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
- U.S. Moving—Some Say Too Slowly—to Address TikTok Security Risk — Commerce Department proposes rule to widen restrictions on Chinese apps; Sen. Marco Rubio says administration is taking timid steps on data security.
- In China, Footage of a Chained-Up Rural Mother of Eight Draws Outcry — Footage of a woman kept in a shed has triggered online calls for better protections for women and the mentally ill in rural China.
- Where Olympic Sponsor Coca-Cola Stands With China — Coke grabbed a bigger piece of the sponsorship pie before the Beijing Games, but in the U.S. its expanded involvement is easy to miss.
The Financial Times
- China pours money into Iraq as US retreats from Middle East — Beijing strengthens regional ties despite overall fall in Belt and Road investment.
- Australia backs rare earths mine to reduce China’s supply dominance — $100mn project finance for Yangibana expected to feed Europe’s automotive sector.
- EU to outline tech standards plan to counter China influence — Competition chief Margrethe Vestager says new rulemaking strategy needed amid assertive moves from Beijing.
- China’s Tsinghua Unigroup axes major memory chip projects — Debt-laden company to overhaul mobile chip unit under new investors.
The New York Times
- In Clash With U.S. Over Ukraine, Putin Has a Lifeline From China — President Biden could find his plans to punish Russia undermined by Xi Jinping, a longtime ally of Mr. Putin. But China moves cautiously during crises.
Caixin
- In Depth: Singapore, Hong Kong Vie for Billionaires’ Bucks — New generation of China’s ‘tech rich’ offers a lucrative target for the two venues’ burgeoning family office industries.
South China Morning Post
- Former US security officials join forces on ‘critical’ China contest bill — More than a dozen former national security officials from Democratic and Republican administrations have written to Congress calling for a bipartisan approach to technology funding legislation, calling it “critical” if the country is to compete against China.
- US human rights professor denied visa by Hong Kong immigration authorities for university teaching position — Immigration Department rejects visa application by Dr Ryan Thoreson to teach human rights full-time at University of Hong Kong.
Bloomberg
- Hong Kong Shortens Covid Hospital Stays with Testing Change — Hong Kong is accelerating the release of Covid-19 patients from the hospital as the city grapples with a growing number of infections that are taxing its health care facilities.
- Europe’s Plan to Challenge China in Africa Snagged Over Funding — A number of member states are resisting signing onto a European Union strategy to respond to China’s clout in Africa before a high-profile summit later this month, according to EU officials familiar with the discussions.
- Macau Isn’t Winning the Jackpot From Being Beijing’s Favorite — China’s Covid-zero policy, with its strict border closures, is locking down another economy: the region’s premier gambling hub.
Reuters
- U.S. trade official says China failed to meet ‘Phase 1’ commitments — Through November, China had met only about 60% of that goal, according to trade data compiled by Peterson Institute for International Economics senior fellow Chad Bown.
- China inks nuclear power plant deal with Argentina — State-owned China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) has signed a contract with Nucleoeléctrica Argentina S.A. to build the Atucha III nuclear project using China’s Hualong One technology.
- U.S. House to hold procedural vote on China competition bill on Wednesday – source — If the procedural vote succeeds in the narrowly Democratic-controlled House, the full chamber would aim to vote on the full bill on Friday.
- China’s SMIC needs tighter export curbs from Biden – senators — In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and first reported by Reuters, Bill Hagerty and Tom Cotton said they were “disheartened” by media reports suggesting her agency was blocking efforts to tighten export controls on U.S. technology destined for SMIC, which they say enjoys close ties to the Chinese military.
Other Publications
- The Los Angeles Times: As Beijing Olympics begin, exiled Uyghurs fight for families oppressed in China — Surely his son would know his voice, Abdurahman Tohti thought. But the answer that came over the phone nearly crushed him. “I have no father,” the boy replied in Mandarin.
- Associated Press: A Uyghur gets death sentence, as China bans once OK’d books — The Chinese government sentenced one man to death and three others to life in prison last year for textbooks drawn in part from historical resistance movements that had once been sanctioned by the ruling Communist Party.
- ChinaFile: Verdicts from China’s Courts Used to Be Accessible Online. Now They’re Disappearing. — China’s Supreme People’s Court has considerably scaled back the number of cases available on its China Judgments Online web portal, an Internet platform that is the leading database for judicial decisions from courts across the country.
- The Washington Post: Drone company DJI obscured ties to Chinese state funding, documents show — The Chinese firm received funding from several state-backed investors, despite repeated claims that it hasn’t taken money from Beijing.
- Nikkei Asia: China to launch chipmaking platform as it targets Intel and AMD — China plans to set up a special organization that facilitates collaboration between domestic companies and overseas semiconductor powerhouses such as Intel to foster development hubs for software, material and manufacturing equipment.
