Spying on China’s weather

Editor-in-Chief

• The Ministry of State Security (MSS) carried out special investigations of over 3,000 meteorological stations across more than 20 provinces, “among which hundreds of sites had been found transmitting meteorological data to overseas in real time,” the agency said on its official WeChat account today. More than 10 meteorological agents with foreign links were also investigated in the nationwide inspection.
• Some projects were “directly funded by foreign governments,” and other observation sites were set up around sensitive places, such as military bases, industrial enterprises, and major grain-producing areas. It also noted that some of the devices were “small in size, easy to install, hard to find, and can automatically collect and transmit over the network in real time.”
• “Meteorological data is an integral element of data security and resource security. It is closely linked to military, food, and ecological security, climate change, and public interests,” the ministry’s post said. “The illegal collection and cross-border transmission of meteorological data endangers China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.”

Beijing has ramped up scrutiny on cross-border data flows over the past few years, as it looks to strengthen control over the vast troves of data generated by the world’s second-largest economy and second-most populous nation.

• On September 28, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) proposed easing its strict cross-border data security controls in a bid to soothe corporate jitters over the country’s tightening grip on data.
• In March, China announced plans to set up a new department to oversee the country’s data as part of the State Council’s sweeping bureaucratic makeover.

China in recent months has also passed wide-ranging legal amendments that have fueled concern over the risks to individuals and organizations operating in the country, particularly those in sensitive industries such as journalism, technology, research, and data monitoring.

• On July 1, China’s new revisions to its anti-espionage law took effect. The changes “expand the scope of targets of espionage, with all documents, data, materials, and articles” related to national security, though the law itself does not define what falls under national security or interests.
• Earlier this month, Hiroshi Nishiyama, a Japanese executive of the pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma, was formally charged in China on allegations of espionage. He had been detained in Beijing by Chinese authorities in March, a move that had shocked the Japanese business community and damaged ties between the two Asian neighbors.
• Also this month, Australian journalist Chéng Lěi 成蕾 was released after more than three years of imprisonment in China on national security charges. But another Australian citizen, Yáng Héngjūn 杨恒均, is in jail in China on vague espionage charges after a closed-door trial.

Meanwhile, the MSS has encouraged everyday citizens in China to be on the lookout for potential espionage ever since it opened its WeChat account in July. While the Chinese government has long encouraged its people to report any spying activities through perks like cash incentives, the MSS’s first WeChat post called for a “whole of society mobilization” against espionage.

Click here for all the details.

Nadya Yeh

China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in October, data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics showed today. The country’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) recorded 49.5 this month, down from the 50.2 reading in September. (PMI readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below that level signal contraction.)

Former Premier Lǐ Kèqiáng 李克强 will be cremated on November 2, when flags will fly at half-mast across the country to mourn the late leader, Chinese state media reported. Li died from a heart attack at the age of 68 on October 27.

But China’s powerful censors have warned mourners against “overly effusive comments” that may “offer exaggerated praise on the surface of what is actually an act of criticism” about his legacy, China Digital Times reported, given how the passing of any top Chinese Communist Party official can become a politically sensitive occasion.

Antisemitism is on the rise in China amid the Israel-Hamas war, despite the Chinese government’s efforts to position itself as a diplomatic peace broker. Since the war broke out after the October 7 Hamas attacks, Chinese social media users have demonstrated more support for Palestine than for Israel. Meanwhile, searches and mentions involving the phrase “anti-Jew” have proliferated across the Chinese social media app WeChat, along with some comments that either threaten Jews outright or condemn those in support of them. (The China Project first reported on this phenomenon two weeks ago.)

China paid tribute to a group of visiting veteran American volunteer pilots yesterday in Beijing to celebrate the friendship between the two countries during World War II, amid a flurry of recent diplomatic activity between U.S. and Chinese officials to relieve tensions.

The First American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the “Flying Tigers,” were formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China, operating from 1941–1942. “The Chinese people would always remember the heroic deeds of the Flying Tigers and never forget the old friends,” Chinese Vice President Hán Zhèng 韩正 said at the meeting, per state broadcaster CCTV.

