The Middle East is a long way from the Far East – and yet China wants to be a player in the region. Numerous heads of government and foreign ministers from Arab League states traveled to the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) in Beijing. What goal is behind Beijing’s efforts for closer cooperation?
At the economic level, oil and gas business remains key, but important areas are being added. Michael Radunski analyzes the People’s Republic’s new priorities. At the diplomatic level, China no longer just wants to play the role of a benevolent mediator, as it did in the Gaza conflict, for example.
The conviction of the ‘Hong Kong 47’ once again shows that Beijing is tightening the reins and things are looking bleak for Hong Kong. Of the 47 Hong Kong activists who were charged three years ago, 14 were found guilty on Thursday. In the worst case they face life imprisonment, writes Joern Petring in his analysis. Their crime? In June 2020, the Democracy Movement held an unofficial primary to select the strongest candidates for the parliamentary elections.
Democracy is also the topic of our column. It was hot in Beijing in early June 1989 and our author had spent many days with his fellow students on Tiananmen Square. Find out what hope he has for his country in today’s China Perspective, shortly before the June 4th anniversary.
Your Julia Fiedler
Feature
Judiciary: Why the conviction of the ‘Hong Kong 47’ displays contempt for democracy
Former journalist Gwyneth Ho campaigns for her candidacy in the parliamentary elections in Hong Kong in 2020. She livestreamed an attack on pro-democracy protesters in a metro station and has now been sentenced for it.
The conviction of 14 supporters of the Hong Kong Democracy Movement in the largest trial to date for alleged violations of the controversial National Security Law has sparked angry reactions from foreign politicians and human rights activists. A court in the West Kowloon district found the prominent activists guilty of subversion on Thursday. Subversion means undermining or overthrowing an existing political or social order.
However, for the first time, there were also two acquittals in a trial under the Security Act introduced four years ago. Former district councilors Lawrence Lau and Lee Yu-shun were found not guilty. However, the public prosecutor’s office can still appeal the ruling.
Convicted for unofficial primaries
The 14 convicted and two acquitted belong to a group of 47 Hong Kong citizens who were charged three years ago. 31 of the defendants, including prominent activists such as former student leader Joshua Wong and law lecturer Benny Tai, had already pleaded guilty in advance and, therefore, did not receive a conviction on Thursday. The court will announce the sentence later. The worst-case scenario is life imprisonment.
The alleged “crime” of which the group is accused seems trivial. In June 2020, the Democracy Movement held an unofficial primary election to select the strongest candidates for the parliamentary elections. The aim was to win a majority in the Hong Kong parliament and thus be able to block important government legislation and budget plans.
‘Hong Kong 47’ were the first targets of the new security office
The democrats had hoped to put pressure on the head of government and push through political reforms. Their goals included making the police more accountable and introducing democratic elections for the office of Chief Executive. The primaries were intended to strengthen the democratic voice of the population and increase political control over the government. This happened at a time when the democracy protests had already lost considerable momentum due to Beijing’s crackdown and the outbreak of Covid.
Just weeks later, Beijing’s National Security Law came into force and the National Security Bureau began its work. One of the investigators’ first targets were the Hong Kong 47. “The conviction reflects the state of ‘rule of law’ Hong Kong is in,” activist Chung Ching Kwong, who lives in exile in Hamburg, told Table.Briefings. “Activists are convicted for their love for Hong Kong and for the long for democracy. We did not get here overnight. The international community has failed to hold Beijing accountable as they refuse to move beyond empty hand wringing,” she criticizes.
Conviction shows contempt for democratic processes
The ruling was, at any rate, a topic of discussion in the German parliament. “Democracy is a crime for Beijing,” commented Gyde Jensen, member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and former chair of the Human Rights Committee, on the conviction on Thursday. “The conviction is scandalous and shows that all concerns about the Security Law have been mercilessly proven true,” said Jensen. “If this show trial has made one thing clear: Democracy is a crime for the communist leadership in Beijing and nothing the regime despises more than freedom.” Especially now, the free world must stand resolutely by the side of the courageous people in Hong Kong, she added.
