China ITK | Oct. 21

Bloomberg: China tech ETF balloons to record size as US cash floods in

+ Total assets in KraneShares China Tech ETF top $8 billion

+ Traders bet impact of China crackdown to be short-lived: CFRA

Milken Conference guests debate whether China is uninvestable
Bloomberg

US, trading partners urge China to liberalize further
Reuters

Chinese officials are trying to stamp out Uyghur identity: Uyghur artists and intellectuals are being rounded up, but some of their work escapes.
Economist

Axios: Biden's ambassador nominee: "China is not an Olympian power"

Biden ambassador pick dubs China 'aggressor': AFP reports speaking to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which is due to confirm his appointment, Nicholas Burns denounced recent Chinese warplane incursions into Taiwan's air defense zone, calling them "especially objectionable."

+ "We certainly cannot trust the Chinese" on the issue of Taiwan, Burns said. "Our responsibility is to make Taiwan a tough nut to crack."

+ Strategic ambiguity on Taiwan works: US envoy pick for China

+ Nicholas Burns says America is 'better off' sticking with current policies

Analysis: Xi Jinping's plan to rule for life is coming together: Third historical resolution and 2035 'common prosperity' target outline path forward.
Nikkei

Beijing should let China's economy stand on its own two feet: Competition and efficiency gains will only come if the system is allowed to change.
Joe Zhang

Evergrande isn’t China’s only economic worry
Arthur Kroeber

There is no Russia-China axis
Mark Galeotti

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China ITK | Oct. 20

Nikkei: AUKUS spurs French strategic review with tilt toward Japan, India

+ Officials visit Tokyo to coordinate '2+2' ministerial meeting by year-end

North Korea reportedly fired off a submarine-launched ballistic missile, adding to a string of provocations that’s got the world — and the Biden administration — on edge. The weapon landed harmlessly in waters near Japan after flying between 267 and 280 miles and went up as much as 37 miles in the air.

How Kim Jong Un keeps advancing his nuclear program
Bloomberg

If China tested a new orbital weapon, it’s not much of a surprise: Experts report that similar technologies were developed by Russia and the United States starting more than a half-century ago.
NYT

China sends in 100 rocket launchers to fortify border with India: SCMP reports both sides send more supplies to high-altitude areas as winter approaches and boundary talks falter.

A $30 billion fortune is hiding in China’s Silicon Valley: Shenzhen’s urban villagers have quietly amassed vast riches in ways that escape most outsiders.
Bloomberg

+ Chinese developer Sinic defaults as Evergrande deadline looms

Xi faces resistance to property tax planned to combat China’s real-estate bubble: Xi Jinping is facing strong resistance over a nationwide property-tax plan meant to help curb housing speculation, and he is now settling for a more limited rollout, people familiar with the matter said.
WSJ

America’s political and business elites no longer agree on China: While Washington stays vigilant, the corporate world sees new opportunities.
Janan Ganesh

+ Xinjiang officials overseeing detention camps studied at Harvard

Reuters: USOPC to educate athletes on global issues ahead of Beijing Games:

+ The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said it will prioritize educating its athletes on global issues ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics

Guardian: US and China urged to find way to work together before COP26

+ Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appeals to Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to meet and find common ground

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China ITK | Oct. 19

America must get its ambassadors in place: Bitter partisanship at home is holding back US diplomacy.
FT - Editorial

China’s economy was 4.9% larger in the third quarter than a year earlier, the slowest pace of growth in a year due to power shortages, COVID outbreaks, and the Evergrande crisis.

Xi Jinping undeterred from structural shifts despite China’s economic slowdown: Weak third-quarter GDP growth will not divert Xi from long-term changes, analysts say.
FT

Evergrande, Sinic, Fantasia: A tidal wave of Chinese debt is about to sink Australia’s economic recovery
SCMP

+ Seemingly impervious to recessions for decades, cracks started to appear in the Australian economy in 2020 and now it is staring into a deep crevasse

+ The strategy of digging dirt and selling it to the Chinese to keep the plates spinning needs to be rethought, as the demand from its biggest customer rapidly disappears

What Xi Jinping really means by common prosperity: An essay by China’s president — who appears to feel he’s been misunderstood — lays out what his new socialist campaign is trying to accomplish.
Shuli Ren

Beijing Winter Games flame lit in Greece amid protests: DW reports the ceremony to light the Olympic flame was disrupted as Tibetan and Hong Kong activists held banners protesting human rights abuses in China.

US investment drive to take on China in Latin America: Initiative will fund infrastructure in an effort to compete with Beijing’s growing influence in the region.
FT

NATO to expand focus to counter rising China: Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg reveals significant broadening of alliance’s objectives to include Beijing.
FT

+ Stoltenberg said Russia and China should be viewed as a joint threat: “First of all China and Russia work closely together,” he said. “Second, when we invest more in technology … that’s about both of them.”

Nikkei: Chinese, Russian warships jointly pass Japan chokepoint for 1st time

+ Tsugaru Strait, between Honshu and Hokkaido, includes international waters

Facing a mutual threat, Japan and Taiwan look to deepen ties
WPR

After 9/11, China grew into a superpower as a distracted US fixated on terrorism, experts say: In 2001, the Bush administration was focused on China and tensions had spiked. The 9/11 attacks were a "geopolitical gift to China,“ says one expert.
NBC News

+ China denies hypersonic missile launch amid US concerns

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