“China and the United States should adhere to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation and make greater contribution[s] to world peace and development,” he added, reiterating statements made by Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 in a letter to the group’s veterans in September. As we noted then, “whenever Chinese officials mention the Flying Tigers, it’s a sure sign that they want to talk to their American counterparts,” so this looks like another signal that Xi will attend the APEC summit in San Francisco on November 15–17.

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD posted a record quarterly profit of 10.41 billion yuan ($1.42 billion) in the third quarter, an 82.2% increase from a year earlier. It’s the latest sign that BYD is closing in on rival Tesla, after it dethroned the Elon Musk-owned EV firm as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker in 2022.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company controlled by Warren Buffett, sold 820,500 Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD valued at HK$201.73 million ($25.78 million) on October 25, according to a stock exchange filing today.

China’s state-backed chip investment fund injected 14.56 billion yuan ($1.99 billion) into a memory chip company called Changxin Xinqiao, as Beijing seeks to develop its chipmaking capabilities at home.

China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, or more commonly known as the “Big Fund,” contributed 33.15% of the total registered capital of Hebei-based Changxin Xinqiao, according to an update dated October 26 to the company’s registration information on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS), per Reuters.

Chinese state media: Xinhua News Agency’s top story is titled “Central Financial Work Conference held in Beijing.” All members of the leading seven-man Politburo Standing Committee attended, and Xi Jinping and Premier Lǐ Qiáng 李强 both delivered “important speeches.”

The conference used to be called the “National Financial Work Conference” (中央金融工作会议在北京举行) but this year was renamed “Central Financial Work Conference” (中央金融工作会议在北京举行), possibly another sign of the centralization of all important decision making under Xi, and the increasing politicization of China’s economic management.

The first National Financial Work Conference was held in 1997.

The People’s Daily today follows yesterday’s Xinhua top story with an article and photo of Xi Jinping mansplaining women’s rights to a group of women from the All-China Women’s Federation. Xi’s real intent is perhaps made clear in this section of the People’s Daily story:

The advancement of the women’s cause not only facilitates individual development of women, but also promotes family and social harmony as well as the development of the country and the Chinese nation. It is necessary to tell stories of good family style and to guide women to play their unique role in promoting the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and fostering a positive family atmosphere.

Under Xi’s tenure, the ruling Politburo failed to include a single woman among its 24 members selected in 2022, breaking a tradition of two decades, while the current National People’s Congress has only 790 women out of 2,977 representatives.

Haven’t seen a foreigner in so long!

好久没看到老外了!

Hǎojiǔ méi kàn dào lǎowàile!

That was a phrase Kevin Xu heard uttered out loud, twice, during his trip to China last month. It wasn’t directed at him, a Chinese American fluent in Mandarin who can blend in like a chameleon, but rather his blond-haired, blue-eyed American fiancée.

There is no dispute that China has become more wealthy and more modern over the last four decades, its current struggles notwithstanding. But however advanced, it is a walled-off inhospitable modernity, Xu writes, where one must play by its increasingly rigid rules. It’s a modernity that serves as a constant reminder of who is a foreigner and who is one of its own.

What does this all mean? Click through to read Xu’s observations from high-speed trains, family gatherings, and lower-tier cities, or listen to him speak at our NEXTChina Conference in New York on November 2.

Kevin Xu

• Since April 2022, Zelenskyy has hosted many world leaders in Kyiv and has paid visits to key partners abroad.
• He never misses a chance to criticize the Western partners for slowing military aid or to accuse the UN Security Council of inaction in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But he has never said a word against China, which has significantly intensified its cooperation with Moscow since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Writing from Kyiv, Ukrainian Sinologist Vita Golod explains why.

Golod will attend our NEXTChina Conference in New York on November 2.

Vita Golod

• The many business projects between China and Trinidad and Tobago. Seeing its oil draining away, Trinidad is seeking to become a logistics hub for international trade, capitalizing on its position between Latin America and the Panama Canal. So, naturally, China was one of its go-tos. Alex Colville has the latest China Ties column.

Below are links from our NewsBase to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China.