Maya Wang, China Director at Human Rights Watch, also voiced her criticism: “The fact that a Hong Kong court convicted 14 people for their peaceful activism shows utter contempt for both democratic political processes and the rule of law,” Wang said. “All the people of Hong Kong wanted was the opportunity to freely elect their government.” The Chinese government had promised the people of Hong Kong universal suffrage. Now Beijing must be held accountable for repeatedly breaking this promise, she said.
Snack stalls instead of memorials for the dead
The Hong Kong government is trying to restore confidence in its economic hub. However, observers criticize its rather clumsy approach. They say that the focus on national security in what is actually a completely safe city is completely unnecessary. Mugshots of young activists have also raised eyebrows. Both at the airport and at the border crossings with China, travelers can clearly see these photos on the walls.
The crackdown on the traditional candlelight vigil on 4 June has also caused anger. The vigil commemorates the bloody suppression of the student protests in Beijing on 4 June 1989 and has always been peaceful in the past. It was seen as one of the strongest symbols that Hong Kong has different rules and more freedoms than mainland China.
However, since the pandemic, the authorities no longer permit the vigil. Instead, pro-Beijing groups have seized the area at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. This year, they are again opening snack stalls on the park’s sports fields, where people used to commemorate the dead. Around 4 June, a large market is planned where visitors will be able to eat delicacies from numerous Chinese provinces.
This week, Hong Kong police again cracked down on activists who wanted to commemorate the Tiananmen protests. Six suspects, including prominent activist and former organizer of the annual vigil, Chow Hang-tung, who has already been jailed for other alleged offenses, were arrested for posts about June 4th on social media. Contribution: Fabian Peltsch
Democracy
Human Rights
National Security Act
Translation missing.
Arab heads of state in Beijing: How China wants to transform the Middle East
Xi Jinping together with the heads of state of many Arab countries in Beijing on Thursday.
It is a remarkable sign. While the conflict over Gaza threatens to escalate in the Middle East, the heads of state of many Arab countries are gathering – not in the region, nor in Washington, but in Beijing. And China’s President Xi Jinping is using the opportunity to make a keynote speech to a region in which the United States has long been the dominant power.
At the opening of the cooperation forum between China and the Arab states, Xi first criticized the ongoing conflict. He called for an independent Palestinian state and an international peace conference. However, China’s focus goes far beyond the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: Beijing wants to expand its influence in the entire region. And so Xi promised the Arab states in Beijing closer relations that would serve as a model for a better world.
China calls for a peace conference
“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing the people into tremendous sufferings,” Xi said on Thursday at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) in Beijing. He stressed that “The war should not continue indefinitely.” That is why a “more broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference” is needed.
China presents itself as neutral in the Middle East conflict and criticizes violence against civilians. On Thursday, Beijing also expressed concern about the Israeli offensive in Rafah and called for an immediate end to the fighting. So far, so right. But when it comes to Hamas, China’s supposed neutrality quickly reaches its limits: Beijing has not condemned the terrorist organization’s brutal attack on 7 October with a single word.
Setback for relations with Israel
Accordingly, the traditionally good relations between China and Israel have recently taken a severe hit. For a long time, fundamental political differences were glossed over. While China is primarily interested in Israel’s high-tech and weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his Asian partner to diversify his foreign policy. Until the Hamas attack on Israel and, above all, China’s subsequent reaction.
Gedaliah Afterman from Reichman University in Herzliya is certain: China is not concerned about Israel. “When China looks at the situation, it first takes a regional perspective and then a view from a geopolitical competition between two superpowers,” Afterman told Table.Briefings.
China expands its influence in the Arab states
This was also evident on Thursday at the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum. The heads of government of Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia as well as the foreign ministers of other Arab League states attended the event.
