China [Sammelthread]

Früher in der Woche:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/c…-focusing-on-u-s-b2fed0e0

Zitat

Cuba to Host Secret Chinese Spy Base Focusing on U.S.

Beijing agrees to pay Havana several billion dollars for eavesdropping facility

WASHINGTON—China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for China to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island, in a brash new geopolitical challenge by Beijing to the U.S., according to U.S. officials familiar with highly classified intelligence.

An eavesdropping facility in Cuba, roughly 100 miles from Florida, would allow Chinese intelligence services to scoop up electronic communications throughout the southeastern U.S., where many military bases are located, and monitor U.S. ship traffic.

Alles anzeigen

Neuste angebliche Erkenntnis:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0…/china-spy-base-cuba.html

Zitat

China Has Had a Spy Base in Cuba for Years, U.S. Official Says

[...]

A Chinese spy base in Cuba that could intercept electronic signals from nearby U.S. military and commercial buildings has been up and running since or before 2019, when the Chinese base was upgraded, according to a Biden administration official.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence, said the spy base was an issue that the Biden administration had inherited from former President Donald J. Trump. After Mr. Biden took office, his administration was briefed about the base in Cuba as well as plans China was considering to build similar facilities across the globe, the official said.

Alles anzeigen

Und noch ein bisschen mehr von diesem Drama:

Zitat

High-level meetings, including an official trip by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, were canceled again earlier this year, after a Chinese spy balloon was seen crossing the United States by people on the ground, and tracked hovering near sensitive military sites.

Mr. Blinken is now scheduled to travel to Beijing for meetings that begin June 18, and it is unclear if revelations of a Chinese spy facility so close to U.S. territory could complicate those plans. [...]

Oh, nein.

https://www.ft.com/content/860…2b-41b3-a0db-d0269bb6bd25

Zitat

The Dutch government plans to vet international students after universities barred some Chinese postgraduates from top technology degrees over fears they could be a risk to national security.

Education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said he was investigating curbs on students funded by the state-run Chinese Scholarship Council after several universities started excluding them on security grounds.

Zitat

“What I see happening is that gradually all Dutch universities will reduce the number of students from China and reduce research co-operation with Chinese counterparts,” said Robert-Jan Smits, president of TU/e.

“The Dutch government is asking universities to take a more restrictive approach and look after their crown jewels better,” he added.

Dahinter steht natürlich:

Zitat

Dijkgraaf added that there was no specific policy “to exclude Chinese students . . . or to discourage co-operation with Chinese institutes or researchers in sensitive fields”.

However, The Hague has come under pressure from Washington to restrict the transfer of advanced technology to China.

Aber ich glaube die machen sich was vor:

Zitat

It has announced that the most advanced silicon chipmaking machines from manufacturer ASML would require an export licence.

Liesje Schreinemacher, the Dutch trade minister, said in an interview that China might try to skirt the controls by procuring the knowledge from Dutch universities instead.

“If you want a certain technology, you first try to buy the technology. If that doesn’t work, you try to invest. If that doesn’t work, you send people to the technology institutions to get the technology or to get the knowledge of that technology.

Der Zug dürfte abgefahren sein. Die Chinesen haben ein großes nationales Programm für die Entwicklung von Lithographie-Verfahren, spätestens mit den US-Sanktionensbemühungen ist das maximal ausgestattet, und ich sehe keinen Grund, warum sie alles, was anderweitig nicht zu erhalten ist, nicht selbst entwicklen können sollen.

https://twitter.com/Adbusters/status/1669759345825906693

Hab mal nachgeschaut, das sind Kanadier. Die scheinen einige krasse China-Falken hervorzubringen.

Zitat von Wemir

Hab mal nachgeschaut, das sind Kanadier. Die scheinen einige krasse China-Falken hervorzubringen.

Kanada scheint so generell eine Art Versuchslabor für besonders "liberale" Propaganda aus dem Südlichen Nachbarimperium zu sein.

Haben sie ihn endlich nach China gelassen:

http://german.xinhuanet.com/20…5e9fe78de20c36818d/c.html

Zitat

BEIJING, 18. Juni 2023 (Xinhuanet) -- Der chinesische Staatsrat und Außenminister Qin Gang traf am Sonntag in Beijing mit dem US-Außenminister Antony Blinken zusammen.

Wie zwischen China und den Vereinigten Staaten vereinbart, besucht Blinken China vom 18. bis 19. Juni.

