Financial Times (December 15)
“Evidence of a wave of Covid-19 deaths is beginning to emerge in Beijing despite official tallies showing no fatalities since an uncontrolled outbreak began sweeping through China’s capital this week. Staff at one crematorium in Beijing said they cremated the bodies of at least 30 Covid victims on Wednesday.”
Tags: Beijing, China, COVID-19, Crematorium, Deaths, Evidence, Fatalities, Official tallies, Outbreak, Uncontrolled, Victims, Wave
Bloomberg (December 13)
“A sharp increase in China’s Covid infections following an abrupt end to strict pandemic control measures suggests investors may need to pare back on reopening trades, according to Morgan Stanley.”
Tags: Abrupt, China, Covid, End, Infections, Investors, Morgan Stanley, Pandemic control, Pare, Reopening trades, Sharp increase, Strict
Fortune (December 12)
“It’s always better in geopolitics to move in packs—and the U.S. just picked up some welcome company in its aggressive assault on China’s tech industry…. With Japan and the Netherlands now on board, all three of the world’s primary producers of chipmaking machinery have now taken aim at China.”
Tags: Aggressive, Assault, China, Chipmaking machinery, Geopolitics, Japan, Netherlands, Packs, Primary producers, Tech industry, U.S.
Reuters (December 9)
“Wherever you think inflation is coming from, it’s not China – not yet at least…. China said its factory-gate prices showed an annual fall for a second month in a row last month – the latest in stream of numbers revealing the impact of the government’s draconian COVID curbs, now being gradually lifted.”
Tags: China, COVID curbs, Draconian, Factory-gate, Fall, Government, Impact, Inflation, Prices
New York Times (December 2)
“The dictatorship remains, and those detained as a result of the street protests are presumably still in jail. But Wednesday’s announcement is a remarkable turnabout. Historically, popular protests in modern China have not resulted in more freedom but in less.” “The dictatorship remains, and those detained as a result of the street protests are presumably still in jail. But Wednesday’s announcement is a remarkable turnabout. Historically, popular protests in modern China have not resulted in more freedom but in less.”
Tags: China, Detained, Dictatorship, Freedom, Jail, Popular protests, Remarkable, Street protests, Turnabout
Washington Post (November 29)
“After so many months of insisting that the Communist Party and Mr. Xi know best — that rigid ‘zero covid’ is the only correct approach — changing course would imply they erred. China’s economy and its people’s health depend on whether this authoritarian system can respond to the voices of protest, ditch its own propaganda and show flexibility.”
Tags: Authoritarian system, Changing course, China, Communist party, Economy, Erred, Health, People, Propaganda, Protest, Rigid, Xi, Zero COVID
Foreign Policy (November 28)
After engineering “changes in China’s leadership succession rules so that he can preside over his country for life,” Xi is now confronting “a crisis that may come to be seen as an ideal test of the middle-income trap theory.” Deep down, Xi probably realizes “that at some point China’s political system will have to adapt for the country to continue to modernize” and avoid this trap. But for Xi, much like other “leaders who concentrate immense power in their own hands,” the problem is that “no moment ever quite looks like a good one to make serious, substantive change.”
Tags: Adapt, China, Concentrate, Crisis, Leaders, Leadership, Middle-income trap, Modernize, Political system, Power, Rules, Substantive change, Succession, Test, Xi
Reuters (November 28)
“Thousands of people are taking to the streets in several cities across the country in an unprecedented protest against the government’s stringent COVID restrictions.” This sort of unrest “does not happen very often, and the world is watching intently to see how Beijing handles the brewing crisis.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Cities, COVID restrictions, Government, People, Protest, Stringent, Thousands, Unprecedented, Unrest
Wall Street Journal (November 25)
“China’s zero-Covid reckoning” is approaching as “record infections and new lockdowns lead to rising public frustration and slower economic growth.” China’s economy is expected to slow further, “with growth estimates falling for the fourth quarter and the year below 3%. That’s assuming Chinese officials aren’t gilding the books. China’s official GDP target for this year had been 5.5%.”
Tags: China, Economy, GDP, Infections, Lockdowns, Public frustration, Q4, Reckoning, Record, Slower economic growth, Zero COVID
Bloomberg (November 6)
“For the US, China is a dangerous but distant challenge. For Japan, China is the existential danger next door.” Today, “the threat of Chinese aggression is producing a quiet revolution in Japanese statecraft — and pushing the nation to get ready for a fight.” Much of Japan’s ramp up is being done in the name of North Korea while Prime Minister Kishida, who was “once considered a dove,” is now successfully implementing policies “without provoking nearly as much blowback as the more polarizing Abe.”
Tags: Aggression, Blowback, Challenge, China, Dangerous, Distant, Dove, Existential danger, Japan, Kishida, North Korea, Polarizing, Quiet revolution, Statecraft, Threat, U.S.