Xi promised the Arab states in Beijing more and closer cooperation. Relations between China and the Arab states should serve as a model for maintaining world peace and stability, Xi said.
It’s all about energy – including renewables
Specifically, China wants to cooperate with the Arab states to produce oil and gas. However, Chinese energy companies and financial institutions will also participate in renewable energy projects in Arab countries. On Thursday alone, this involved cooperation with a total installed capacity of more than three million kilowatts.
The focus on energy is hardly surprising: China is the world’s largest oil importer – its main supplier is Saudi Arabia. China has also become the largest buyer of hydrocarbon exports from the Gulf states.
To this end, heavy investment is also being made in infrastructure. Several important port and industrial area projects are already underway under the New Silk Road initiative. These include a terminal in the port of Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and the ports of Yanbu, Jizan, and Jeddah on the coast of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea.
New priorities: artificial intelligence, big data and 5G
However, China’s foreign policy has new priorities, which are also reflected in its economic cooperation with the Gulf states. On Thursday, Xi also spoke about cooperation in green energy, digitalization, big data, artificial intelligence and 5G.
These are highly competitive areas. The US company Microsoft recently announced plans to invest 1.5 billion US dollars in G42, a leading AI company in the United Arab Emirates. The deal was largely arranged by the US government – also in order to push back China’s ambitions in the region. Experts therefore expect China to use the meeting in Beijing to negotiate its own deal with the Emirates.
China wants to push back US influence
It quickly becomes apparent that competition between China and the USA is behind almost all efforts and agreements. The aim is to curb each other’s influence. That is why China tries to maintain good relations with a wide variety of actors: With the Palestinians, but also with Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“This highly difficult balancing act has been successful mainly because China has kept out of everything so far,” Alexander Gabuyev, Director of the renowned Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told Table.Briefings. Accordingly, not much can be expected from Xi’s call for a peace conference for Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
However, the fact that China’s strategy is successful is illustrated by Liu Zhongmin from Shanghai International Studies University, who told the Global Times: “Amid intensified strategic competition among major powers, Arab countries have consistently supported China on key issues such as Taiwan question, the South China Sea, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.”
Energy
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia
Technologie
Translation missing.
Events
June 6, 2024; 11 a.m. CEST (5 p.m. Beijing time) Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Global China Conversations: Handling data: What are the challenges for foreign companies in China?More
June 6, 2024; 2:30 p.m. Beijing time German Chamber of Commerce in China, GCC Marketing Day (in Shanghai):B2B e-commerce in China More
June 9, 2024; 9:00 a.m. (3 p.m. Beijing time) China Macro Group, Webinar: Staying in Dialogue with China – Economic SecurityMore
News
Chinese EVs: Why the EU’s decision on punitive tariffs is taking its time
The EU Commission remains tight-lipped about when it will decide on possible punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Thursday that the investigation into state subsidies for Chinese electric cars was “running its course.” The exact date when the measures will be announced has not yet been decided.
Rombrovskis recalled the nine-month period within which provisional measures must be applied. The deadline ends at the beginning of July, as the procedure was initiated at the beginning of October 2023. On Wednesday, the EU Commission announced it would postpone the decision until after the EU elections. It cited the ongoing election campaign as the reason. cyb/ari
E-Autos
Battery cell factory: SVolt cancels its plans for Brandenburg
The Chinese battery company SVolt is not building a battery cell factory in Brandenburg after all, according to Asia Nikkei. Production was actually due to start at the beginning of 2025, with a capacity of 16 GWh per year. SVolt had acquired a former plant from wind energy company Vestas.
“In addition to an already low planning security at various levels – from the threat of international punitive tariffs to market distortions due to lengthy and unevenly distributed subsidies,” a “significant client project” was also canceled, said Kai-Uwe Wollenhaupt, President of SVolt Europe, explaining the move.
According to a report by German broadcaster Saarlaendischer Rundfunk (SR), this customer is BMW. According to industry circles, the order had a volume of around 13 billion US dollars over several years, SR reported. However, SVolt was unable to meet the set delivery dates.
