China Watch Thread

[caltrek]

French Senators Visit Taiwan Despite Chinese Opposition
October 5, 2021

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021 ... ition.html

Introduction:

(Kyodo News) Taipei - A group of French senators who form a France-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group, including former Defense Minister Alain Richard, arrived on the self-governed island on Wednesday, local media reported.

China lodged its strong opposition to their Taiwan visit when the plan came to light in March, with the Chinese ambassador to France sending a letter to Richard saying the move would run counter to the "one-China" principle.

The senators are expected to meet with Taiwanese officials during their visit, including President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday, according to her office.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter on Wednesday that it wishes the senators "a rewarding visit aimed at taking two-way ties to new heights."

When China objected to the senators' plan, the French Foreign Ministry brushed aside the complaint, saying they can freely decide on their planning for visits and meetings.

[caltrek]

The Many Signals China Is Sending With Its Taiwan Flyovers
by Jen Kirby
October 9, 2021

https://www.vox.com/22713517/china-taiw ... s-xi-biden

Introduction:

(Vox) On October 1, the Chinese military sent a batch of 38 warplanes to bother Taiwan. Over the next four days, Taiwan says that the Chinese military deployed about 150 aircraft into its air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, an area that extends past Taiwan’s airspace within which aircraft still have to identify themselves. Taiwan’s defense minister called the provocation the “most serious” in 40 years.

Raymond Kuo:

…The important thing to recognize is that they’re entering the air identification defense zone, the AIDZ, but not Taiwanese airspace. Under international law, your airspace extends 12 nautical miles outside your land boundary, for lack of a better term. AIDZ — I think about 20 countries have declared AIDZ — is, essentially, when you enter this zone, we want you to identify yourself to give our air defenses more time to figure out who you are. So [China’s military] has been entering in this southwestern corner, they’ve been vectoring around Taiwan, so kind of parallel to the Taiwanese territorial waters and airspace.

…I think recently — not just this October, but the previous few months — has been a response to the broader tightening of US alliances in the region. The Joe Biden administration has…quickly coalesced a coalition against China and tightened those alliance relationships that have been atrophying a bit under the Trump administration.

…The Chinese government is not stupid. They understand there’s going to be backlash in Taiwan. I’m not sure, which makes me more concerned. It could be that this is the best option they have, and so they’re just going to use it. It could be that they just really don’t care, so they’re signaling — if you’re dividing it into domestic politics, Taiwanese politics, international politics — they either don’t care about the Taiwanese politics, it’s just for the domestic and international side.

…A lot of what we’re seeing is not just US and Taiwanese dialogue. Earlier this year, Biden’s first two White House summits were with the Japanese prime minister [Suga Yoshihide] and the Korean president [Moon Jae-in] for a reason. In both of those summits, they mentioned Taiwan. That was the first time in 52 years that [Japan and the US] mentioned Taiwan [in a joint statement]. It might have been the first time for Korea.

[wjfox]

China tells mines to produce 'as much coal as possible'

Updated 0819 GMT (1619 HKT) October 20, 2021

The Chinese government has ordered the country's coal mines to "produce as much coal as possible" as it tries to increase production as winter approaches, and ease an ongoing energy crunch.

The announcement from China's National Development and Reform Commission comes after weeks of power shortages across many provinces, forcing the government to ration electricity during peak hours and some factories to suspend production. The problem has weighed on economic growth as industrial output drops.

Beijing pushed coal mines to curtail production earlier this year as the country pursued ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions. But demand has surged for projects that require fossil fuels, and there just hasn't been enough power to go around.

To combat the problem, China began ordering coal mines to ramp up production, with authorities in Inner Mongolia, the country's second largest coal-producing province, ordering dozens of mines to boost output earlier this month.

Now, the NDRC is demanding that mines nationwide up production by as much as they can heading into the final quarter of 2021. Shutting down coal mines is prohibited.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/20/busi ... index.html

[Yuli Ban]

Curious about this reversal on their part. I wonder if they're expecting something...

[wjfox]

China Evergrande shares fall sharply after $2.6bn asset sale collapses

‘No guarantee’ Chinese property giant can meet its $305bn debts, starting with a deadline on Monday that could trigger default

Thu 21 Oct 2021 06.35 BST

Shares in the struggling property giant China Evergrande have fallen sharply after plans to offload a stake in one of its units for $2.6bn fell through, casting further doubt over whether it can avert the country’s biggest ever corporate failure.

China Evergrande Group, the parent company for the sprawling empire built by former steel industry executive Xu Jiayin, was down more than 10% in Hong Kong at midday on Thursday. Evergrande Property Services, one of its most profitable units, was off by 6.45%.

