China releases Australian journalist Cheng Lei from prison

• Born in Hunan Province, Cheng, 48, emigrated to Australia as a child. She worked in Singapore and China as a financial analyst and journalist for CNBC between 2002 and 2012, then took a job as business news anchor at Chinese state media television channel CGTN.
• She was detained in August 2020 for allegedly sharing state secrets with another country, and tried in secret in March 2022. No evidence was ever presented to the public.
• A statement released today by China’s Ministry of Public Security reported that Cheng was deported after serving her sentence of two years and 11 months.

Cheng’s release could signal prospects for better bilateral relations following years of a diplomatic standoff between Canberra and Beijing.

• Australia-China relations reached a low point in November 2019 when Huawei was barred from 5G projects in Australia. In retaliation, China introduced a swathe of de facto sanctions against Australian products.
• Prime Minister Albanese is expected to visit China later this year, and there has been significant public pressure in Australia to secure Cheng’s release before any official visit to China.

China may have released Cheng now in an attempt to employ a charm offensive designed to mitigate the Australian government’s increasing closeness to the U.S. But another detained Australian journalist, Yáng Héngjūn 杨恒均, has been held in China since January 2019 on espionage charges, the details of which have never been released.

Click here for all the details.

Barry van Wyk

A Chinese programmer was fined 1 million yuan ($136,900) for using a VPN, or virtual private network, in China. The programmer, surnamed Ma, used “unauthorized channels” to connect to international networks to work for a Turkish company as a software developer, according to a penalty notice on August 18 by the public security bureau of Chengde, Hebei Province.

VPNs are commonly used to get past China’s “Great Firewall” of internet regulation, granting internet users in the country access to blocked foreign sites such as Gmail, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. But contrary to popular belief, VPNs are actually considered illegal under China’s internet regulations, and VPN users may be subject to reprimands, warnings, fines, and cease-and-desist orders — if they are caught.

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 will attend the third Belt and Road Forum next week, China’s Foreign Ministry announced today. The conference will be held in Beijing on October 17–18, and will mark the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the massive global infrastructure spearheaded by Xi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will attend, in what will be his first visit to China since February 2022, when he agreed to a “no limits” partnership with Xi on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics just 20 days before Russia invaded Ukraine. Representatives from over 130 countries, including delegates from Latin America and Africa, are also expected to attend.

The BRI has come under greater scrutiny in recent months, particularly after reports that Italy is planning to exit the initiative. Yesterday, China released a white paper (full PDF here) on Belt and Road cooperation to “give the international community a better understanding” of the initiative’s value, Chinese state media Xinhua reported. And last week, China’s Supreme Court also issued new legal guidelines for BRI cases to “efficiently resolve disputes involving foreign parties.”

Natural disasters cost China 308.29 billion yuan ($42 billion) in direct economic losses for the first nine months of 2023, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management announced (in Chinese) on October 8. A spate of extreme weather events this year has affected more than 89 million people, including 499 people who were either killed or still missing and 2.75 million who were urgently relocated.

Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng suspended its supply chain chief over alleged corruption charges. Lǐ Fēng 李丰, a vice president who oversaw supply chain procurement, is under investigation by authorities over corruption allegations, the details of which have not yet been revealed.

“This incident has had limited impact and will not disrupt our business or production processes,” XPeng said in a statement to news outlets, adding that the company “has a strict stance against corrupt activities.”

Chinese state media: The People’s Daily continues its focus on the newly-announced Xi Jinping Thought on Culture (习近平文化思想 Xí Jìnpíng wénhuà sīxiǎng) with a top story that emphasizes that “propaganda, ideological and cultural work concerns the future and destiny of the Party, the long-term peace and stability of the country, ethnic cohesion, and national unity.”

Xinhua News Agency leads with a report titled “Xi Jinping inspects and investigates in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province.” Xi visited “the local Yangtze River National Cultural Park, ecological restoration of the Yangtze River coastline,” and a facility of state oil giant Sinopec “to learn about…upgrading of petrochemical enterprises to green development.”

