In mid-2018, the US declared the China American Cold War a go. It comprised a series of ratcheting trade tariffs by the Trump Administration directed at China. these were directed largely at shifting global manufacturing supply chains, especially in technology, away from China. The measures were directed specifically at China’s stated aim of dominating global technology, artificial intelligence and robotics by 2025.
Other dimensions of the growing Great Power conflict included freedom of navigation through the South China Sea where China had constructed series of far-flung militarised atolls that armed the distant approaches to its mainland and effectively claimed that ocean as sovereign Chinese.
The Cold War was also concentrated around Chinese ‘sharp power’ which had made significant inroads in influencing policy outcomes within the US alliance network in and around the Asia Pacific via bribes, debt diplomacy and corruption of media.
The China American Cold War showed all of the characteristics of an historic, ideological struggle between liberal democracy and statist growth that had defined the 20th century battle between the US and the Soviet Union.
Via Domain: Labor senator Kimberley Kitching and Victorian Liberal MP Kevin Andrews intend to establish the Parliamentary Friends of Democratic Hong Kong group, calling for the protection of democracy in Hong Kong and promoting a peaceful end to the violence. …Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick on Monday criticised both the government and federal Labor’s refusal
Via Michael Sainsbury at Crikey: The arrest of Chinese-Australian author and democracy promoter Yang Hengjun has triggered an overdue but welcome change in attitude by Canberra towards the fate of Australians effectively kidnapped by Beijing’s authoritarian government. It’s probably wishful to think that Yang, who was originally detained in January 2019 on spying charges, will
For a long time now MB has argued that the future history of the Chinese Communist Party is very different to its recent past. As the Chinese economy stalls into its great debt funk, going ex-growth, we see the CCP facing increasing internal destabilisation as its post-Tiananmen social contract with Chinese peoples frays. That was
From SCMP: China’s exports fell unexpectedly in August, as the trade war with the United States continued to hit the world’s second largest economy. Exports fell by 1 per cent last month after growing 3.3 per cent in July. The August result was below the 2.1 per cent growth expected in poll of analysts conducted
No doubt about it, Labor is committed to twenty years in opposition. From Kevin Rudd today: The most important thing about Australia having a national China strategy is to have one. At present, we do not. What we have instead is a government with a series of attitudes about China, rather than a coherent policy
Cross-posted from Sinocism. The next round of US-China trade talks is set for “early” October, not September as some had been speculating. While I am not optimistic for any big breakthroughs there are signs in the announcement and some of the propaganda coverage that there may be some positive news in the run up to
Via the Petroleum Economist: Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Zarif paid a visit to his Chinese counterpart Wang Li at the end of August to present a road map for the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, signed in 2016. The updated agreement echoes many of the points contained in previous China-Iran accords, and already in the public
Super news: BREAKING: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to announce formal withdrawal of the extradition bill https://t.co/5EgU5EnO6s — SCMP News (@SCMPNews) September 4, 2019 Now let’s see how the protesters pursue their remaining four demands.
