Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- Blinken Calls China, Russia Efforts to Disrupt Global Order Serious Mistakes — The chief U.S. diplomat, speaking at WSJ’s CEO Council Summit, declines to detail potential responses, if Taiwan or Ukraine are invaded.
- China Aims to ‘Revise the Global Rule Set,’ Top U.S. General Says — Gen. Milley, speaking at the WSJ CEO Council Summit, warned that China’s aims could lead to more instability.
- Chinese Social-Media Giant Weibo Drops in Hong Kong Market Debut — Company secures homecoming listing amid uncertainty about the future of Chinese listings in the U.S.
- Australia to Stage Diplomatic Boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing — U.S. ally’s decision comes after White House said it wouldn’t send officials to the Games.
The Financial Times
- Australia joins US in diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics — Canberra will not send official representatives on concerns over Xinjiang and Hong Kong crackdowns.
- Betting on democracy: Biden’s big idea for US foreign policy — Facing competition from China and Russia, the White House is emphasising liberal values. But will it push autocracies closer together?
- Evergrande stock hits new lows as investors brace for possible default — Chinese developer’s woes spread through sector as heavily indebted peer Kaisa suspends shares.
- China to tighten rules for tech companies seeking foreign funding — Regulators plan blacklist for start-ups that use variable interest entities to attract international capital.
- Chinese weddings fall to 13-year low as demographic crisis brews — Gender imbalance and high cost of tying the knot blamed for fewer couples getting married.
The New York Times
- Britain Will Not Send Top Officials to the Beijing Olympics — “There will be effectively a diplomatic boycott,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of the decision to join the United States and others in registering discontent over human-rights abuses in China.
- How China Censored Peng Shuai — Chinese propaganda officials have tried to shape the global discussion of the tennis player Peng Shuai’s #MeToo accusations, but their top-down strategy has largely stumbled.
- China Evergrande Investors Relax Despite Default Deadline — The creation of a committee with government representation reassured investors fearful about what would happen if the huge property developer collapsed.
Caixin
- PBOC Cuts Rates on Relending Facilities for Small Businesses and Rural Sectors — China’s central bank sets relending rates lower by 25 basis points, in a move to support smaller enterprises amid a slowing economy.
- Weibo Posts Loss in Hong Kong Debut Amid Tech Stock Turmoil — The now dual-listed social media giant fell 7.2% in its first day of trading after raising $385 million.
- Fosun and BioNTech Are Developing Omicron-Specific Vaccine — Approval of shot targeting new Covid variant may take three to four months, but the public doesn’t ‘need to panic,’ Chinese drugmaker says.
South China Morning Post
- US-China tech war: Washington, Taipei agree to strengthen cooperation on semiconductor policy — Washington and Taipei have agreed to establish a new framework to boost investment and strengthen cooperation in key technology sectors like semiconductors, a move sure to anger Beijing, which has called on the US to end official contact with Taiwan officials.
- Lay-offs at China’s Big Tech mount with Kuaishou, iQiyi said to be joining ByteDance in job cuts — A new wave of job cuts is shaking China’s Big Tech firms as 2021 comes to a close, with short video giant Kuaishou, rival ByteDance, and Baidu-owned video-streaming platform iQiyi all said to be trimming their payrolls.
- British government turns down proposal to extend Hong Kong BN(O) visa scheme to adult children of eligible parties — The proposed amendment would have expanded eligibility to include Hongkongers aged 18 to 25 who do not possess BN(O) status, but whose parents do.
- Hong Kong Immigration Department looks into claim 2 senior officers got luxury hampers from developer China Evergrande — Deputy director Benson Kwok and Chief Immigration Officer Jacky Wong reportedly received luxury Mid-Autumn Festival hampers from Evergrande director.
Bloomberg
- Evergrande EVs Not on Approval List, Raising Delivery Doubts — Two models being developed by China Evergrande Group’s electric-vehicle unit weren’t included on an approval list issued by the nation’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, putting another question mark over whether the company will be able to mass produce a car and begin deliveries as promised.
- HNA Cedes Control of Core Airline Operations Marking End of Era — HNA Group Co. has officially handed over control of its core airline operations to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co., marking the end of an era for the Chinese conglomerate as it continues to restructure one of the country’s biggest piles of corporate debt.
- Kaisa Suspends Trading Amid Uncertainty Over Debt Repayment — Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. has suspended stock trading in Hong Kong amid growing concern over the Chinese developer’s ability to service its debts as distress in the nation’s property sector spreads.
Reuters
- China’s HNA transfers airline management to Fangda Group — China’s HNA Group Co Ltd said it has transferred management of its core aviation business, including Hainan Airlines Holding Co Ltd, to strategic investor Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co Ltd, effective Wednesday.
- Beijing warns against disorderly construction of data centres — Local governments in China should prevent the “blind and disorderly development” of power-hungry data centres, Beijing said on Wednesday as it seeks to reduce carbon emissions from the country’s technology and communications sector.
Other Publications
- The Information: Inside Tim Cook’s Secret $275 Billion Deal with Chinese Authorities — Interviews and internal Apple documents provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the company made concessions to Beijing and won key legal exemptions. CEO Tim Cook personally lobbied officials over threats that would have hobbled its devices and services. His interventions paved the way for Apple’s unparalleled success in the country.
- Toronto Star: An exhausted diplomat and two ecstatic ex-hostages: Inside the emotional flight that brought the ‘two Michaels’ home — In an exclusive interview with the Star as he announced his Dec. 31 departure from the diplomatic post he’s held for just two years, Barton revealed new details about the behind-the-scenes campaign to free Kovrig, the Canadian diplomat on leave, and Spavor, the Canadian entrepreneur.
- The Globe and Mail: A residential school system in China is stripping Tibetan children of their languages and culture, report claims — Almost 80 per cent of Tibetan children in China have been placed in a vast system of government-run boarding schools, where they are cut off from their families, languages and traditional culture, according to an analysis of official data by researchers at Tibet Action Institute.
- The Verge: Microsoft says it took over servers being used by China-based hacking group Nickel 3 — Microsoft seized control of 42 compromised sites.
