China Policy Monitor No. 1601

U.S. COAST GUARD SHADOWS PLA NAVY NEAR ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
For more than 12 hours on July 6-7, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball and a HC-130 Herculesaircraft shadowed a group of four PLA military vessels, including a destroyer and a guided-missile cruiser, near the Aleutian Islands. The PRC vessels, whose stated purpose was "freedom of navigation operations," messaged the U.S. ships: "This is the China Navy Task Group. You are close to us; please maintain safe distance to avoid collision." The PLA vessels "operated in accordance with international rules and norms," the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. "We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska," the Coast Guard's Alaska district commander confirmed. Over the past few years, Chinese and Russian vessels have begun transit missions through the Aleutians and the Bering Sea. (Washington State Standard, July 19, 2024)

CHEAP ROBOTAXIS SPARK ANXIETY AMONG CABBIES
Self-driving cars, commonly called robotaxis, are offering cut-rate fares in Wuhan, Hubei. The fleet of 500 vehicles belong to Baidu's Apollo Go, which aims to make Wuhan the world's first driverless city. Base fares start as low as 4 yuan (55 cents), compared with 18 yuan ($2.48) for a human driven taxi. The company launched the robotaxis in 2022 and aims to double its fleet to 1,000 cars by the end of the year. Led by Wuhan's roughly 17,000 cab drivers, backlash against Apollo Go's pricing has become a hot topic online, with more than 75 million users commenting on Weibo. "They will steal your rice bowl," one wrote. (CNN, July 18, 2024)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Major Chinese cities have begun granting commercial licenses for driverless services. In February, Shenzhen, Guangdong granted a trial license to Apollo Go. In June, Beijing began "soliciting public opinion" on regulations for autonomous buses, taxis, and rental cars. Last week, Pudong, Shanghai licensed Apollo Go, Alibaba-backed AutoX, and Pony.ai, which is backed by Toyota and Saudi Arabia.] 

CHINA'S POPULATION IS 100M LESS THAN OFFICIAL DATA CLAIMS
China is overreporting its population by more than 100 million, according to Yi Fuxian of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The demographer said that, beginning in 2000, consecutive censuses have "seriously overestimated" the country’s population, which Beijing put at 1.41 billion in 2023. Beijing reported 203 million births between 1991 and 2000 and 79 million deaths, putting China's population at 1.27 billion. But, according to Yi, when the 2000 census came up short officials added 40 million "missing people" to bring the number up to meet Beijing's predictions. Amid rising living costs and shifting cultural attitudes, China's fertility rate has fallen to 1.0 – compared to South Korea (0.72), Japan (1.2), and Taiwan (estimated to be 0.85). "China's decades of population control policies are all wrong and all of China's economic, foreign, and defense policies, as well as those of the U.S. and other countries towards China, are based on faulty demographic data," Yi said. (Newsweek, July 19, 2024)

COOKING OIL SCANDAL PROMPTS RESIDENTS TO BUY OIL PRESSES
To cut costs, state-owned Sinograin has been using fuel tankers to transport cooking oil without cleaning between shipments. It is an "open secret" that food and chemical liquids are transported interchangeably without sterilization, one driver said. "Illegal enterprises and relevant responsible persons will be severely punished," said China's Commission on Food Safety of the State Council. Between July 5 and 12, sales of oil press machines jumped four-fold as compared to before the scandal broke. (CNBC, July 18, 2024) 

CHINA AND PHILIPPINES REACH DEAL TO STOP SCS CLASHES
China and the Philippines have reached a deal they hope will end confrontations at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. After a series of bilateral meetings in Manila, the two sides inked the modus vivendi, which is designed so that neither concedes its territorial claims. Both sides have confirmed the new agreement, but neither has released its full text. Since last year, Chinese maritime forces have confronted Philippine naval forces transporting food, water and personnel to a warship grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal. On June 17, Chinese motorboats rammed and boarded two Philippine navy boats, seized their weapons and supplies, and damaged them with machetes and spears. Several Filipino navy personnel were wounded in the faceoff. (Associated Press, July 21, 2024)