Via Bloomberg: President Donald Trump sought to prod China into doing a trade deal before the U.S. presidential election in November 2020, or face even more difficult negotiations during his potential second term. “Think what happens to China when I win,” Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday. “Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER!” Trump said
Via Michael Every at RaboBank: As mentioned on Friday, welcome to both La Grande rentrée and weltschmerz: and combining the two, this week we are ‘back with a bang’. That seems appropriate given yesterday marked 80 years since the start of WW2, which one would have thought would have received far more media coverage than it did: instead, far
Via Domain: Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she has caused “unforgivable havoc” by igniting the political crisis engulfing the city and would quit if she had a choice, according to an audio recording of remarks she made last week to a group of businesspeople. At the closed-door meeting, Lam told the group that
After marches and water cannon Saturday things got worse as darkness fell. Via Hong Kong Free Press: Violent scenes erupted across Hong Kong on Saturday night, as the MTR closed five lines and police fired two live rounds in Causeway Bay. Local media reported that the warning shots were fired as police were conducting arrests
Oh dear. Via Nikkei: As China allows the yuan to depreciate to a level not seen in 11 years, financial authorities have rolled out measures to stem capital outflows from the mainland. The new rules include stricter oversight of banks in times of capital flight and restrictions on real estate developers’ access to foreign currency
Via Clive Hamilton at Courier Mail: …universities are vital to the [CCP] party’s campaign to change the global conversation about China and its role in the world. It has many tools at its disposal. Chinese diplomats do not hesitate to phone vice chancellors to express their displeasure and make veiled threats about the revenue they
Ratings agencies don’t get much right but this report is spot on and ahead of the curve, via S&P: – After four golden decades, China faces an inescapable slowdown due to demographics, deleveraging, rebalancing, and convergence. This is natural and mostly healthy. – Productivity will set the pace of China’s slowdown and will depend on
Steve Bannon on Huawei, Hong Kong, trade war, etc: Wrap below. Huawei is the greatest national security threat that America has ever faced—even greater than the threat of nuclear war—according to former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. The Chinese company Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and
Via Epoch Times: Beijing appeared to be sending deliberate warnings to Hong Kong protesters with its irregular troop rotation in the region and a state media editorial openly endorsing the Hong Kong government to declare a state of emergency. At around 4 a.m. local time on Aug. 29, China’s state-run media Xinhua announced that troops
Via The Australian: China has told Australia to “stop hyping up” the case of arrested Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun as concern grows in Australia over his detention and treatment in Beijing. “We urge the Australian side to respect China’s judicial sovereignty, stop hyping up the issue and pressuring China and stop interfering in any way
From Jeremy Thorpe, PwC’s Chief Economist and is a Partner in PwC’s national Economics & Policy team, via China Matters: As the economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has grown, it has matured from an overwhelming reliance on investment and exports to one in which a wealthier population has the capacity to consume
Via the FT comes the Chinese Communist Party hastening its own exit from the global economy: Foreign companies operating in China are unprepared for tougher sanctions under a corporate “social credit” system imposed by Beijing, a European business group has warned. Chinese regulators from tax officials to customs agents are increasingly rating companies according to
I think not. From The Economist: The beatings will continue until morale improves.
So, let’s get through the daily Angry China update. First up, the Communist Party is roaring at the G7, via News: China has fired back at G7 leaders following a joint declaration in Biarritz, accusing them of “meddling” and “harbouring evil intentions” over protests in Hong Kong. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comments
Via CNA: The Chinese-ruled city is grappling with its biggest political crisis since its handover to Beijing in 1997 and Communist Party authorities have sent a clear warning that forceful intervention is possible to quell the violence. Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader said she was confident the city’s government could handle the unrest by itself and
Via Domain come a pack of &[email protected]#$^ cowards: Pop star and activist Denise Ho has accused the National Gallery of Victoria of censorship after an event about the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests was cancelled. Organisers say the venue cited security concerns as the reason for not allowing the event to go ahead, and that it was
Step by step Hong Kong gets worse, via SCMP: A gunshot was fired on Sunday and water cannon were deployed for the first time in Hong Kong’s increasingly violent anti-government protests. Three police officers, who were chased and beaten by a mob of club-wielding protesters, pulled their revolvers, with one firing at least one warning
Via Politico: President Donald Trump said Sunday that a trade deal with Japan “is done in principle.” “We have been working on a deal with Japan for a long time,” he said at the G-7 summit alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and teams from both countries. “It involves agriculture and it involves e-commerce and
First it was UTS and Curtin: Two Australian universities are reviewing funding and research approval procedures due to concerns over links to technology that is being used to carry out mass human rights abuses by the Chinese Government in Xinjiang province. Last night, Four Corners revealed that the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is conducting
Via Fox News come Steve Mnuchin: Via Stephen Letts at the ABC: When US Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump ordered his corporate battalions to cease dealing with China, it was far more theatre than the theatre of war. Such an edict did have an immediate impact, but perhaps not the way the President intended. His frontline troops
There’s lot’s to recommend doing so. As things stand, Australia is caught on the horns of an economic versus strategic dilemma. Caught as it is between prosperity and freedom, the future is going to be one of constant anxiety as we get squeezed between our two Great and Powerful friends. If we were to explicitly
Via the ABC: A Nobel laureate in dark energy scared the bejeezus out of Australia’s university chiefs and intelligence agency officials a fortnight ago. “I want my pain to be your gain so that you know what we are up against,” astrophysicist Professor Brian Schmidt said. He warned of an existential threat to free and