• The online campaign was spurred by a post shared on September 26 by the WeChat public account of “Period Pride” (月事骄傲 yuèshì jiāoào), a Sichuan-based nonprofit organization that advocates for better access to and awareness of menstrual care.
• The article puts a spotlight on China’s proposed VAT law, whose full text has been made public to solicit comments.
• According to the draft legislation, period-care items such as sanitary pads and tampons are subject to a 13% VAT, the highest possible rate for most commercial goods, including designer bags and cosmetics.

In China, the push to end the “period tax”(月经税 yuèjīng shuì) surged into the national consciousness in the summer of 2020, when a Weibo post highlighting the issue of period poverty gained traction.

• Around the world, nearly 20 countries have scrapped or lowered taxes on feminine hygiene products, but China is not one of them.

For some activists, axing the “tampon tax” is only the beginning of the fight to combat period poverty.

Zhao Yuanyuan

• The revolution started with a failure. On the night of October 9, one of the explosives that insurrectionists were making accidentally went off. Police, who were on alert amid rumors of sedition, responded quickly to the blast and the fire that followed. Three people were executed on the morning of October 10.
• But by that evening, the Qing had lost its army. Troops trained to keep the peace mutinied when ordered to identify and arrest rebels. Military installations, government officers, and strategic positions were seized.

Sun Yat-sen (孙中山 Sūn Zhōngshān), the man most associated with the 1911 Revolution, was in Denver, Colorado when all this went down. He eventually made it back to China, appearing publicly in Guangzhou on Christmas Day, 1911. A week later, he became provisional president of the Republic of China.

• If there is another lesson in the Wuchang Uprising, it is in the fundamental unpredictability of events. It was an unexpected and unintended explosion — perhaps because it was unintended and unexpected — that brought down a dynasty.

Click through to read James Carter’s telling of the episode in This Week in China’s History.

James Carter

• 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
Xi ought to know why market confidence isn’t returning / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 faces quite a conundrum in the homestretch of 2023 as improving economic data is not calming the nerves of international investors.”
Opinion: Why China ‘de-risking’ brings its own business risks / FT (paywall)
Christopher Tang writes: “In this new era of ‘de-risking,’ with each of the G7 group of leading wealthy nations committed to lessening their reliance on China, business leaders need to develop new ways to manage their supply chains.”
‘Whichever is cheaper’: Inside China’s new thrift economy / NYT (paywall)
“Beijing hopes spending can spur growth, which has been dragged down by slowing real estate sales and exports. But shoppers are gravitating to discounts.”

China’s aging crisis
Lou Jiwei on tackling a graying China / Caixin (paywall)
In an interview, Lóu Jìwěi 楼继伟, “a former finance minister and one of the most outspoken advocates of economic reform,” said that “China’s post-pandemic economic recovery is already facing short-term headwinds, but demographic changes such as a low birth rate and a rapidly aging society, along with unequal access to education, pensions and health care, pose long-term challenges for policymakers.”

Tech investment
China’s venture firms reckon with a power shift to LPs / The Information (paywall)
“For years, China’s top venture capitalists called the shots in their relationships with limited partners. Now the balance of power is shifting to LPs, some of whom have begun nagging venture firms to distribute fund returns sooner.”

Semiconductors
Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers target Europe’s next-generation factories / FT (paywall)
“Suppliers to Taiwan’s world-leading semiconductor manufacturing industry are plotting an entry into Europe as the construction of the first advanced chip factories on the continent in decades reshapes its supply chains.”

U.S.-China tech war
How tensions with China threaten the tech sector / WSJ (paywall
“At this year’s CIO Summit, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commissioner Jacob Helberg spoke with the WSJ’s Christopher Mims about the relationship between China and the U.S. They talked about how a significant amount of the world’s technology hardware is built in China.”

