XI: "NUCLEAR WEAPONS MUST NOT BE USED"
"The international community should jointly oppose the use or threats to use nuclear weapons, advocate that nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be fought, in order to prevent a nuclear crisis in Eurasia," Xi Jinping said during a meeting in Beijing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Although Xi's comment was China's clearest statement to date regarding Russia's nuclear threats, he did not reference Russia or any other country by name. (South China Morning Post, November 4, 2022)
GERMANY BLOCKS TWO CHINESE FOREIGN INVESTMENT DEALS
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has blocked the sale of a semiconductor facility to Silex Microsystems AB of Sweden, the Swedish subsidiary of China's Sai Microelectronics, and a second investment in an unidentified German infrastructure company. Elmos, the German semiconductor company, was informed that the €85 million sale of its chip factory in Dortmund was rejected. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the second deal, with an "investor from outside the European Union," was also stopped because "there is a particular need to protect critical production areas. Foreign investments – including from countries outside the EU – are wanted and welcome here, but an open market economy is not a naive market economy." Scholz's year-old government is drawing up a "comprehensive China strategy," a departure from the trade-first approach to the PRC adopted by his predecessor, Angela Merkel. Before leaving for Beijing, Scholz said: "We don't want decoupling from China, [but] we will reduce one-sided dependencies in the spirit of smart diversification." (Associated Press, November 9, 2022)
CHINA CANCELS EU CHIEF'S SPEECH IN SHANGHAI
China has canceled European Council President Charles Michel's speech at the China International Import Expo. The EU chief's pre-recorded speech opening the high-level trade expo was censored because it was critical of "Russia's illegal war against Ukraine," which he said had taught Europe "important lessons." The expo featured speeches from Xi, managing director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva, director general of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the presidents of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Belarus. Michel's snub comes a week before he is due to meet Xi Jinping at the G20 summit. (Politico, November 8, 2022)
ISLAND NATIONS WANT CHINA, INDIA TO HELP PAY FOR CLIMATE DAMAGE
China and India should pay into a climate compensation fund to help other countries rebuild after climate change-driven disasters, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne told world leaders at the COP27 in Egypt, speaking on behalf of the Association of Small Island States. This marks the first time the two nations have been added to the list of major emitters that island states say should pay for the damages brought about by global warming. "We all know that China, India - they're major polluters, and the polluter must pay. I don't think that there's any free pass for any country," Browne said. The U.S. and EU agree that China, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, should also contribute. China supports the creation of a loss and damage fund, but has not said if it would donate to it. (Reuters, November 8, 2022)
CHINESE WOMEN LOSE GAINS: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Under Xi Jinping, China has dropped 33 places – from #69 in 2012 to #102 today – in the 2022 World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. Women have lost ground since Xi took power; there has been a drop in women's labor-force participation, a crackdown on feminists, and a new focus on women's role in the home. Most notably, for the first time in a quarter-century there are no women on the Politburo, which will lead China for the next five years. The absence of women in leadership symbolizes the end of "a hopeful era," said Yan Long of the University of California, Berkeley. (Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022)
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