Evergrande announced on Wednesday that it had formally abandoned plans to sell a 50.1% slice of Evergrande Property Services, and said there was “no guarantee” it could meet its financial obligations in order to stay afloat.

The company, which is China’s second-biggest property developer with thousands of projects, has debts of $305bn.

[...]

Evergrande also owes billions to offshore bondholders and has already missed several key bond interest payments since September. The company will officially go into default if it fails to stump up $83.5m when a 30-day grace period for a repayment originally missed in September ends on Monday.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ls-through

[caltrek]

Film Censorship Law Passed in Hong Kong
by Lexi Lonas
October 27, 2021

https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... -hong-kong

Introduction:

(The Hill) A new film censorship law was passed on Wednesday in Hong Kong, stating films that threaten national security cannot be made.

Hong Kong's chief secretary, the second-most-powerful person in the government, will get to decide what movies could potentially threaten national security and can revoke film licenses if they deem a movie is "found to be contrary to national security interests,” Reuters reported.

"The goal is very clear: it’s to improve the film censorship system, to prevent any act endangering the national security," Commerce Secretary Edward Yau said.

If a movie is deemed to threaten national security, it is punishable by a $128,000 fine and up to three years in prison.

The law comes after a national security law was passed in Hong Kong in 2020 that many say has been used to silence pro-democracy voices.

[weatheriscool]

Film Censorship Law Passed in Hong Kong
by Lexi Lonas
October 27, 2021

https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... -hong-kong

Introduction:

(The Hill) A new film censorship law was passed on Wednesday in Hong Kong, stating films that threaten national security cannot be made.

Hong Kong's chief secretary, the second-most-powerful person in the government, will get to decide what movies could potentially threaten national security and can revoke film licenses if they deem a movie is "found to be contrary to national security interests,” Reuters reported.

"The goal is very clear: it’s to improve the film censorship system, to prevent any act endangering the national security," Commerce Secretary Edward Yau said.

If a movie is deemed to threaten national security, it is punishable by a $128,000 fine and up to three years in prison.

The law comes after a national security law was passed in Hong Kong in 2020 that many say has been used to silence pro-democracy voices.

LIterally seig heil level garbag!!!

[Yuli Ban]

Senior US general warns China's military progress is 'stunning' as US is hampered by 'brutal' bureaucracy

In the wake of China's test of a hypersonic missile, the second most senior US general said Thursday that the pace at which China's military is developing capabilities is "stunning" while US development suffers from "brutal" bureaucracy.

The outgoing Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Hyten, echoed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's characterization of China as a "pacing threat" while calling Russia the most imminent threat.
"Calling China a pacing threat is a useful term because the pace at which China is moving is stunning," Hyten told reporters at a Defense Writers Group roundtable Thursday morning. "The pace they're moving and the trajectory they're on will surpass Russia and the United States if we don't do something to change it. It will happen. So I think we have to do something."

[Yuli Ban]

Two Chinese Supercomputers Break Exascale Barrier

Two Chinese supercomputers have already broken the notorious exascale barrier, but their developers prefer to stay quiet about it for now. Both systems are reportedly based on China's homegrown Phytium and Sunway processors and therefore do not use crucial technologies developed outside of Tianxia. If the information is correct, then China is ahead of the U.S. in exascale supercomputing, but there is a catch.

Almost a Year Ahead
Two systems in China achieved 1.3 ExaFLOPS peak performance and around 1.05 ExaFLOPS (or higher) sustained performance in Linpack benchmark in March 2021, reports NextPlatform. However, neither of the machines is currently listed in the global Top 500 list of supercomputers as their developers do not want subcontractors of their partners to get into trouble with the U.S. government.

NextPlatform says it got the information from a source from the U.S. that knows what is going on in China. If the information is accurate, China has beaten the U.S. by almost a year with its exascale system as Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility's Frontier supercomputer will only start operations in late 2021.

Yet, there are some factors to consider. Frontier's target performance is about 1.5 TFLOPS, which is almost 50% higher when compared to the sustained performance of China's exascale supercomputers. Furthermore, Frontier is projected to consume around 30 MW of power, whereas one of its rivals from China has a power consumption of about 35 MW. Last but not least, Chinese developers use existing architectures developed for PetaFLOPS-scale systems and workloads, which may not be optimal in the future.