Außenminister vs. Staatsoberhaupt

https://www.wsj.com/articles/b…mericas-doorstep-e17fd5d1

Zitat

Beijing Plans a New Training Facility in Cuba, Raising Prospect of Chinese Troops on America’s Doorstep

Biden administration scrambles to forestall China’s ambitions in the Caribbean

WASHINGTON—China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a new joint military training facility on the island, sparking alarm in Washington that it could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops and other security and intelligence operations just 100 miles off Florida’s coast, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Discussions for the facility on Cuba’s northern coast are at an advanced stage but not concluded, U.S. intelligence reports suggest. The Biden administration has contacted Cuban officials to try to forestall the deal, seeking to tap in to what it thinks might be Cuban concerns about ceding sovereignty. Beijing’s effort to establish a military training facility in Cuba hasn’t been previously reported.

The White House declined to comment.

Alles anzeigen

Viele Kubaner in Florida, die vielleicht mit dem Mutterland wiedervereinigt werden müssen.

Zitat von Wemir

Haben sie [Blinken] endlich nach China gelassen:

http://german.xinhuanet.com/20…5e9fe78de20c36818d/c.html

https://time.com/6288151/blinken-china-diplomat-meeting/

Zitat

On Sunday, Qin accepted an invitation to visit Washington, the State Department said, after 7 1/2 hours of talks with Blinken that both sides described as “productive” and “candid.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/0…ors-fundraiser/index.html

Zitat

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden told Democratic donors underneath a white tent in a backyard in Marin County. “No, I’m serious. That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened.”

Zitat

When President Joe Biden referred to his Chinese counterpart as a dictator late Tuesday in California, the response from Beijing was swift and angry.

“The remarks seriously contradict basic facts, seriously violate diplomatic etiquette, and seriously infringe on China’s political dignity,” the spokesperson for the foreign ministry said.

Whether the new acrimony further derails a “thaw” in US-China ties, something that Biden has openly hoped for, remained an open question.

Laut dem CEO von Raytheon ist das Konglomerat auf China angewiesen und kann sich nicht vollkommen unabhängig machen:

https://www.ft.com/content/d0b…fa-4042-a918-37e71eb7282e

Zitat

Greg Hayes, chief executive of Raytheon, said the company had “several thousand suppliers in China and decoupling . . . is impossible”.

“We can de-risk but not decouple,” Hayes told the Financial Times in an interview, adding that he believed this to be the case “for everybody”.

“Think about the $500bn of trade that goes from China to the US every year. More than 95 per cent of rare earth materials or metals come from, or are processed in, China. There is no alternative,” said Hayes.

“If we had to pull out of China, it would take us many many years to re-establish that capability either domestically or in other friendly countries.”

Alles anzeigen

Warum sagt es das eigentlich?

Zitat

Beijing in February imposed new sanctions on both Raytheon and US defence peer Lockheed Martin for supplying weapons to Taiwan. Hayes has also been placed under sanctions.

The sanctions have had little commercial impact as the groups are not allowed to sell military equipment to China. Raytheon, however, has a substantial commercial aerospace business in the country through its engine subsidiary, Pratt & Whitney, and aviation systems and cabin equipment specialist Collins Aerospace. It has about 2,000 direct employees in China.

Fazit:

Zitat

“We are looking at de-risking, to take some of the most critical components and have second sources but we are not in a position to pull out of China the way we did out of Russia,” said Hayes.

Einschränkend muss man vielleicht sagen, es wird nicht unbedingt klar, ob das jetzt vorallem deren Luftfahrtsparte oder auch die Rüstungssparte betrifft.

https://www.reuters.com/world/…ions-unharmed-2023-06-22/

Zitat

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Thursday he did not think his comment referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator had undermined or complicated the U.S. relationship with China, while declining to walk back the sentiment.

“The idea of my choosing and avoiding saying what I think is the facts with regard to the relationship with ... China is, is just not something I am going to change very much,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

He said he expected to be meeting with Xi in the near term and said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had had a great trip to China recently.

"I don't think it's had any real consequence," Biden said about his comments.

Alles anzeigen

No change, Jack!

(Das war doch so etwa sein Kampagnenversprechen.)

https://www.state.gov/secretar…cnn-state-of-the-union-3/

Zitat

QUESTION: I have to ask you about China. You just went to Beijing last week. It was an attempt to smooth frayed relations with China. Two days later, President Biden called Xi Jinping a dictator, which angered China so much that they issued an official diplomatic reprimand to the U.S. ambassador. Was the President wrong to call Xi Jinping a dictator?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Dana, it’s very clear that when it comes to China, we are going to do and say things that they don’t like; they are going to do and say things that we don’t like. If you look at what comes out of the Chinese foreign ministry every day about the United States, you’d hear plenty of that.

[...]

Zitat

QUESTION: Do you believe that Xi Jinping is a dictator?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: The President speaks clearly. He speaks candidly. I’ve worked for him for more than 20 years. And he speaks for all of us.

Kotau vor dem Boss.

