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
- Amid Tensions With U.S., China’s Top Diplomat Travels to a Wary Europe — Tour is set to highlight growing nervousness about relations with China and Beijing’s partnership with Moscow.
- Former ASML Employee in China Misappropriated Data, Company Says — Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker says it is experiencing an increasing number of cyberattacks on its IT systems.
- Berkshire Hathaway Sheds Most of Its Stake in Chip Maker TSMC — Sale represents an unusually abrupt change for Warren Buffett’s firm.
- Oil Demand to Hit New Record This Year as China Reopens, IEA Says — After economic hibernation during the pandemic, the world is back on track to burn more crude than ever.
The Financial Times
- China’s elderly protest against health insurance reforms — Cash-strapped local authorities seek savings after high cost of dealing with Covid.
- UK police vulnerable to Chinese spy equipment, says watchdog — Surveillance commissioner warns of widespread use of China-made drones and cameras by forces in England and Wales.
- China launches corruption probe into football association chief — Sport has been dogged by years of bribery allegations, match-fixing claims and disappointing performances.
- Ireland scraps scheme offering residency in exchange for investment — Programme that netted Dublin €1.25bn in 10 years was especially popular with wealthy Chinese.
- Large Hong Kong-listed ETFs show resilience in 2022 — But many smaller rivals focused on China and the tech sector suffered a terrible year as investors fled.
- Xi vows to boost Iran trade and help revive nuclear deal — China’s leader reaffirms Beijing’s relationship with Tehran during visit by Ebrahim Raisi.
- China reopening bets now a ‘crowded trade’, fund managers warn — Investor shift into Chinese and emerging market equities highlighted in widely watched Bank of America survey.
The New York Times
- How Deadly Was China’s Covid Wave? — Rough estimates suggest that between 1 and 1.5 million people have died since China ended “zero Covid” — far more than the official count.
- Flying Objects Could Turn Out to Be Harmless, U.S. Says — Investigators have not yet found evidence that the three objects shot down in recent days were connected to China’s program of balloon surveillance.
Caixin
- In Depth: How China’s Personal Credit Reporting Rules Upended an Industry — Insiders in the fintech, big data and banking industries see a host of side effects resulting from implementing regulations designed to better protect individuals’ data.
- Chinese Steelmakers’ Profits Fall 72% Amid Property Sector Weakness — Combined revenue fell 6.35% last year as construction demand plunged and infrastructure projects slowed.
- China’s Renewable Energy Capacity Overtakes Coal for First Time — New additions to solar power generation fueled the jump in 2022 as the sector looks set to meet ambitious carbon emissions goals.
South China Morning Post
- China laid more than 1,400 national security charges since 2018, top prosecutor’s office reveals in a first — Disclosure by Supreme People’s Procuratorate offers rare glimpse into scale of charges mainly relating to espionage and subversion.
- As new entrants muscle their way into China’s solar sector, overcapacity and price war concerns mount — Some Chinese listed companies in sectors unrelated to energy have recently entered the solar business, which is already forecast to go into oversupply with the biggest players aggressively expanding capacity as part of China’s renewable-energy push.
- ‘Preparation for emigration’ courses under fire in Hong Kong as lawmakers call for inclusion of national security clauses in subsidy conditions — Lawmakers call for government to subject course providers to national security requirements as part of Continuing Education Fund’s conditions.
Nikkei Asia
- U.S. sanctions derail China chipmakers’ expansion plans — Yangtze Memory and ChangXin forced to delay new factories and lay off staff.
- ChatGPT rush kicks U.S.-China AI race into higher gear — Hype or not, chips could be real issue for Chinese companies’ AI competition.
Bloomberg
- Anta Slides as $1.2 Billion Stake Pops Up in Clearing System — Anta Sports Products Ltd. slid Wednesday after the entry of a sizable stake in Hong Kong’s clearing system stoked speculation of a sale by a key shareholder.
- Canada Clamps Down on Military Research as China Concerns Grow — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will stop funding projects affiliated with universities, institutes or labs connected to foreign military, national defense or state security entities.
- Australia’s Bid to Break China’s Lithium Dominance Hit by Delay — Australia’s ambition to ease China’s stranglehold on production of a key battery compound has hit further hurdles after Wesfarmers Ltd. said its lithium refinery would be delayed by six months.
- Opinion: Republican China Hawks Are Their Own Worst Enemy — In the last Cold War, the US had a clear edge in soft power. Anti-trade, anti-green and anti-democratic Republican policies are eroding that onetime advantage. By Minxin Pei
Reuters
- U.S. Senator Rubio seeks review of Ford technology deal with China’s CATL — Rubio said the deal “will only deepen U.S. reliance on the Chinese Communist Party for battery tech, and is likely designed to make the factory eligible for Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits.”
- China says U.S. balloons flew over Xinjiang, Tibet, warns of countermeasures — China said on Wednesday that U.S. high altitude balloons flew over its Xinjiang and Tibet regions, and that it will take measures against U.S. entities that undermine Chinese sovereignty as a diplomatic dispute festered.
- Ireland to close visa scheme for wealthy investors — Ireland’s Immigrant Investor Programme, which also provided visas to those donating 500,000 euros to philanthropic causes, has overseen investments of over 1.2 billion euros over a decade.
Other Publications
- RealClearPolitics: Mike Gallagher: A New Cold Warrior — “What the CCP fears most is Democrats and Republicans working together to combat their malign influence.”
- Foreign Policy: Washington’s China Hawks Take Flight — The story of how decades of U.S. engagement with China gave way to estrangement.
- Politico: Taiwan’s Tech King to Nancy Pelosi: U.S. Is in Over Its Head — “Fifty billion dollars – well, that’s a good start,” quipped the 91-year-old Morris Chang, warning that Washington’s new bipartisan industrial policy may not add up.
- The Economist: How China’s police are ensnaring thousands of suspects abroad — Under Xi Jinping, the authorities have been extending their global reach.
- The Globe and Mail: Ottawa bans all research funding with Chinese military institutions — The federal government has banned all research funding with Chinese military and state security institutions and urged the provinces and universities to adopt similar guidelines.
- The Washington Post: U.S. tracked China spy balloon from launch on Hainan Island along unusual path — This new account suggests that the ensuing international crisis that has ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing may have been at least partly the result of a mistake.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: Engage, don’t cancel, China over the balloon — Afraid of looking soft on China, the Biden administration is failing to turn China’s blunder into a diplomatic opportunity. By Robert B. Zoellick
