Sense Hofstede

JUST IN: Sefcovic, speaking post meeting in Dublin, says the EU may proceed with safeguards before the next round of talks with China "In some cases we prefer negotiations but in others what could be most appropriate will be safeguards"

Reuters: Cheap Chinese antibiotics threaten Europe’s last major penicillin plant – ‘China’s share of EU imports of penicillins and their derivatives in mostly bulk active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) form has nearly doubled from 44% ​in 2019 to 86% last year, Eurostat data show’

Reuters: Chinese state-aligned hackers compromise ConnectWise, target hundreds in global attack, Microsoft says – ‘The attack targeted organizations ​across a variety of sectors’

Xinhua: China to strengthen CCP-KMT platform for protecting Taiwan people’s rights – ‘Since the beginning of this year, the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the KMT have held multiple consultations’

Reuters: The Philippines exploring deeper cooperation with Taiwan to protect undersea cables – ‘this “pragmatic and practical approach” with Taiwan was necessary to protect mutual interests in ⁠the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.’

Reuters: TSMC seeks factory-equipment alternatives to thwart China’s rare earths grip, sources say – ‘surveyed suppliers on using rare-earth-free motors in factory-automation equipment’

Understand these Chinese sanctions on Sindlhauser have been removed. This was what von der Leyen referred to in her speech this morning: "And the removal of certain EU companies from Chinese control lists."

Reuters: EU will propose new tools to protect market, von der Leyen says in European Parliament – ‘The European Commission will propose new measures to shield ​the EU from unfair ‌competition from cheap imports’

FT: China’s battery makers race to invest abroad to avoid western barriers

SCMP: China’s hybrid car exports to EU surge by more than 200% as import cap looms – ‘up 18.9 per cent from August and 204.2 per cent from a year earlier’ ‘The surge outpaced a 142.7 per cent year-on-year rise in China’s total exports of passenger cars to the EU.’

Flemish newspaper De Standaard writes about the growing imbalance in EU-China trade showing itself in the way of more sea containers arriving full in Antwerp and Zeebrugge but returning empty. The Antwerp Port spokesperson says only ~60% of imported containers go back full to Asia.

De Standaard: Containers in havens van Antwerpen en Zeebrugge komen vol toe en keren leeg terug: handel met China groeit scheef – „In de eerste negen maanden groeide het aantal lege containers met 11,7 procent (…), terwijl de import van volle containers in diezelfde periode lichtjes daalde.“

Kyodo News: Security firm finds China-linked AI agent behind Japan cyberattacks – ‘Artex, the AI agent concerned, has been allegedly also used in recent cyberattacks against South Korean financial institutions, according to a separate investigation.’

SCMP: China’s embassy protests UK border searches and phone seizures amid growing espionage tensions – ‘A similar advisory was issued by the embassy in December’ ‘a week after Ken McCallum, MI5’s director general, named China in his annual threat update’

Xinhua: China, Russia prepare for meeting between heads of government – ‘Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng co-chaired the 30th session of the committee for regular meetings between the Chinese and Russian heads of government, together with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, …video link’

Xinhua: Chinese premier Li Qiang says to continue promoting peace, stability in Middle East – ‘meeting with Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref’ ‘noting that all parties concerned should opt for peace, resume dialogue and negotiations’

Xinhua: Premier Li Qiang says China ready to strengthen alignment of development strategies with Belarus – ‘during his meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin on the sidelines of the […] Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tajikistan.’

Xinhua: Bulgarian PM Radev meets Chinese FM Wang – ‘Radev said that, […] today China has become a staunch supporter of globalization and free trade. […] Chinese goods with high quality and competitive prices have helped curb inflation in Europe; in reality, neither side can do without the other.’

Reuters: China’s PLA sends naval forces to monitor US warship near disputed Sabina Shoal

FT: Japan ‘months’ from running out of critical rare earth as China squeezes supply – ‘has asked the US to push China to ease rare earth export controls that threaten severe disruption to the global automotive, defence and chip industries.’

The Globe and Mail: Firebombing attack on home was political message, Dalai Lama’s representative says – ‘Mr. Gyalpo arrived in South Africa in March as the latest representative of Tibet’s government-in-exile, which has had an office in the country since 1997.’

Bloomberg: Xinhua confirms China’s PLA used its most advanced nuclear submarines to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific earlier this year – ‘a picture of the missile test in July which demonstrated the sea-based leg of China’s nuclear triad’

Focus Taiwan: Finance minister Chuang Tsui-yun 莊翠雲 leads Taiwanese delegation to APEC meeting in Hong Kong – ‘Taiwan participates in APEC as a full member under the name “Chinese Taipei.”’

Focus Taiwan: Taiwan sports minister Lee Yang skips Asian Para Games opening in Japan over credential issue – ‘In the wake of a similar controversy over Lee’s attendance at an Asian Games ceremony last month’

De Standaard: Europa kan een voorbeeld nemen aan China, zegt MR-voorzitter Bouchez – ‘hielden de Franstalige liberalen vrijdag […], een symposium waar instemmend werd geknikt bij een videoboodschap van een vertegenwoordiger van de Chinese Communistische Partij [Liu Haixing].

The Irish Times: How a former Nato chief cashed in on the big business of lobbying for foreign governments – ‘In one guest opinion article for The Guardian about the tense situation in Taiwan, Rasmussen […] did not disclose [his] lobbying firm had a contract to advise the Taiwanese government’

Nikkei Asia: Japan to allow ‘Taiwan’ as place of origin in some national records – ‘Individuals from Taiwan previously needed to enter “China” for their nationality, but the rule change means the entry field can cover regions of origin as well as countries’

Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union: Ambassador Cai Run attends forum on the Seminar on Global Governance at the European Parliament and elaborates on the Global Governance Initiative – ‘organised and chaired by Mr. Ondřej DOSTÁL, Member of the European Parliament (MEP)’

FT: US ambassador threatens Europe over Starlink restrictions – ‘warns about ‘devastating’ retaliation’ ‘after the European Commission this year proposed reserving part of its spectrum band that allows smartphones to connect directly to satellites for European players.’

Bloomberg: China appears well-placed to lead the deployment of AI on the factory floor, but Europe has other ideas – ‘The continent’s old industrial conglomerates are also trying to harness AI so they can dominate the next phase of factory automation. With an ocean of production data to draw upon’

Bloomberg: Chinese firms have emerged as the biggest losers of the faltering global AI trade, a setback for Beijing’s efforts to use stock markets to supercharge its ambition of technological supremacy – ‘Star50 Index has tumbled nearly 40% in the current half year’ ‘ChiNext index […] has lost 36%.’

Bloomberg: Taiwan plans to tighten export controls on AI chips to further align with US restrictions and curb smuggling to China