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

Two Chinese Supercomputers Break Exascale Barrier

Two Chinese supercomputers have already broken the notorious exascale barrier, but their developers prefer to stay quiet about it for now. Both systems are reportedly based on China's homegrown Phytium and Sunway processors and therefore do not use crucial technologies developed outside of Tianxia. If the information is correct, then China is ahead of the U.S. in exascale supercomputing, but there is a catch.

Almost a Year Ahead
Two systems in China achieved 1.3 ExaFLOPS peak performance and around 1.05 ExaFLOPS (or higher) sustained performance in Linpack benchmark in March 2021, reports NextPlatform. However, neither of the machines is currently listed in the global Top 500 list of supercomputers as their developers do not want subcontractors of their partners to get into trouble with the U.S. government.

NextPlatform says it got the information from a source from the U.S. that knows what is going on in China. If the information is accurate, China has beaten the U.S. by almost a year with its exascale system as Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility's Frontier supercomputer will only start operations in late 2021.

Yet, there are some factors to consider. Frontier's target performance is about 1.5 TFLOPS, which is almost 50% higher when compared to the sustained performance of China's exascale supercomputers. Furthermore, Frontier is projected to consume around 30 MW of power, whereas one of its rivals from China has a power consumption of about 35 MW. Last but not least, Chinese developers use existing architectures developed for PetaFLOPS-scale systems and workloads, which may not be optimal in the future.

Senior US general warns China's military progress is 'stunning' as US is hampered by 'brutal' bureaucracy

In the wake of China's test of a hypersonic missile, the second most senior US general said Thursday that the pace at which China's military is developing capabilities is "stunning" while US development suffers from "brutal" bureaucracy.

The outgoing Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Hyten, echoed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's characterization of China as a "pacing threat" while calling Russia the most imminent threat.
"Calling China a pacing threat is a useful term because the pace at which China is moving is stunning," Hyten told reporters at a Defense Writers Group roundtable Thursday morning. "The pace they're moving and the trajectory they're on will surpass Russia and the United States if we don't do something to change it. It will happen. So I think we have to do something."

This is good for Futurism and the Future Timeline. It will spur technological advances here in the West.

[caltrek]

I will put this article in the China thread as there is no thread for Vietnam and China is also mentioned prominently in the piece.

Pandemic Factory Scramble Reshapes Manufacturing — Again
by Courtenay Brown
October 29, 2021

https://www.axios.com/covid-factory-scr ... d64eb.html

Introduction:

(Axuos) Factory talk hasn’t been this hot since the height of the U.S.-China trade war.

• Then: Some companies shifted production out of China to dodge tariffs and moved factories to places like Vietnam.

• Now: They’re scrambling to push production to China — and other countries.

Why it matters: The Delta variant hit manufacturing hubs in Vietnam hard, prompting strict virus mitigation tactics that brought factory production to a screeching halt — and put a dent in consumer products makers' revenues.

What's happening: Signs the angst around Vietnam (a massive supplier of clothing and shoes to the U.S., behind China) is pushing companies to make moves popped up in a ton of earnings calls.

[Yuli Ban]

[caltrek]

China's Homebuilders are on the Brink
by Kate Marino
November 10, 2021

https://www.axios.com/china-homebuilder ... 53ea8.html

Introduction:

(Axios) Since China Evergrande began flaking on debt payments in September, the world’s focus has turned from whether its collapse represents a Lehman Brothers-like moment of systemic peril (it doesn’t) — to whether China’s whole property sector is set for a string of defaults (it probably is).

Why it matters: Lehman or not, the Federal Reserve warned this week that financial fallout from China’s real estate shakeout “could pose some risks to the U.S. financial system.”

Driving the news: At least four Chinese housing developers have formally entered default for not making interest or principal payments on their dollar bonds, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: China’s government thinks developers took on way too much debt, and last year ordered domestic banks to tighten lending standards.

• Yes, but: Those lenders thawed after the Chinese central bank last month made comments that appeared to ask them to loosen up credit to prevent a property sector meltdown.

[Yuli Ban]

China's Evergrande Group officially defaults

China Evergrande Group officially announced that it had defaulted on Wednesday, after bondholders awaited coupon payments at the end of a 30-day grace period at the close of Asia business.

Evergrande, the world's most indebted developer, has been stumbling from deadline to deadline in recent weeks as it grapples with more than $300 billion in liabilities, $19 billion of which are international market bonds.

The company has not defaulted on any of its offshore debt obligations – yet. But a 30-day grace period on coupon payments of more than $148 million on its April 2022, 2023 and 2024 bonds ended on Wednesday.

The failure to pay results in a formal default by the company, and triggers cross-default provisions for other Evergrande dollar bonds, exacerbating a debt crisis looming over the world's second-largest economy.