Auch interessant:

https://twitter.com/adam_tooze/status/1647660375452655620

Jetzt schauen die auch noch vorbei:

https://tass.com/defense/1639591

Zitat

HONG KONG, June 28. /TASS/. The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MND) has recorded the passage of two Russian Navy warships off of the east coast of the island.

[...]

The Russian Pacific Fleet’s press office earlier reported that the corvettes Gromky and Sovershennyy traversed the South China Sea and then entered the southern section of the Philippine Sea, where the vessels are conducting maneuvers as part of a long-distance, blue-water ocean patrol aimed at demonstrating Russia’s naval presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Überall, wo die NATO die regelbasierte, internationale Ordnung besorgen will.

Wie kann es sein, dass sie immer noch über das Ding reden?

https://www.reuters.com/world/…r-us-pentagon-2023-06-29/

Zitat

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - A Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States earlier this year before being shot down did not collect information as it went across the country, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

"We assess that it did not collect while it was flying over the U.S.," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters.

The balloon spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before the U.S. military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast on Biden's orders.

Zitat von Wemir

Wie kann es sein, dass sie immer noch über das Ding reden?

Na weil Opa Sepp neulich meinte, das sei für Diktatoren wie Imperator Xi ganz peinlich, wenn die nicht wissen wo ihre undemokratischen Ballons rumfliegen, und echte Cowboys wie er die dann mit ihrem Colt Peacemaker abknallen, und weil die Lakaien des Chinahitlers daraufhin ganz empört waren und meinten, das sei eine Unverschämtheit sondergleichen gewesen.

Ja, vermutlich ist es Versuch der Deskalierung, aber man könnte auch einfach aufhören über das Teil zu sprechen. War das nicht das East Palestine-Ablenkungsprogramm statt dem ewigen einseitigen Symbol US-chinesischer Feindschaft?

Als Antwort auf westliche Sanktionen (USA, aber zum Beispiel auch Niederlande) gegen die chinesische Halbleiterindustrie wird die Volksrepublik ab August den Export von Gallium und Germanium einschränken, man benötigt dann eine Exportlizenz der Regierung:

http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zfxxg…2307/20230703419666.shtml

Via Google Translate:

Zitat

In Übereinstimmung mit den einschlägigen Bestimmungen des „Exportkontrollgesetzes der Volksrepublik China“, des „Außenhandelsgesetzes der Volksrepublik China“ und des „Zollgesetzes der Volksrepublik China“, um die nationale Sicherheit zu gewährleisten und Interessen wird mit Zustimmung des Staatsrates beschlossen, Exportkontrollen für Artikel im Zusammenhang mit Gallium und Germanium einzuführen. Die diesbezüglichen Angelegenheiten werden wie folgt bekannt gegeben:

[...]

2. Exportunternehmer sollten die Exportgenehmigungsverfahren gemäß den einschlägigen Vorschriften durchlaufen, über die Handelsabteilung der Provinz einen Antrag beim Handelsministerium einreichen, das Antragsformular für den Export von Gütern und Technologien mit doppeltem Verwendungszweck ausfüllen und die folgenden Dokumente einreichen:

[...]

3. Das Handelsministerium führt nach Erhalt der Ausfuhrantragsunterlagen eine Prüfung durch oder führt gemeinsam mit den zuständigen Abteilungen eine Prüfung durch und entscheidet innerhalb der gesetzlichen Frist über die Genehmigung oder Ablehnung.

Für die Ausfuhr von in dieser Ankündigung aufgeführten Artikeln, die erhebliche Auswirkungen auf die nationale Sicherheit haben, muss das Handelsministerium zusammen mit den zuständigen Abteilungen dem Staatsrat einen Bericht zur Genehmigung vorlegen.

4. Wenn die Lizenz nach Prüfung genehmigt wird, stellt das Handelsministerium eine Exportlizenz für Güter und Technologien mit doppeltem Verwendungszweck aus (im Folgenden als Exportlizenz bezeichnet).

[...]

8. Diese Ankündigung tritt am 1. August 2023 in Kraft.

Alles anzeigen

Nationale Sicherheit wird hier als ein wesentliches einschränkendes Kriterium für eine solche Lizenz genannt.

Herstellung Gallium: Volksrepublik China, 2020: 317 von 327 Tonnen (laut Wikipedia)

Herstellung Germanium: Volksrepublik China, 2020: 95 von 140 Tonnen (laut Wikipedia)

Russische Sanktions-Pädagogik, Du tust was was uns schadet, wir tun etwas das Dir schadet ...

Beim GeldMonopol hört der Spaß auf:

US-Finanzministerin in China - Yellen will die Wogen glätten

Von Exportbeschränkungen bis hin zu US-Präsident Bidens Vergleich von Chinas Staatschef Xi mit einem Diktator - das Verhältnis zwischen China und den USA ist derzeit extrem angespannt. In dieser Situation reist US-Finanzministerin Yellen nach Peking.