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Economic gloom or boom
China’s economy shows fresh signs of slowing / WSJ (paywall)
“China’s economy suffered a setback as surveys showed factory orders shrank and construction activity slowed, reigniting growth concerns just as activity appeared to be stabilizing.”
China’s factory activity contracts in blow to economic momentum / FT (paywall)
“China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in October, damping hopes of increasing momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.”
China’s provincial economies fell off the pace in past quarter / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“In the first nine months, just 11 out of 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland saw their year-on-year GDP growth outperform that of the first half, data from local authorities showed, as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to build momentum for its post-pandemic recovery.”

Oil
China’s CNOOC, two chemical firms looking at Shell Singapore assets — sources / Reuters
“At least three Chinese companies including state giant China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) are evaluating Shell’s Singapore assets and considering non-binding bids in coming weeks for the city-state’s oldest refinery, according to several sources familiar with the matter.”

Gold
China leads record central bank gold buying in first nine months of year / FT (paywall)
“China has spearheaded record levels of central bank purchases of gold globally in the first nine months of the year, as countries seek to hedge against inflation and reduce their reliance on the dollar.”

Semiconductors
China’s semiconductor state fund invests $2 billion in memory chip firm / Reuters
“China’s state-backed chip investment fund has invested 14.56 billion yuan ($1.99 billion) in a memory chip company called Changxin Xinqiao, records showed.”

AI
The opportunities and roadblocks facing China’s AI models / Caixin (paywall)
“Since Beijing lifted the floodgates for Chinese firms to launch their artificial intelligence (AI) services, the momentum for homegrown large language models (LLMs) offerings has accelerated, with the number of releases this year surpassing that of U.S. counterparts.”

Evergrande
Evergrande will struggle to revive its debt restructuring plan / Reuters
“China Evergrande is trying to stave off liquidation by revising its debt restructuring plan, but its biggest challenge will be convincing its creditors, and shareholders in two of its units, that the proposal is worth their while.”

Alibaba
Alibaba banks on aggressive Singles Day pricing to recoup sales mojo / Reuters
“China’s Alibaba is pressuring merchants to offer rock-bottom prices on its marketplaces in this year’s Singles Day extravaganza, three industry sources said, as the ecommerce company seeks to boost sales and stem a drop in market share.”
Alibaba upgrades AI model Tongyi Qianwen, releases industry-specific models / Reuters
“Chinese technology giant Alibaba said on Tuesday it has updated its artificial intelligence (AI) model Tongyi Qianwen and released a suite of industry-specific AI models amid an intensifying AI race among tech companies.”
Alibaba’s cloud unit now serves 80% of Chinese tech companies and half of country’s AI language model firms, group chairman Joe Tsai says / SCMP (paywall)
“Alibaba Group Holding’s cloud computing unit now forms an integral part of many Chinese technology firms’ operations and the country’s artificial intelligence development efforts, according to company co-founder Joe Tsai [蔡崇信 Cài Chóngxìn] in his first public speech since he took over as chairman of the ecommerce giant last month.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Pollution
Cities issue alerts as smog returns to north China / Caixin (paywall)
“Smoggy days have made a comeback to north China this fall, as officials in some 20 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei megalopolis region and neighboring areas have issued warnings for heavy air pollution that will last through Thursday.”

Space
Chinese astronauts return to Earth after six-month stay on country’s space station / Independent
“Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Tuesday morning after six months aboard China’s orbiting space station.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The Communist Party, elite politics, and government
Chinese officials must feel they are being ‘followed by shadows,’ says President Xi Jinping / SCMP (paywall)
“Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 has called on the country’s auditors to make officials feel like they are being ‘followed by shadows.’”