For its two separate offshore coupon payment obligations that were due in late September, the developer's bondholders did not receive the payments until one working day after the 30-day grace periods ended.

Evergrande's problems add to concerns about a liquidity squeeze in the property sector. It also has coupon payments totaling more than $255 million on its June 2023 and 2025 bonds due on Dec. 28.

China's property woes rattled global markets in September and October. There was a brief lull in mid-October after Beijing tried to reassure markets the crisis would not be allowed to spiral out of control.

HOLD ONTO YOUR BUTTS, KIDS

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

China's Evergrande Group officially defaults

China Evergrande Group officially announced that it had defaulted on Wednesday, after bondholders awaited coupon payments at the end of a 30-day grace period at the close of Asia business.

Evergrande, the world's most indebted developer, has been stumbling from deadline to deadline in recent weeks as it grapples with more than $300 billion in liabilities, $19 billion of which are international market bonds.

The company has not defaulted on any of its offshore debt obligations – yet. But a 30-day grace period on coupon payments of more than $148 million on its April 2022, 2023 and 2024 bonds ended on Wednesday.

The failure to pay results in a formal default by the company, and triggers cross-default provisions for other Evergrande dollar bonds, exacerbating a debt crisis looming over the world's second-largest economy.

For its two separate offshore coupon payment obligations that were due in late September, the developer's bondholders did not receive the payments until one working day after the 30-day grace periods ended.

Evergrande's problems add to concerns about a liquidity squeeze in the property sector. It also has coupon payments totaling more than $255 million on its June 2023 and 2025 bonds due on Dec. 28.

China's property woes rattled global markets in September and October. There was a brief lull in mid-October after Beijing tried to reassure markets the crisis would not be allowed to spiral out of control.

HOLD ONTO YOUR BUTTS, KIDS

This is it huh. Lets see how the USA and Europe fares here.

[Yuli Ban]

Getting conflicting reports that Evergrande HASN'T defaulted yet.

[Yuli Ban]

China is urging families to stock up on food as supply challenges multiply

China is telling families to stock up on food and other daily essentials as bad weather, energy shortages and Covid-19 restrictions threaten to disrupt supplies.

The country's Ministry of Commerce late Monday issued a notice directing local governments to encourage people to stockpile "daily necessities," including vegetables, oils and poultry, in order to "meet the needs of daily life and emergencies."
The agency also urged local authorities to make sure that people have an "adequate supply" of essentials this winter into next spring. And it told those authorities to keep prices stable — a source of anxiety in recent weeks, as the cost of vegetables has surged throughout China because of unusually heavy rainfall that has hurt crops.
China has stressed the importance of shoring up food and other daily supplies in the past — including in September, ahead of a major weeklong holiday period. But those statements are usually very obviously intended for local authorities to read, and rarely capture the attention of everyday citizens. The inclusion of language in this statement that mentions families, though, appears to be putting people on edge.

[wjfox]

Cultural Revolution was a catastrophe and Mao was responsible, China’s Communist Party upholds in landmark statement

17 Nov, 2021

China’s Communist Party has reiterated its official verdicts on the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.

That is according to a new historical resolution adopted by its top leadership last week, only the third such resolution in the party’s 100-year history.

The resolution, according to the full text released by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday, states that the party never swerved from its rejection of the Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into a decade of chaos and violence from 1966.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politic ... esponsible

[Ozzie guy]

Cultural Revolution was a catastrophe and Mao was responsible, China’s Communist Party upholds in landmark statement

17 Nov, 2021

China’s Communist Party has reiterated its official verdicts on the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.

That is according to a new historical resolution adopted by its top leadership last week, only the third such resolution in the party’s 100-year history.

The resolution, according to the full text released by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday, states that the party never swerved from its rejection of the Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into a decade of chaos and violence from 1966.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politic ... esponsible

They are further attacking socialism and promising to always be capitalist "The party want to make sure Deng’s legacy of ending the Cultural Revolution and launch of reform and opening up policy would never be abandoned."

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

Cultural Revolution was a catastrophe and Mao was responsible, China’s Communist Party upholds in landmark statement

17 Nov, 2021

China’s Communist Party has reiterated its official verdicts on the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.

That is according to a new historical resolution adopted by its top leadership last week, only the third such resolution in the party’s 100-year history.

The resolution, according to the full text released by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday, states that the party never swerved from its rejection of the Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into a decade of chaos and violence from 1966.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politic ... esponsible

What a weird thing to say. I cannot specify why but it just seems odd but it is China after all.