News that caught our eye / June 17-24
New Chinese car battery provides 600 mile range / June 24, 2022
The Kirin battery can support 5-minute fast hot start and 10-minute fast charge. It boasts a comprehensive improvement in battery life, fast charging, safety, life, efficiency, and low temperature performance. Kirin batteries will be mass-produced and launched in 2023.
Chinese rights lawyers on trial / June 22, 2022
Two prominent Chinese rights lawyers are set to go on trial behind closed doors this week on charges of state subversion. Hearings for Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were scheduled in Linshu county court in the northeastern province of Shandong. The two have been permitted legal representation but their lawyers were warned by authorities against speaking to the media.
Surveillance in China continues to increase /June 21, 2022
China’s ambition to collect data on its citizens is far more expansive and invasive than previously known (4-minute video).
EU countries warn China about self-isolation / June 21, 2022
A group of European ambassadors to China has alerted Beijing to the “consequences” of maintaining its zero-Covid policy, calling on authorities to ease rules that prevent face-to-face meetings to avoid misunderstandings.
Five ways freedom of expression has diminished in Hong Kong / June 20, 2022
Since Mainland China exerted its influence over Hong Kong in two years ago, freedom of the press and the public expression of opinion has been drastically curtailed.
Freeing Americans unlawfully detained in China is a US priority / June 19, 2022
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in a June 13 meeting that releasing Americans wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans is a “personal priority for both himself and for the President.” The Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit prisoner release advocacy organization, estimates that there are up to 200 Americans arbitrarily detained in China and as many as 30 who are subject to unlawful exit bans.
The Five Eyes Alliance is tarnishing China’s image / June 19, 2022
The UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand share intelligence information. The group is named the Five Eyes Alliance. According to China’s Global Times, Five Eyes is collecting and fabricating evidence that intends to show China is "infiltrating politically into Western countries" with the aim of tarnishing China's image in the world.
China lays out priorities for Hong Kong / June 19, 2022
Beijing has given Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive, John Lee, five goals. 1. Correctly implement “one country, two systems”. 2. Address issues of immediate concern for Hong Kong residents, such as housing. 3. Promote social development, 4. Integrate Hong Kong with the nation’s development. 5. Consolidate and improve Hong Kong’s international competitiveness
Abortion in China / June 19, 2022
Abortion is legal and widely available across China. China’s abortion is 49 abortions for every 1,000 reproductive-aged women. The US and Canada’s rate is 23. China has also used abortion as a means of population and social control. During the one-child policy forced abortions were common but falling birth rates are prompting a change.
Xi sets up the fight against corruption / June 19, 2022
Xi Jinping is urging coordinated Communist Party improvement to guarantee that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to engage in corruption. He noted that the fight against corruption is a major political struggle that the Party cannot afford to lose and should never lose because it concerns the people.
Damage control prior to the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress / June 19, 2022
(Op-ed) The 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress takes place this autumn. President Xi is working to build his image. Under his leadership, China is facing significant challenges: the economy is dangerously slowing, financing for his Belt and Road Initiative has tanked, his Zero Covid policy is flailing, and his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unpopular abroad.
China denies Hong Kong was a British colony / June 17, 2022
Hong Kong is preparing to introduce new middle school textbooks that will deny the Chinese territory was ever a British colony. China's Communist rulers say the semiautonomous city and the nearby former Portuguese colony of Macao were merely occupied by foreign powers and that China never relinquished sovereignty over them.
China sees spike in extreme weather / June 16, 2022
China was hit this week by a rare convergence of record rainfall, heatwaves, and a tornado in the southern megacity of Guangzhou, displacing millions of people, damaging properties, and swamping farmland, with more storms and floods on the way.
TikTok caught lying about monitoring user data / June 17, 2022
Buzzfeed obtained audio from 80 internal TikTok meetings that make it sound quite clear that employees in China’s PRC had access to American user data, even after company representatives testified under oath they did not, and repeatedly said publicly they did not.