish Beijing’s green credentials and advance its claims to global leadership on environmental topics, and contribute to renewable energy projects in Central Asia.
The domination of Chinese companies in Uzbekistan’s green transition and an emerging Gulf-China partnership in renewables could be a potential concern for European investors, writes Jacob Mardell’s in the third installment of his four-part series on the Belt and Road.
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THE CHINA AGENDA
October 9–15 — U.S. senators in China, and Taiwan’s National Day |
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) talks with Shanghai Party Secretary Chén Jíníng 陈吉宁, in Shanghai, October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/Pool |
From our new weekly preview of upcoming events:
The key event this week is the Chuck Schumer-led delegation to China.
Other upcoming political and business events:
Click through for the full agenda for this week.
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MORE FROM THE CHINA PROJECT
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FROM THE NEWSBASE
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 Banking U.S.-China tech war Electric vehicles Cybercrime Factories are looking for alternatives to China Evergrande Huawei SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:Climate change Extreme weather Taiwan weather satellite Pet cloning POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:Military Corruption Taiwan U.S.-China competition and tensions South Korea Palestine-Israel conflict Philippines Russia SOCIETY AND CULTURE:Feminism Lifestyle Migrant workers Asian Games Movies Online shopping Haidilao’s latest venture
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