Li Keqiang mourning
China to honor Li Keqiang with lowered flags for Thursday funeral: state media / SCMP (paywall)
“Flags across China, including in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, will fly at half mast on Thursday, when the body of former premier Lǐ Kèqiáng 李克強 will be cremated, according to state media.”
China to cremate ‘outstanding’ leader Li Keqiang on Thursday / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China will cremate the remains of former premier Li Keqiang on Thursday, when flags will fly at half mast across the country in mourning for an ‘outstanding’ leader, the official Xinhua news agency reported.”
‘Other leaders are corrupt’: Li Keqiang mourning poses challenge for Beijing / FT (paywall)
Li Keqiang’s remains to be cremated in Beijing on Thursday / Caixin (paywall)

U.S.-China military and commercial tiesU.S. lawmakers urge Yellen to speed up China outbound investment rules / Reuters
“The Republican and Democratic leaders of a U.S. congressional committee on China urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to urgently implement outbound investment restrictions on the country, warning that Beijing was using American capital to develop technologies as her department debated new rules.”
U.S. to send strongest-ever delegation to China International Import Expo amid improving ties / SCMP (paywall)
“Amid improving relations between Beijing and Washington, the United States is expected to send its strongest-ever delegation to next week’s China International Import Expo (CIIE), according to sources with knowledge of the issue.”
U.S. and China are smoothing ties — but military frictions still chafe / WSJ (paywall)
“Tensions between the U.S. and Chinese militaries continue to simmer even as their leaders prepare for a likely summit in the coming weeks, a sign of the difficulties the two global powers face in managing one of the most sensitive aspects of their relationship.”
China pledges to renew military dialogue with U.S. while criticizing meddling / FT (paywall)
“China’s most senior military official has delivered a veiled rebuke of the U.S. as he pledged to seek renewed military exchanges with Washington.”
Lloyd Austin’s absence at Xiangshan Forum a ‘missed opportunity’ for Pentagon, says Chinese general / SCMP (paywall)

Australia
Sons of Australian Yang Hengjun ask for his release ahead of PM’s visit to China / Reuters
“The sons of Australian writer Yáng Héngjūn 楊恆均, jailed in Beijing for four years on espionage charges, have written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asking for a ‘second miracle’ ahead of his China visit, after the release of journalist Cheng Lei.”

Finland
China cooperating in Balticconnector investigation, Finland says / Reuters
“Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Tuesday said China was cooperating in Finland’s investigation of the Hong Kong-flagged NewNew Polar Bear vessel’s role in the Oct. 8 damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.”

Philippines
Philippines says its vessel did not illegally enter any space under Chinese sovereignty / Reuters
“The Philippines National Security Adviser on Tuesday said Manila’s vessel did not illegally enter any space under Chinese sovereignty and called on China to stop ‘its aggressive action in Philippine waters.’”
Philippines denies Chinese air and sea deployments pushed it from disputed shoal / China-Global South Project

Thailand
Thailand to waive visas for Taiwan and India to boost tourism / Reuters
“Thailand will waive visa requirements for arrivals from India and Taiwan from next month to May 2024, a government official said on Tuesday, in a bid to draw in more tourists as high season approaches.”
Thailand temporarily scraps visa for Indian, Taiwanese tourists / Quartz

Iran
U.S. urges Beijing to temper Iran’s response to Israel-Hamas war / FT (paywall)
“Washington has called on China to use its relationship with Iran and other countries in the Middle East to urge calm and prevent the conflict from spreading as Israel expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip.”

Europe
Wang Yi urges Europe to be ‘pragmatic’ in China ties during talks with senior French diplomat / SCMP (paywall)
“China hopes Europe will adopt a more ‘pragmatic’ and ‘rational’ approach in its cooperation with Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 said in a meeting with senior French diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

A modern twist on funeral photography
With funeral portraits, a photographer gives dignity to rural elderly / Sixth Tone
“Seeing that most elderly villagers in a rural part of Shaanxi province do not have access to cameras, let alone professional photographers, to take portraits of them for their funerals, local journalist Yang Xin and her team decided to step in.”

An out-of-this-world museum
This massive ‘floating’ museum is straight out of science fiction / CNN
The dynamic, futuristic-looking Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, located in the capital of southwest Sichuan Province, was commissioned in 2022 to host this year’s 81st annual World Science Fiction Convention. The size of such a building — three times the size of the Sydney Opera House at 59,000 square-meter — would typically take four to five years to build, but it went from concept to completion in just one year.

Art and censorship
Blocked show on Genghis Khan finally opens in France / Art Newspaper
“An exhibition dedicated to the 13th-century Mongol emperor Genghis Khan has opened at a museum in Nantes, France, three years after a censorship row derailed the show.”