European President Wollenhaupt cites political indecision as another reason for the move. “Added to this are the renewed discussions about the end of combustion engines in the EU, which are having a counterproductive effect on the planned localization efforts.”
The factory in Überherrn is to go ahead
SVolt denies reports on its website that the plans for another battery cell plant in Uberherrn, located in the state of Saarland, have been shelved. Nothing will change in the plans for Uberherrn, the company writes, and it is only waiting for approval from the responsible ministry for the general construction permit. Once this has been granted, the company will continue with the economic feasibility study – despite already announced lawsuits against the planned factory construction.
SVolt will open a plant in Heusweiler on July 1. However, it will not be producing cells here, but assembling battery modules and packs from imported cells. The company also announced plans to expand its business areas and focus on stationary energy storage systems, traction batteries for commercial vehicles and non-automotive applications. jul
Batterien
New action plan: How China wants to cut carbon emissions by the end of 2025
The State Council has presented a new action plan for reducing emissions for 2024 and 2025. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions by increasing efficiency in key industries, such as steel production and transportation. Xinhua reports that Energy consumption will be reduced by 2.5 percent and carbon emissions by 3.9 percent per unit of economic output in 2024. According to Reuters, this would result in an absolute emissions reduction of around one percent of total emissions in 2023.
The State Council stated that China’s long-term climate targets must also be substantiated by concrete short-term plans, such as the recently published paper. According to the paper, the share of energy consumption from non-fossil sources is to reach 18.9 percent by the end of this year and 20 percent by the end of 2025.
Emissions could fall faster than officially planned
The plan envisages reforms in key sectors and industries, leading to energy savings of around 50 million tons of standard coal and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of around 130 million tons by the end of 2025. China’s carbon emissions surprisingly fell by three percent in March compared to the same month last year.
Some experts have been expecting China’s emissions to fall faster than the official targets. China aims to have reached the emissions peak by 2030. After that, carbon emissions are set to fall. In parallel, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment announced a plan to introduce a “uniform and standardized” system for determining and managing China’s carbon footprint in the near future. ck
Klima & Umwelt
Tesla: Why the US car manufacturer focuses on autonomous driving in China
According to insiders, the US EV manufacturer Tesla plans to register its Full Self Driving (FSD) software for autonomous driving in China. Reuters reports that it could be offered as a monthly subscription. This would open up a new revenue stream for Tesla after sales in China fell by almost eight percent by the end of April. China is Tesla’s second-largest market.
If the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Digitalization approves the FSD software, Tesla employees could initially test the software on public roads in China. After that, FSD could be offered to Tesla drivers as an upgrade to their software, two insiders said.
FSD allows semi-automated driving, i.e. level 2 of automated driving. The driver must still have their hands on the steering wheel. The company currently offers two less advanced autopilot assistance systems.
According to an earlier Reuters report, Tesla is also considering offering FSD under license to other manufacturers. However, there is already strong competition in China. Some Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xpeng already offer level 2 systems for semi-automated driving. rtr
Tesla
Opinion
Tiananmen: Why a witness to the massacre believes in the courage of the Chinese
Thirty-five years ago, I was a Student in Beijing. I participated in many demonstrations, but I wasn’t one of the leaders, not even a small one. As a matter of fact, my understanding of politics back then was even less than basic. And I was not on the street the night of June 3rd, not because of fear, but because of tiredness and insensitivity to the actually quite clear signals from the government that a bloody crackdown was looming.
The student movement, which started in mid-April and then spread to workers and other walks of life, had been going on for more than one month and seemed to have entered a stalemate. It was early June, warmer than usual. I was wondering what I should do should the school strike continue like that. Then, at dawn on June 4th, I was awakened by cries, screams, and wails by students who had returned to the campus from Tiananmen.
