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 Sentences Human-Rights Activists to Prison for Subversion — Harsh punishments for legal scholar Xu Zhiyong and lawyer Ding Jiaxi punctuate fading of liberal aspirations in the country.
- China’s Repeated Detention of Japanese Citizens Raises Tensions — Hideji Suzuki, freed last year after six years in custody, describes his ordeal.
- China’s Military Greets Return of Taiwan’s President With Live-Fire Drills — Exercises mark an escalation in Beijing’s response to Tsai Ing-wen’s U.S. visit.
- China Warns Taiwan, With an Eye on Rest of the World — Response to Taiwanese president’s U.S. stopovers is calibrated to express anger without hurting peacemaker ambitions.
- Tesla to Build New China Plant for Energy-Storage Battery — The planned expansion in Shanghai comes as U.S.-China tensions rise.
- China’s New IPO Rules Tipped to Speed Up Listings, Boost Pricing Efficiency — Shares in companies from a variety of sectors, including dental services and commodities trading, soared in their first day of trading.
The Financial Times
- China escalates military drills near Taiwan and Japan — PLA aircraft carrier carries out 120 flight sorties in retaliation for Tsai Ing-wen’s US visit.
- First batch of IPOs under new China listings rules surge on debut — Near triple-digit gains point to need for more reforms in country’s equity fundraising system, say experts.
- Beijing chooses targets carefully as it goes on offensive in US chip wars — Analysts see memory-chip maker Micron as obvious first choice but say China will tread cautiously on further retaliation.
- China’s financial sector rocked by expansion of anti-corruption drive — Executive pay, commodity exchanges and venture funds targeted in Beijing’s latest campaign.
- China holds second day of military drills around Taiwan after Tsai’s US trip — Beijing’s actions follow 10-day visit that included meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
- Tesla boosts China investment with plans for Shanghai battery factory — Expansion comes as Washington calls on US groups to be less reliant on Chinese manufacturers.
- Japanese pharma boss rules out China exit after executive’s arrest — Astellas CEO says company will diversify supply chains in first comments since employee’s detention.
- ByteDance posts record profit despite TikTok losses — Booming 2022 helps it overtake China’s long-reigning tech giants Tencent and Alibaba for first time.
- Europe is feeling its way towards a new relationship with China — In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, geopolitical realities are clashing with economic interests.
- Tea with Xi: Macron gets personal touch as China visit highlights EU differences — Beijing exploits European disunity despite presence of commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
- Opinion: Why Taiwan matters to the world — A dangerous rise in tensions with Beijing is a price worth paying to protect a flourishing Asian democracy. By Gideon Rachman
The New York Times
- China Sentences Leading Rights Activists to 14 and 12 Years in Prison — Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were detained after organizing a small seaside gathering of activists to discuss human rights. Their lengthy sentences point to Beijing’s intolerance of dissent.
- China Has Reopened to Tourists. The Hard Part Is Getting There. — Despite loosened visa rules, the number of flights into China is still a small fraction of what it was before the pandemic, fueled partly by geopolitical tensions.
- Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Build Shanghai Battery Factory — The facility will produce large batteries that will help electric utilities stabilize grids and use more renewable energy.
- French Visit Undercuts U.S. Efforts to Control China — Allies don’t always see things the same way, as Emmanuel Macron’s cozy visit to Xi Jinping made abundantly clear.
- China Rejects W.H.O. Accusations of Hiding Wuhan Covid Data — The rebukes came after overseas researchers discovered sequences that had not been previously shared.
- China to Do Military Drills Around Taiwan — Taiwan’s president visited the United States this past week and met with the House speaker, angering Beijing, which had threatened consequences.
- Macron Wraps Up China Visit, but Little Progress Seen on War — Russia’s war in Ukraine figured little in statements after meetings between President Emmanuel Macron of France and China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
- Chinese ‘Chained Woman’ Jail Sentences Revive Online Outrage — The episode stirred anger not only for its shock factor, but also for the wider social problems it exemplified, and the government’s lack of transparency.
- In Dealing With China, U.S. and Europe Take Different Tacks — The Biden administration says there is “convergence.” But trans-Atlantic leaders adopt different strategies on security and trade issues — including on Ukraine and Taiwan.
Caixin
- In Depth: China’s EV Battery Boom Goes Bust — Slowing auto sales since late last year led to a widening gap between battery demand and supply.
- Cover Story: Chinese Internet Giants, AI Startups Rush to Jump on ChatGPT Bandwagon — But U.S. export controls on advanced chips due to national security concerns are limiting Chinese firms in what is shaping up to be the initial stages of the AI race.
- China Doubles Down on Rooting Out Corruption in Sports — The Communist Party of China has launched a new round of disciplinary inspections, with the General Administration of Sport among the organizations targeted.
South China Morning Post
- China rights activists jailed for subverting state power — Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi sentenced to 14 and 12 years, respectively after vocally pushing for greater democratic rights in China.
- China’s state media warn of AI market bubble triggered by ChatGPT frenzy — An article published by the state-run Economic Daily cautions investors against chasing the ChatGPT hype with no regard to a potential bubble.
- Volkswagen aims to fill China’s electric car industry talent void with new academy in Hainan — The German carmaker will set up an academy in Hainan province with the aim of training local talent for the electric vehicle industry as it vies for a larger share of the sector.
Bloomberg
- TSMC Sales Miss for Second Straight Quarter on Tepid Demand — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. missed sales estimates for the second consecutive quarter in a sign of continued weakness in global electronics demand.
- Macron Says Europe Must Develop Its Own Autonomy Separate From US — Emmanuel Macron urged Europe to develop more strategic autonomy as a way to avoid the risk of turning EU countries into “vassals” in the event of a global crisis such as a US-China confrontation.
- Huawei Looks to Move Middle East Headquarters to Saudi Arabia — Huawei Technologies Co. is looking to make Riyadh its headquarters for the Middle East amid a push by the Saudi government to position itself as a regional business hub and growing diplomatic and business ties with China, according to people familiar with the matter.
Reuters
- A punch in the face for Xi caricature: Taiwan air force badge goes viral — Taiwanese are rushing to buy patches being worn by their air force pilots that depict a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh.
- China’s SenseTime unveils new AI products and chatbot — The company, which has been sanctioned by the U.S., did not provide detailed plans for a product roll out, but said attendees could try out the products.
- China hands lengthy jail terms to two lawyers in rights crackdown — A Chinese court sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers on Monday to jail terms of more than a decade each, a relative and rights groups told Reuters.
- Malaysia says it will protect its rights in South China Sea — Malaysia said on Saturday it was firmly committed to protecting its sovereign rights and interests in the South China Sea after China expressed concern about Malaysian energy projects in a part of the sea that China also claims.
Other Publications
- Politico Europe: Europe must resist pressure to become ‘America’s followers,’ says Macron — The ‘great risk’ Europe faces is getting ‘caught up in crises that are not ours,’ French president says in interview.