EU-China tech war
EU struggles to limit China’s involvement in sensitive tech areas / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The European Union is looking to tighten export and investment controls on sensitive tech as concern over the bloc’s reliance on China grows. But an equally heavy reliance on Chinese trade and investment threatens to hinder efforts to ‘de-risk’ its economy, as individual members have already found.”

Base metals
Metals take fresh knock as China’s real estate woes intensify / Bloomberg via Caixin (paywall)
“Base metals sank as fresh fears over property turmoil in China gripped markets despite news that China may unleash another round of stimulus.”

Electric vehicles
Chinese electric vehicle maker WM Motor files for bankruptcy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Chinese electric vehicle maker WM Motor has filed for bankruptcy, highlighting a crowded market that is bracing for consolidation on the back of weakened domestic demand.”

Volkswagen
China’s vice premier meets with Volkswagen chair of board of management / Reuters
“China’s vice premier Dīng Xuēxiáng 丁薛祥 on Wednesday met with Oliver Blume, chairman of Volkswagen’s board of management, in Beijing, according to Chinese state media.”

VPNs
Chinese programmer ordered to pay 1 million yuan for using virtual private network / The Guardian
“A programmer in northern China has been ordered to pay more than 1 million yuan ($136,984) to the authorities for using a virtual private network (VPN), in what is thought to be the most severe individual financial penalty ever issued for circumventing China’s ‘great firewall.’”

Country Garden
China’s Country Garden wilts / WSJ (paywall)
“The debt crisis at the nation’s largest developer by sales risks a renewed real-estate downturn just as the economy was stabilizing.”

Oil
China saves billions of dollars from record sanctioned oil imports / Reuters
“China has reaped savings this year of nearly $10 billion through record purchases of oil from countries under Western sanctions, according to Reuters’ calculations based on data from traders and shiptrackers.”

IMAX
IMAX’s buyout proposal of China unit falls through / Reuters
“IMAX China said on Tuesday that its shareholders have rejected a proposal of its U.S.-based parent to buy the remaining stake in the Hong Kong-listed company for about $124 million.”
Shareholders of Imax’s Hong Kong-listed China unit reject buy-out bid / Caixin (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Alzheimer’s and dementia treatment
‘Very promising’: Chinese herbal medicine trial offers new hope in memory loss treatment / SCMP (paywall)
“A phase 2 clinical trial in Australia has found that a Chinese herbal medicine compound significantly improved memory and executive functions in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).”

Natural disasters
Losses from China disasters reach $42 billion in first nine months of 2023 / Reuters
“China suffered direct economic losses of 308.29 billion yuan ($42 billion) over the first nine months of 2023, the government said, from natural disasters such as torrential rains, deadly landslides, freakish hailstorms and a string of typhoons.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Corruption
‘Lenient’ punishment of corrupt retired official sparks anger / Caixin (paywall)
“Netizens in China are outraged about what they view as lenient punishment handed down to a 76-year-old retired official, who was not criminally indicted after he was found to have accepted bribes, with some demanding criminal charges brought against him and the amount of his illegal gains made public.”

Social security
Beijing tells China’s poor that help is coming, as leaders order wider social security net amid rising economic toll / SCMP (paywall)
“China will ‘dynamically monitor’ the living conditions of low-income groups while providing critical assistance for those living on or below the breadline, Beijing vowed on Tuesday as the economy’s stagnant post-COVID recovery continues to take a heavy toll on jobs and household earnings.”

Belt and Road
Xi Jinping to host third belt and road summit in Beijing next week / SCMP (paywall)
“Chinese President Xi Jinping will host the third Belt and Road summit in Beijing next week, with a select list of leaders invited, according to sources.”
China to host Belt and Road Forum next week with Putin attending / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
U.S., EU to support African railway development to counter China / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The United States and the European Union will offer assistance on the construction of an international railway in Africa to bring resources from mining areas to a port in a test of whether they can gain a foothold in Africa, where China has gained influence through its Belt and Road Initiative. It is also intended to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, reducing the donors’ dependence on China.”