In the next few days, I rode my rackety bicycle into the streets out of curiosity about what was like out there. I saw dents in the roads left by tanks; I saw wrecks of burnt trolley buses used as blockades by Beijing residents and students fighting the People’s Liberation Army soldiers; and I saw corpses of people killed by bullets in a hospital morgue, which was intentionally left open for the public to see the atrocities committed by the government.
I was brainwashed
Despite the terrible experience, I somehow bought into the government’s argument that it had no other choice and that if no “decisive actions” were taken, the country would be plunged into total chaos and fall into pieces.
Only after I had lived in Western countries and read more did I change my mind. With my own eyes, I saw, felt and started to understand the stark difference between China’s people-government relationship and the relationships between the Western people and their governments.
I realized there were indeed other options for the Chinese Communist Party when handling Tiananmen. I, like the vast majority of Chinese people, was before simply brainwashed.
People fear unrest if the regime collapses
The sad truth is: a very big part of the Chinese still think in the way I did in those years. They don’t necessarily like the government, but they do believe the country will go into turmoil and foreign powers will take advantage of it if the communist regime collapses. Their worries are, to a certain extent, understandable. The communist party has always been working very hard to brainwash people with falsified history and distorted narratives about the current state of the world.
Those challenging their lies face punishments as harsh as execution. At the same time, the regime has also been stunting Chinese people’s capabilities for organizing themselves and acting democratically, even in the smallest units of society, such as schools and neighborhood committees.
White Paper protests prove that there are still courageous Chinese people out there
The Good news is: The world is different now after all. Many people, like me, have seen the world and can’t be cheated anymore. Despite the government’s efforts to lock the people in an Information cocoon, there are still ways to breach the Great Firewall of China. And sober and brave souls do exist, last year’s white paper movement bearing a strong testimony.
Efforts to learn from June 4th never stopped. On the side of the party, political reform – for which baby Steps were taken in the 1980s – died, most likely permanently. Since 1989, the regime has been staying constantly watchful for domestic “trouble-makers” and foreign influences and acting resolutely in crushing whatever it saw as attempts to subvert it. At the same time, the government embarked on State capitalism, which has made itself financially stronger while making people feel they are better off.
In retrospect, there are many accusations
On the side of the demonstrators and their supporters, reflections were conducted in various directions. Regretful hindsight hypotheses were raised: What if the demonstrators were smart enough to have taken the radio and television stations? What if Zhao Ziyang, the liberal-minded Party general secretary sacked for his sympathy with the students, openly rebelled against Deng Xiaoping and did something like what Boris Yeltsin did in the final days of the Soviet Union?
There have also been blames: The Student should’ve made compromises to avoid bloodshed and to leave for the reformers in the regime to maneuver; George H.W. Bush, the then US President, should not have let Chinese Communist Party off the hook so easily after the massacre; Bill Clinton, Bush’s successor, who accused Bush for his appeasement of China in the election campaign to replace him, should not have changed route to usher China into the WTO, a crucial move helping China become a superpower and a rival for the US and the West in general; Western Companies should have delinked with China unhesitatingly to stop helping the evil regime.
Exile activists want to inform the Chinese population
Those thoughts reflected people’s anxieties facing a seemingly invincible monster. However, neither blame game, regret, hope nor wait are the correct strategy. There are always things that should be done and can be done. We can’t see what is happening under the surface, but even above the surface, the government is clearly facing an uphill battle to make the Chinese people as cooperative as before.
Outside of China, quite a big group of overseas Chinese fighters in different countries has been working to circumvent the hindrances to communicating with the people in China to inform them about the truth. In recent years, they have also started to reveal the Chinese government’s efforts to harass and intimidate overseas dissidents and make the thugs pay for their crimes. These fighters include former Student and worker leaders from 1989 and scholars, lawyers and journalists who have left China.
More encouragingly, many young people have also joined. Li Ying, an art student in Italy, accidentally became the Information center on X for last year’s white paper movement. Li, who now has 1.5 million followers; has since become a very influential Information hub for egregious acts of the Chinese government and demonstrations and resistance against them.
