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
- China Protesters Wrestle With How Far to Push: ‘We Don’t Want Covid Tests, We Want Freedom’ — Many young Chinese people have been energized by protests against Covid-19 restrictions, yet wonder how far should they go in pushing back against government controls.
- China Plans Covid Vaccination Drive for the Elderly in Bid to Ease Pandemic Controls — The campaign follows protests against Beijing’s strict zero-Covid approach.
- China Clamps Down on Internet as It Seeks to Stamp Out Covid Protests — The country’s online regulators tell big tech companies to expand censorship of information on protests and take steps to curb the virtual private networks used to bypass online controls.
- Chinese Solar Manufacturers Dodged U.S. Tariffs, Probe Finds — Commerce Department findings, expected Friday, are likely to accelerate importers’ race to find alternative sources.
- China Turns to Well-Worn Playbook to Keep Protesters Off Streets — Authorities attack unrest on two fronts, with a heavy police presence and signals of a shift on China’s zero-tolerance Covid policies.
- U.S. Unwraps B-21 Bomber, Designed to Deter China — The Air Force wants 100 of the new jets, priced at $750 million apiece
The Financial Times
- HSBC chief denies Beijing is behind Ping An push to split bank — Noel Quinn tells FT’s Global Banking Summit that Chinese insurer’s demands not backed by other shareholders.
- IMF head warns of ‘exceptional’ uncertainty as zero-Covid hits China’s economy — Beijing rejects US criticism of its pandemic policies as some cities experiment with reopening.
- Finnish leader warns democratic countries against being ‘naive’ on China — Sanna Marin says like-minded nations should cut their dependency on authoritarian regimes.
- Inside the Covid revolt at the Zhengzhou ‘iPhone City’ plant — Foxconn plant workers tell FT of chaos that reveals Apple’s vulnerabilities to Chinese manufacturing shocks.
- US warns Beijing it cannot control Covid-19 without western jabs — Joe Biden’s coronavirus tsar says Chinese vaccines are ‘not as good’ as alternatives.
The New York Times
- How China’s Police Used Phones and Faces to Track Protesters — After a weekend of protests, the authorities in China are using the country’s all-seeing surveillance apparatus to find those bold enough to defy them.
- As Officials Ease Covid Restrictions, China Faces New Pandemic Risks — Huge swaths of the nation’s elderly remain vulnerable, scientists say, and a surge in deaths and hospitalizations may be inevitable.
- China Appears to Loosen Covid Rules After Protests — Several cities announced the easing of lockdown regulations and testing requirements after the country’s biggest demonstrations in decades.
- Opinion: China Has an Extraordinary Covid-19 Dilemma — By its own standards, China’s zero Covid policy didn’t really fail. But the country is running out of patience for it anyway. By David Wallace-Wells
South China Morning Post
- China’s top memory chip maker YMTC takes latest step to become a global market leader, but US sanctions could derail its ambitions — YMTC has introduced ‘the first 200+ layer 3D NAND Flash’ on the market, ahead of rivals Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, a TechInsights report said.
- Chinese scientist behind gene-edited babies to speak at Oxford University — He Jiankui, who was released from prison after serving a three-year sentence for illegal medical practices in April, said he will be giving a series of public interviews at the university in March.
- Chinese firm prepares to send world’s first methane-fuelled rocket into space — The rocket – known as the Zhuque-2 and developed by Beijing-based start-up Landspace – is expected to be launched between December 4 and 15 from the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping believes ‘frustrated students’ are behind Covid protests, EU officials say — European officials say Xi’s comments during a meeting with EU Council President Charles Michel may signal he is ready to loosen controls further.
Bloomberg
- Evergrande’s Hui Sends Voice Message as Rumors Swirl — China Evergrande Group’s billionaire founder Hui Ka Yan addressed executives in a voice message on Friday afternoon, according to people familiar with the matter, seemingly an attempt to quell social media rumors about him.
- China’s 2023 F1 Grand Prix Gets Canceled Because of Covid-19 — The Chinese Grand Prix will not take place in 2023 given the “ongoing difficulties stemming from Covid-19 situation,” Formula 1 says in a tweet.
- China’s Plans to Build New Embassy Near Tower of London Rejected — China’s controversial plan to build a new embassy near the Tower of London has been rejected in a council meeting on Thursday evening.
- Opinion: Who Taught China’s Youth to Protest? The Communist Party — Years of indoctrination and censorship may ironically have made some younger Chinese more, not less inclined to demand change. By Nancy Qian
Other Publications
- Reuters: Huawei CFO’s U.S. bank fraud charges to be dismissed — U.S. prosecutors on Thursday asked a judge to dismiss bank fraud and other charges against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies whose 2018 arrest strained relations between the U.S. and China.
- Associated Press: China fines former NBA star Lin over quarantine comments — Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for criticizing quarantine facilities, China’s professional league and a news report said Friday.
- The Economist: What 1989 can teach us about the recent protests in China — The differences are as important as the similarities.
- MIT Technology Review: How Twitter’s “Teacher Li” became the central hub of China protest information — In his own words, the Chinese painter shares how he became a one-person newsroom during a week of intense protests against China’s zero-covid policy.
