CRG Weekly: Pelosi visits Taiwan and TikTok faces scrutiny
News from China Research Group
Channel 4 Hikvision investigation. CRG Co-Chair Alicia Kearns MP was interviewed on Channel 4 to discuss the security and human rights concerns posed by the presence of Hikvision cameras as part of a wider surveillance investigation.
Government extends Hong Kong visa route to young people. An amendment to expand the BN(O) visa scheme, tabled by CRG member Damian Green MP, has come into effect. This will allow Hongkongers born after 1997 and aged over 18 to resettle in the UK without their parents.
The stories driving the week
Beijing leverages economic statecraft and military pressure in response to Pelosi's Taiwan visit.
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday as part of her wider tour of Asia. Pelosi met with President Tsai Ing-wen and pledged “ironclad” support for democracy in Taiwan.
Beijing responded with a range of countermeasures against Taiwan including targeted economic sanctions, cyber-attacks, military exercises and firing a series of ballistic missiles into surrounding waters. Five of the missiles reportedly landed in Japan’s economic exclusion zone.
Beijing also announced on Friday that it had cancelled cooperation with the US in eight key areas, including high-level military dialogue and climate change.
Other countries have called for de-escalation. G7 foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitments to peace and stability in the region and criticised Beijing’s ‘aggressive’ military action, while ASEAN nations urged both superpowers to avoid provocative action.
Bloomberg’s Kevin Varley looked at the potential knock-on effects of prolonged tensions on global trade, with 88% of the world’s largest container ships passing through the Strait this year.
CSIS hosted an online event breaking down the implications of Beijing’s response to Pelosi’s visit for the future of US-China and cross-strait relations.
UK Foreign Affairs Committee to visit Taiwan later this year
On Monday, the Guardian reported that the UK Foreign Affairs Committee is planning to visit Taiwan in November or December of this year. The trip was originally scheduled for early this year but was postponed due to one member of the delegation testing positive for Covid.
In response to the news, Zheng Zeguang, Chinese ambassador to the UK, used a press conference to warn of ‘severe consequences’ should the MPs go through with the trip.
This report comes as both Conservative leadership candidates continue to position themselves as being tough on China, with Liz Truss’ campaign suggesting that the UK should offer Taiwan ‘moral support’ rather than munitions.
Growing political scrutiny over TikTok
On Wednesday, the UK Parliament closed its TikTok account after a group of MPs, including CRG co-chair Tom Tugendhat, penned a letter to the Speakers of the Commons and Lords raising concerns over user data being accessed in mainland China.
This follows a Buzzfeed report which leaked that US user data was being accessed in China by employees of TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. Last year, TikTok executive Liz Kanter gave evidence to the BEIS committee assuring that UK user data could not be accessed in mainland China.
Elsewhere, New Zealand MPs were advised not to use the app on parliamentary phones or devices by the House speaker and Canberra announced an ongoing review of its privacy act and national security data amid TikTok-related concerns.
HSBC rejects demerger proposals, citing huge risks
In Hong Kong, HSBC held its first shareholders’ meeting in three years, where the bank’s leadership fielded questions from its investor base.
The bank rejected a call from top shareholder Ping An to split its Asia Pacific business from its London headquarters. Higher profitability of HSBC in Asia and cancellation of dividends during the pandemic were justifications cited by shareholders behind the proposal.
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker cited the high administrative costs and potential damage to Hong Kong’s position as a finance hub as reasons against a demerger.
In The Telegraph, Ben Marlow analysed the broader geopolitical tensions that will continue to endanger the bank commercially.
Xi’s United Front speech places emphasis on influencing overseas Chinese
Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a commemorative speech on the 100th anniversary of the United Front policy, stressing the unity of all Chinese, at home and abroad, and their role in China's 'great national rejuvenation’.
Xi urged cadres to ‘win hearts and minds’ of people in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The United Front’s domestic operations have been seen as a tool to stifle potential opposition.
Professor Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at Tsinghua University, noted that the speech signals Xi’s long-term commitment to the policy’s adaptation and usage.
Ho-fung Hung, an associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins, argued that Xi’s renewed and sustained attempts to influence Chinese diaspora groups endangers them by stoking racial tensions and hardening extraterritorial repression.
Weekend reads
Rana Mitter discusses the broad societal trends behind China's looming demographic crisis in the Spectator. Writing for Sixth Tone, Ge Peng and Fan Yiying break down why new measures are unlikely to overcome the reluctance of young parents in China to have children.
Why America’s Chinese Tech Ban Didn’t Stick. Shira Ovide illustrates the difficulties of removing Huawei and ZTE equipment in America as the West deals with concerns about Chinese technology.
Understanding China’s Role in Sri Lanka’s Debt Restructuring Efforts - Aquilah Latiff and Anushka Wijesinha explore how China’s role in Sri Lankan debt restructuring will shape the future of bilateral relations between the two countries.