Political movement and democracy are something you learn by doing. Luckily, there have already been people trying to help themselves and others learn.
There were protest in other cities – they were massive
The scale of the 1989 democratic movement in China was much bigger than I knew back then. The world’s eyes were on Beijing, thanks to hundreds of international journalists coming to report on Mikhail Gorbachev’s historic visit, but they found themselves in something more significant.
But Beijing was really not the entire picture. At the moment, I vaguely knew that there were also demonstrations in other Chinese cities, ironically, from government news outlets, which announced a few in Shanghai under Zhu Rongji as mayor were executed swiftly for their roles in the “unrests.” Only many years later, I learned that the demonstrations were indeed all over China, and they were massive.
I don’t know if I could see China’s democratization in my lifetime. History is unpredictable and can be accidental. I won’t have regrets even if I can’t. The Chinese have tried. In the spring of 1989, tens of millions of them took to the streets and told the world that they didn’t want to live in lies and they were fed up being enslaved. I saw them and in my tiny humble way, I was one of them.
And many of them are still trying.
KP Chinas
Weißblatt-Proteste
Executive Moves
Niels Hegewisch has been Desk Officer China at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung since April. He is based in Berlin. Hegewisch was previously Country Director for Pakistan at the party-affiliated foundation and previously headed its office in Mongolia.
Nico Clari Chulià has been Director & Head of Business Unit Laundry, Dishcare & Cooling Greater China at the E.G.O. Group. Chulià has been working for the German household appliance manufacturer in China for several years. He will continue to be based in Taicang in Jiangsu province.
Is something changing in your organization? Let us know at heads@table.media!
Dessert
Are the USA and China cozying up to each other? Not at all. But at least it’s a fresh start for panda diplomacy. As the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington has announced, China has decided to entrust it with two young giant pandas. Bao Li and Qing Bao are expected to arrive at their new home before the end of the year. The zoo only had to say goodbye to three pandas last fall when China wanted them back. One of them was Xiao Qi Ji and his mother Mei Xiang. In our picture, they are celebrating the panda cub’s nine-month birthday in the US capital. Four panda bears – father, mother and their twin cubs – currently live in Atlanta
At their meeting in California in November 2023, China’s President Xi held out the prospect to US President Biden of possibly lending giant bears to the USA again. These words are now being followed by action. Incidentally, China gave the first pair of bears – Lingling and Xingxing – to the United States back in 1972 as a gift to US President Nixon – or, more precisely, his wife, Pat. In Madrid, the time has already come: A new pair of pandas was revealed here on Thursday. To make them feel at home, there are more than 60 varieties of bamboo on the menu.
The Middle East is a long way from the Far East – and yet China wants to be a player in the region. Numerous heads of government and foreign ministers from Arab League states traveled to the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) in Beijing. What goal is behind Beijing’s efforts for closer cooperation?
At the economic level, oil and gas business remains key, but important areas are being added. Michael Radunski analyzes the People’s Republic’s new priorities. At the diplomatic level, China no longer just wants to play the role of a benevolent mediator, as it did in the Gaza conflict, for example.
The conviction of the ‘Hong Kong 47’ once again shows that Beijing is tightening the reins and things are looking bleak for Hong Kong. Of the 47 Hong Kong activists who were charged three years ago, 14 were found guilty on Thursday. In the worst case they face life imprisonment, writes Joern Petring in his analysis. Their crime? In June 2020, the Democracy Movement held an unofficial primary to select the strongest candidates for the parliamentary elections.
Democracy is also the topic of our column. It was hot in Beijing in early June 1989 and our author had spent many days with his fellow students on Tiananmen Square. Find out what hope he has for his country in today’s China Perspective, shortly before the June 4th anniversary.
