The CHN/ China thread

[Jimbuna]

Exclusive: Evergrande Chairman Hui kept in special detention center in Shenzhen, sources say

HONG KONG, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Hui Ka Yan, the chairman of China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), opens new tab - the company at the centre of the country's property sector crisis - has been moved to a special detention centre in Shenzhen, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Hui, 65, has not been seen in public since he was taken away by Chinese authorities a year ago and his current whereabouts have not been previously reported.
After China's securities regulator found Evergrande's flagship unit had inflated earnings and committed securities fraud, Hui was fined $6.6 million in March and barred from the securities market for life. Evergrande was ordered into liquidation in January.
Hui, who was once China's richest man, is not known to have been formally charged with any crimes and it is unclear how long he will remain in detention or whether he will be tried or set free.
Chinese authorities have detained many former high-flying business executives and some have remained in detention for years with little or no information about their fate.
The property tycoon was initially under house surveillance in Beijing after his arrest, according to one of the sources.
He was transferred to Shenzhen a few months ago to allow him to more easily communicate with top Evergrande executives, said the second source. Evergrande is headquartered in the neighbouring southern city of Guangzhou and its wealth management unit is based in Shenzhen.
The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
China's Ministry of Public Security and the Shenzhen municipal government did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, nor did Hengda Real Estate, Evergrande's main unit. Evergrande's liquidators, who have been appointed by a Hong Kong court, declined to comment.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/...ay-2024-09-12/

[Jimbuna]

China's Xi Jinping to visit Russia next month for the BRICS summit

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence.

Xi's visit to Russia will be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia's action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for weapons production.

Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg Thursday and the two hailed ties between the two countries. The Chinese foreign minister said that Xi “happily accepted” Putin's invite to attend the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October.
Putin, in turn, announced that the two will also sit down for a bilateral meeting in Kazan and discuss various aspects of the Russia-China relations, which “are developing quite successfully” and “in all directions.”

Xi last visited Russia in March 2023 and Putin reciprocated with his own trip to China in Oct. that year. The two leaders have since also met in Beijing in May, where Putin took the first foreign trip of his fifth presidential term, and in Kazakhstan in July.

After launching what the Kremlin insists on calling a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China as Western sanctions cut its access to much of the international trading system. China’s increased trade with Russia, totaling $240 billion last year, has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blows from the sanctions.

Moscow has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and relied on Chinese companies to import high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.

The two countries have also deepened their military ties in the last two years.

The BRICS alliance was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. It has recently undergone an expansion and now includes Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has said it’s considering joining, and Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied.

BRICS has a stated aim to amplify the voice of major emerging economies to counterbalance the Western-led global order. Its founding members have called for a fairer world order and the reform of international institutions like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...aa6d5c9c&ei=25

[Jimbuna]

US House of Representatives approves package of bills to counter China

This week, the US House of Representatives approved a comprehensive package of bills aimed at countering Chinese influence. The initiative received bipartisan support, according to AP.

Technology

Specifically, the House of Representatives supported a bill that prevents federal funds from going to five biotechnology companies linked to China. This measure is deemed necessary to protect American health data and reduce reliance on China for medical supplies.

Another bill bans drones manufactured by the Chinese company DJI, a dominant player in the global market, on national security grounds.

To close an export control loophole, the House supported an amendment intended to block China's remote access — such as through cloud computing services — to advanced US technologies for artificial intelligence development and military modernization.

Espionage

A party-line bill mandates that the Department of Justice address Beijing’s espionage activities targeting US intellectual property and scientific institutions, and prosecute individuals involved in commercial theft, hacking, and economic espionage.

Electric vehicles

The House also approved a measure to exclude Chinese electric vehicles from receiving tax incentives for clean transportation. "America’s working families should not be forced to subsidize a nation whose decades of unfair trade practices and government subsidies have led to lost jobs, shuttered factories, and hollowed-out communities right here at home," said Representative Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican.

Diplomacy

The House backed several measures to strengthen sanctions against China and deepen ties with Asia-Pacific countries to counter Chinese influence.

This could lead to the closure of Hong Kong’s diplomatic missions in the US, stripping them of diplomatic privileges if it is deemed that the territory has lost its autonomy from mainland China.

It is noteworthy that the US and China have not agreed on a specific plan for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

On September 10, the US and China held their first military-to-military talks aimed at stabilizing relations. One of the topics addressed was the tension in the South China Sea.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...e0292d7d&ei=16

[Skybird]

China raises retirement age for the first time since the 1950s.

[Jimbuna]

The top legislative body on Friday approved proposals to raise the statutory retirement age from 50 to 55 for women in blue-collar jobs, and from 55 to 58 for females in white-collar jobs.

Men will see an increase from 60 to 63.

Still a lot better than here in the UK

[Jimbuna]

China accuses Germany of raising security risks with military ships in Taiwan strait

China criticized Germany on Saturday for increasing security risks a day after two German naval vessels passed through the Taiwan Strait, a key waterway that Beijing claims as its territory. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius defended the move, stating that the ships were navigating international waters on the safest route, while Beijing responded by deploying forces to monitor the vessels.

China on Saturday accused Berlin of heightening security risks in the Taiwan Strait, a day after two German military vessels sailed through the sensitive waters.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed on Friday that the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the supply vessel Frankfurt am Main sailed through the strait.
"The German side's behaviour increases security risks and sends incorrect signals," Chinese military spokesperson Li Xi said in a statement.

US military ships as well as those operated by other countries have often sailed through the sensitive waterway.

But the Baden-Wuerttemberg's voyage was the first time in more than two decades that Berlin's navy had done so, according to German media reports.

Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province and claims jurisdiction over the body of water that separates the island from the Chinese mainland.

Germany and many other countries argue such voyages are usual, citing freedom of navigation.

China's Li said Saturday that the People's Liberation Army had sent sea and air forces to "monitor and warn off" the German vessels.

Beijing's troops in the area would "resolutely counter all threats and provocations", Li added.

The two vessels were headed from South Korea to the Philippines, German defence ministry officials said.

Pistorius said on Friday that the course charted by the vessels was "the shortest route".

"It is the safest route given the weather conditions. And these are international waters, so we are sailing through them."

Freedom of navigation

Though Taiwan has only a dozen diplomatic allies, it maintains strong partnerships with various Western democracies such as the United States, which is its biggest weapons supplier.

Read moreBlinken reiterates to China US concern over ‘provocative’ drills around Taiwan

Beijing has in recent years engaged in an escalating campaign of intimidation against Taiwan, including through large-scale military exercises around the island.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...b284604c&ei=12