CRG Weekly: NATO for trade event and Hong Kong
News from the China Research Group
Join us at our next event: NATO for trade? How could the UK, EU and US come together to better respond to trade coercion and the challenge of China’s industrial policies? Do we need a new allied trade treaty as an alternative to the WTO? Join a Transatlantic panel discussion with Rob Atkinson (President of ITIF), Reinhard Butikofer MEP (Co-chair of European Greens) and Agatha Kratz (Rhodium Group) on Monday. 5pm on Monday 28 June. Register here.
Last week, we hosted the University of Oxford Democracy and Technology team for a briefing on their latest findings of pro-PRC public diplomacy targeting the UK. Find the recording on YouTube.
The week in brief
After Hong Kong authorities froze Apple Daily’s assets and arrested five of its executives, the newspaper was forced to close. It sold out of 1 million copies of its final edition on Thursday.
Also in Hong Kong, its first trial under national security law started on Wednesday without a jury. The FT reported that pro-Beijing legislators intervened for the first time in a senior judicial appointment.
The Biden administration imposed trade bans on five Chinese entities in the solar panel industry, building on a major report from the UK’s Sheffield Hallam University on forced labour in the polysilicon supply chain.
Canada led a new joint statement on behalf of more than 40 countries at the UN demanding access to Xinjiang for UN observers. AP reported that Chinese diplomats pressured Ukraine into withdrawing its support after threats to withhold Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccinesdestined for Ukraine.
A Swedish court upheld a ban on Huawei Technologies selling 5G equipment in the country.
China is expected to keep strict Covid-19 border restrictions for another year, according to the WSJ.
Wang Xiaojun, head of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said China intended to send crewed missions to Mars by 2033.
Nato’s most senior military officer, previously chief of defence staff for the UK armed forces, highlighted the “shocking” speed of China’s military modernisation in an interview with the FT.
Chief executive John Donahoe robustly defended Nike in China as "a brand that is of China and for China".
What we’re reading:
This week’s Special Report at The Economist on the the push to revamp the Chinese Communist Party for the next 100 years.
In just one year, Beijing enveloped Hong Kong in a massive national security complex in Quartz.
Monopolies with Growth: Tencent. A deepdive into one of China’s leading tech behemoths from Vineyard Holdings.
Interesting events next week:
"How Does Red China Goes Green" with Dr. Xuejiao Niu. 10am BST, 28 June at Lau Institute.
Hong Kong’s Future on Edge: Countering China’s National Security Law one year on. 10am, 29 June at Atlantic Council.
Biodiversity in China: Conserving nature, securing the future. 4pm, 30 June for London Climate Week at Chatham House.