Your Julia Fiedler
Feature
Judiciary: Why the conviction of the ‘Hong Kong 47’ displays contempt for democracy
Former journalist Gwyneth Ho campaigns for her candidacy in the parliamentary elections in Hong Kong in 2020. She livestreamed an attack on pro-democracy protesters in a metro station and has now been sentenced for it.
The conviction of 14 supporters of the Hong Kong Democracy Movement in the largest trial to date for alleged violations of the controversial National Security Law has sparked angry reactions from foreign politicians and human rights activists. A court in the West Kowloon district found the prominent activists guilty of subversion on Thursday. Subversion means undermining or overthrowing an existing political or social order.
However, for the first time, there were also two acquittals in a trial under the Security Act introduced four years ago. Former district councilors Lawrence Lau and Lee Yu-shun were found not guilty. However, the public prosecutor’s office can still appeal the ruling.
Convicted for unofficial primaries
The 14 convicted and two acquitted belong to a group of 47 Hong Kong citizens who were charged three years ago. 31 of the defendants, including prominent activists such as former student leader Joshua Wong and law lecturer Benny Tai, had already pleaded guilty in advance and, therefore, did not receive a conviction on Thursday. The court will announce the sentence later. The worst-case scenario is life imprisonment.
The alleged “crime” of which the group is accused seems trivial. In June 2020, the Democracy Movement held an unofficial primary election to select the strongest candidates for the parliamentary elections. The aim was to win a majority in the Hong Kong parliament and thus be able to block important government legislation and budget plans.
‘Hong Kong 47’ were the first targets of the new security office
The democrats had hoped to put pressure on the head of government and push through political reforms. Their goals included making the police more accountable and introducing democratic elections for the office of Chief Executive. The primaries were intended to strengthen the democratic voice of the population and increase political control over the government. This happened at a time when the democracy protests had already lost considerable momentum due to Beijing’s crackdown and the outbreak of Covid.
Just weeks later, Beijing’s National Security Law came into force and the National Security Bureau began its work. One of the investigators’ first targets were the Hong Kong 47. “The conviction reflects the state of ‘rule of law’ Hong Kong is in,” activist Chung Ching Kwong, who lives in exile in Hamburg, told Table.Briefings. “Activists are convicted for their love for Hong Kong and for the long for democracy. We did not get here overnight. The international community has failed to hold Beijing accountable as they refuse to move beyond empty hand wringing,” she criticizes.
Conviction shows contempt for democratic processes
The ruling was, at any rate, a topic of discussion in the German parliament. “Democracy is a crime for Beijing,” commented Gyde Jensen, member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and former chair of the Human Rights Committee, on the conviction on Thursday. “The conviction is scandalous and shows that all concerns about the Security Law have been mercilessly proven true,” said Jensen. “If this show trial has made one thing clear: Democracy is a crime for the communist leadership in Beijing and nothing the regime despises more than freedom.” Especially now, the free world must stand resolutely by the side of the courageous people in Hong Kong, she added.
Maya Wang, China Director at Human Rights Watch, also voiced her criticism: “The fact that a Hong Kong court convicted 14 people for their peaceful activism shows utter contempt for both democratic political processes and the rule of law,” Wang said. “All the people of Hong Kong wanted was the opportunity to freely elect their government.” The Chinese government had promised the people of Hong Kong universal suffrage. Now Beijing must be held accountable for repeatedly breaking this promise, she said.
Snack stalls instead of memorials for the dead
The Hong Kong government is trying to restore confidence in its economic hub. However, observers criticize its rather clumsy approach. They say that the focus on national security in what is actually a completely safe city is completely unnecessary. Mugshots of young activists have also raised eyebrows. Both at the airport and at the border crossings with China, travelers can clearly see these photos on the walls.
The crackdown on the traditional candlelight vigil on 4 June has also caused anger. The vigil commemorates the bloody suppression of the student protests in Beijing on 4 June 1989 and has always been peaceful in the past. It was seen as one of the strongest symbols that Hong Kong has different rules and more freedoms than mainland China.