Hong Kong
As China’s economy slows, Hong Kong aims to rebuild its international image / Reuters
“Hundreds of executives, diplomats and foreign business chambers congregated at Hong Kong’s landmark M+ art museum over canapés and cocktails last month with a clear mission — reinvigorate appeal for the financial hub.”

Taiwan
Beijing ‘concerned’ by KMT official saying party is mislabelled as ‘pro-China’ / SCMP (paywall)
“Beijing says it is ‘concerned’ about comments made by a senior official in Taiwan’s mainland-friendly opposition Kuomintang, who said it was wrong to call it the ‘unification party.’”

U.S.-China competition and tensions
Schumer: made clear to China’s Xi that US wants stability, fairness / Reuters
“U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday said he had made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a Beijing meeting that the United States wanted stability and fairness in bilateral trade.”
U.S. senators see a glimmer of hope for breaking a logjam with China over the fentanyl crisis / AP
“A group of U.S. senators visiting Beijing expressed hope Tuesday that they had opened the door ever so slightly to government talks with China on its role in the fentanyl crisis ravaging America.”
White House condemns a violent crash at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco / AP
“A U.S. official said Tuesday the government believes the driver who crashed into the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco the day before did so ‘with malign intent,’ but police haven’t shared details about the driver’s identity or motive for what the Chinese government has branded a ‘violent attack.’”

Thailand
Thailand PM Srettha shows signs of leaning toward China for growth / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The Srettha administration sees China as a chief method for Thailand’s exit from low economic growth.”

Israel-Palestine conflict
China offers to work with Egypt to end Israel-Hamas conflict / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s Middle East envoy says Beijing is willing to coordinate with Egypt to reach an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict and avoid worsening the region’s humanitarian crisis in his first remarks since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.”
Israel-Hamas conflict raises questions over China’s long-term plans for Middle East / SCMP (paywall)
“The conflict between Israel and Hamas will potentially have a major impact across the Middle East, and will be another factor for both China and the United States to consider in their long-term thinking.”

Australia
Foreign nationals detained in China / Reuters
“Australian journalist Chéng Lěi 成蕾 returned home on Wednesday after being detained by Chinese authorities for more than three years on national security charges.”
Australia’s ‘quiet diplomacy’ praised as journalist Cheng Lei returns home from China detention / SCMP (paywall)
Australian journalist Cheng Lei back home after China release / Reuters
A Chinese Australian journalist detained for 3 years in China returns to Australia / AP
Australian journalist Cheng Lei released from Chinese detention / FT (paywall)
China releases Australian journalist three years after arrest / NYT (paywall)

India
India arrests employee of Chinese phonemaker Vivo / FT (paywall)
“New Delhi’s financial enforcement agency has arrested an employee of Chinese mobile phone company Vivo, reigniting fears of a renewed crackdown on Chinese companies operating in India.”
India’s booming stock market is leaving China in the dust / WSJ (paywall)
“India’s stock market is booming, helped by billions of dollars of inflows from international funds and a fast-growing army of small investors.”

EU
China says it is ready to work with EU to enhance mutual trust / Reuters
“China welcomes the October 12–14 visit to the country by the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday at a regular press briefing.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Feminism
‘Happy rebirth!’: Chinese women shake off taboos around divorce to celebrate freedom / The Guardian
“As the divorce rate in China rises, attitudes to separations are changing, with young women now throwing parties to mark the end of married life.”

Urban planning
China’s old neighborhoods get facelifts / Caixin (paywall)
“Many aging residential areas have undergone renovation in recent years, for both safety and aesthetic reasons.”

Shanghai landmarks
Wukang mansion: Shanghai’s ‘pearl’ before its online fame / Sixth Tone
“On a clear afternoon in central Shanghai, crowds of people jostle for position across a busy intersection. Selfie sticks are extended, poses are struck, cameras click. Everyone is after that perfect shot of Wukang Mansion to share on social media.”

Working from home
After Ctrip, another internet company trials work from home post-pandemic / Sixth Tone
“Qunar, a major online travel platform, will allow employees to work from home starting later this month in an eight-month trial.”