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
- Beijing Weighs How Far to Go in Backing Putin on Ukraine — Behind closed doors, China’s top leaders have debated how to respond to the Russia-Ukraine crisis without hurting China’s own interests.
- Exiled Chinese Businessman Guo Wengui Files for U.S. Bankruptcy — Self-proclaimed billionaire filed a chapter 11 petition after a New York judge fined him $134 million for defying court orders to pay a lender.
- Hong Kong Considers Citywide Testing as Omicron Overwhelms Defenses — Proposal to test all 7.4 million residents in March faces obstacles as cases surge, with some hospitals overflowing.
- Taiwan Says Chinese Mystery Plane Might Have Been Testing Its Defenses — Military officials made their most detailed comments since the recent incursion.
- Starbucks Faces Online Uproar in China After Coffee Price Hike — The increase of up to 32 cents for a cup comes after the U.S. coffee giant reported slower sales in China and faced a nationalist backlash.
- China’s ‘Zero-Covid’ Policy Holds Lessons for Other Nations — Enormous resources, local cooperation enable China to suppress infections with less disruption to life than in countries where pandemic still rages.
- It Takes a Village to Stage a Pandemic-Era Olympics—and for a Few, the Toll Is Too Much — Viral post casts spotlight on the personal sacrifice behind the Olympic glory; volunteers often separated for weeks from their families.
- Opinion: China’s 5G Soars Over America’s — In some U.S. cities, it’s slower than the old 4G system. Washington should make it a priority. By Graham Allison and Eric Schmidt
The Financial Times
- Beijing Winter Olympics costs spiral as China spends to project rising status — Organisers pledged event would be ‘economical’ but spending has ballooned.
- Hong Kong breaks Singapore’s grip on China stock futures — Battle between rival exchanges for control comes as demand booms for Chinese equities.
The New York Times
- In the Olympic Bubble, a Small Taste of the Food Finds of China — Most of Beijing was off limits because of the pandemic. But international visitors celebrated food discoveries and swapped restaurant tips on social media and a Google doc.
Caixin
- In Depth: How a State Insurance Boss Got a Cache of Gold Bars — Former Taiping chief Wang Bin, now under investigation, knit a network of shady Hong Kong business partners including a convicted gangster.
- Starbucks Raises Prices in China Amid Rising Costs, Slowing Sales — Coffee giant already bumped up U.S. prices and projects several more increases this year because of inflation, supply chain disruptions and higher labor costs.
- Global Investors Reveal China Stocks They Picked and Ditched — Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. all trimmed their holdings in e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
South China Morning Post
- Coronavirus: why Xi Jinping’s message to Hong Kong wasn’t relayed to mainland China — When President Xi Jinping wants to send a public message in mainland China, the propaganda machine kicks in. It will be on CCTV’s prime-time bulletin, splashed across the front page of People’s Daily, and in all the other state news outlets.
- China vows closer ties with France, as EU relations remain strained over Lithuania’s Taiwan moves — Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged closer ties with France, in a move seen as highlighting Beijing’s hopes of improving EU relations through Paris – the current holder of the rotating European Council presidency.
- China warns its local governments don’t be overambitious in carrying out ‘common prosperity’ drive — China’s top economic planning agency said on Thursday the nation’s growth is still well behind developed countries and local governments should not be overambitious when it comes to implementing “common prosperity”.
Nikkei Asia
- Analysis: Who’s too cozy with the private sector? Xi Jinping decides — China’s first arrest for ‘disorderly expansion of capital’ sends shock waves.
- Taiwan takes aim at China with draft laws on chip sector espionage — ‘Economic espionage’ would carry up to 12-year prison sentence.
- China reusable rocket startup secures $31m in Series A round — Jiangsu DBA plans to follow SpaceX into commercial space.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Graduates Opt for Gig Work as Job Outlook Worsens — An increasing number of university students in China are undertaking more flexible and non-standard forms of work after graduation, underscoring the difficulty in securing jobs as the economy slows.
- Cnooc Adds $13 Billion Oil, Gas Deals as China Frets on Supply — China National Offshore Oil Corp. struck $13 billion worth of deals to boost oil and gas supply, as the country aims to avoid a repeat of last year’s energy crunch.
- Hong Kong Exodus Forces Market Watchdog Staff Into 12-Hour Days — SFC lost 12% of employees, 25% of its junior staff in 2021.
- Hong Kong Should Weigh Delaying Election, Lawmaker Says — Hong Kong should consider postponing the city’s leadership election next month, a Chinese lawmaker said, in the most high-profile call yet for suspending the vote amid a surge in Covid cases.
Reuters
- U.S. has ‘no intention’ to engage with China on Indo Pacific Economic Framework — The United States has “no intention” of engaging with China in its forthcoming Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, but is talking to its partners who share the same vision of a free and open region with no coercion, a senior U.S. diplomat said.
- Chinese official makes first statement on Taiwan and Xinjiang at Games, declares “one China” — Politics entered the Olympics on Thursday when an official for the Beijing Games spoke about Taiwan and Xinjiang, declaring there was only “one China”, the first such statements by the host since the competition started.
- China expresses serious concerns on India banning Chinese apps — India has blocked access to 54 mobile apps, mainly Chinese, government sources told Reuters.
Other Publications
- The Atlantic: We Are All Realists Now — The NBA has Enes Kanter Freedom where it wants him—out of sight, out of mind, like the Uyghurs themselves. By George Packer
- Associated Press: Beijing Olympics get political with Taiwan, Uyghur questions — The persistent and polite refusal to answer such questions gave way to the usual state of affairs at news conferences with Chinese officials — emphatic, calibrated answers about the country’s most sensitive situations.
- Politico: Exiled Chinese billionaire and Steve Bannon financier files for bankruptcy — In the petition, Guo Wengui, claims that his debts are not consumer or business-related, rather “litigation expenses, claims and judgments.”