Zitat von ARD Tagesschau - 06.07.23

[...] Bereits Anfang des Jahres sagte die US-Finanzministerin, dass die beiden größten Volkswirtschaften der Welt die Verantwortung tragen, "zusammen an globalen Fragen zu arbeiten". Laut Yellen sei dieser Aspekt etwas, was getan werden könne und die Welt von ihnen erwarte.

Vier Tage lang will Janet Yellen in China Gespräche führen. Nach dem Peking-Besuch von US-Außenminister Antony Blinken im Juni ein weiterer Versuch, die extrem schlechten Beziehungen zwischen den beiden Supermächten zu stabilisieren.

Die Liste der Streitpunkte ist lang: chinesische Menschenrechtverletzungen, Chinas Freundschaft mit Russland, Drohungen der kommunistischen Regierung in Richtung Taiwan und die US-Beschränkungen im Bereich Mikrochips. Die Regierung in Washington versucht China davon abzuhalten, an hochleistungsfähige Halbleiter zu kommen. Eine Befürchtung: China könnte diese für sein Militär verwenden.

Deshalb dürfen bestimmte Mikrochips und Maschinen, die diese herstellen können, nicht mehr nach China exportiert werden. Die kommunistische Staats- und Parteiführung ist sauer und hat erst vor wenigen Tagen Exportkontrollen für zwei Materialien eingeführt, die für die weltweite Hightech-Produktion von entscheidender Bedeutung sind. Ab nächstem Monat werden spezielle Lizenzen benötigt, um Gallium und Germanium aus China zu exportieren, dem weltweit größten Produzenten dieser Metalle.[...]

Aber die ehemalige Chefin der amerikanischen Zentralbank und jetzige Finanzministerin reist natürlich vor allem nach China, um dort über Menschenrechte, Mikrochips, Russland und Taiwan zu sprechen, wie deutsche QualitätsjournalistInnen knallhart recherchiert haben...

Dollar dominance: Preserving the US dollar’s status as the global reserve currency

Zitat von Carla Norrlöf - Atlantic Council (08.06.23)

[...] More recently, an anti-dollar counter-coalition centered around the BRICS countries has emerged. The inclusion of China and Russia, and large emerging economies, presents a more potent challenge to dollar dominance than in the past. If sanctions, or some other development, leaves other countries dissatisfied, the counter-coalition could grow and pose a more acute defiance against the dollar system.

Rising US public debt, high inflation, and other key developments are unfolding in a strategic setting reminiscent of the Cold War environment. The most striking parallel is the return of great-power rivalries and policymakers’ preoccupation with security concerns, which are taking precedence over economic efficiency. Fears about economic decoupling, deglobalization, and fragmentation abound. On the monetary front, the worry is that countries anticipating US sanctions will move preemptively to reduce their dependence on the dollar.

China and Russia have been especially energetic in pushing alternative currencies and building a multinational financial infrastructure for trade and investment in renminbi and rubles.[...]

Those predicting the end of dollar hegemony also point to China’s own use of bilateral swap lines to allow foreign central banks to acquire renminbi in exchange for their own currency. Making renminbi available to foreign governments is a prerequisite for its use by public and private actors, and the ability to act as lender of last resort in times of crisis is a key reserve-currency function.

China has also been maneuvering to expand its institutional footprint, such as by introducing an emergency renminbi liquidity arrangement under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Similarly, the basket of currencies underpinning the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights (SDR, the IMF’s reserve asset), now includes the renminbi, alongside the dollar, yen, euro, and pound sterling. And the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have also discussed ways to push back against dollar hegemony, such as by issuing a joint reserve currency to bypass the dollar and other major Western currencies (as well as offering an alternative to SDR).

Finally, one of the most eagerly anticipated technological developments in this area is China’s creation of digital payment alternatives. China’s central bank introduced a digital currency, the e-CNY, in 2016 and offered this payment option to participants at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. When fully implemented, the e-CNY will function independently of other payment and financial-messaging systems. By offering cheaper, faster, and safer transactions, a Chinese digital currency could make the renminbi more attractive and therefore more widely accessible and liquid. Promoting the e-CNY for trade and investment could accelerate renminbi internationalization.

But underlying trade and investment patterns must change before the global currency hierarchy does. Here, the China-centered Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as China’s Belt and Road Initiative, could help internationalize the renminbi by multiplying economic interactions and encouraging renminbi use in third-country trade and investment. Still, in the medium term, renminbi internationalization is likely to encounter substantial hurdles, owing to China’s maintenance of capital controls and broader balance-of-payments constraints.[...]

Alles anzeigen