However, since the pandemic, the authorities no longer permit the vigil. Instead, pro-Beijing groups have seized the area at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. This year, they are again opening snack stalls on the park’s sports fields, where people used to commemorate the dead. Around 4 June, a large market is planned where visitors will be able to eat delicacies from numerous Chinese provinces.
This week, Hong Kong police again cracked down on activists who wanted to commemorate the Tiananmen protests. Six suspects, including prominent activist and former organizer of the annual vigil, Chow Hang-tung, who has already been jailed for other alleged offenses, were arrested for posts about June 4th on social media. Contribution: Fabian Peltsch
Democracy
Human Rights
National Security Act
Translation missing.
Arab heads of state in Beijing: How China wants to transform the Middle East
Xi Jinping together with the heads of state of many Arab countries in Beijing on Thursday.
It is a remarkable sign. While the conflict over Gaza threatens to escalate in the Middle East, the heads of state of many Arab countries are gathering – not in the region, nor in Washington, but in Beijing. And China’s President Xi Jinping is using the opportunity to make a keynote speech to a region in which the United States has long been the dominant power.
At the opening of the cooperation forum between China and the Arab states, Xi first criticized the ongoing conflict. He called for an independent Palestinian state and an international peace conference. However, China’s focus goes far beyond the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: Beijing wants to expand its influence in the entire region. And so Xi promised the Arab states in Beijing closer relations that would serve as a model for a better world.
China calls for a peace conference
“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing the people into tremendous sufferings,” Xi said on Thursday at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) in Beijing. He stressed that “The war should not continue indefinitely.” That is why a “more broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference” is needed.
China presents itself as neutral in the Middle East conflict and criticizes violence against civilians. On Thursday, Beijing also expressed concern about the Israeli offensive in Rafah and called for an immediate end to the fighting. So far, so right. But when it comes to Hamas, China’s supposed neutrality quickly reaches its limits: Beijing has not condemned the terrorist organization’s brutal attack on 7 October with a single word.
Setback for relations with Israel
Accordingly, the traditionally good relations between China and Israel have recently taken a severe hit. For a long time, fundamental political differences were glossed over. While China is primarily interested in Israel’s high-tech and weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his Asian partner to diversify his foreign policy. Until the Hamas attack on Israel and, above all, China’s subsequent reaction.
Gedaliah Afterman from Reichman University in Herzliya is certain: China is not concerned about Israel. “When China looks at the situation, it first takes a regional perspective and then a view from a geopolitical competition between two superpowers,” Afterman told Table.Briefings.
China expands its influence in the Arab states
This was also evident on Thursday at the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum. The heads of government of Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia as well as the foreign ministers of other Arab League states attended the event.
Xi promised the Arab states in Beijing more and closer cooperation. Relations between China and the Arab states should serve as a model for maintaining world peace and stability, Xi said.
It’s all about energy – including renewables
Specifically, China wants to cooperate with the Arab states to produce oil and gas. However, Chinese energy companies and financial institutions will also participate in renewable energy projects in Arab countries. On Thursday alone, this involved cooperation with a total installed capacity of more than three million kilowatts.
The focus on energy is hardly surprising: China is the world’s largest oil importer – its main supplier is Saudi Arabia. China has also become the largest buyer of hydrocarbon exports from the Gulf states.
To this end, heavy investment is also being made in infrastructure. Several important port and industrial area projects are already underway under the New Silk Road initiative. These include a terminal in the port of Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and the ports of Yanbu, Jizan, and Jeddah on the coast of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea.
New priorities: artificial intelligence, big data and 5G
However, China’s foreign policy has new priorities, which are also reflected in its economic cooperation with the Gulf states. On Thursday, Xi also spoke about cooperation in green energy, digitalization, big data, artificial intelligence and 5G.
These are highly competitive areas. The US company Microsoft recently announced plans to invest 1.5 billion US dollars in G42, a leading AI company in the United Arab Emirates. The deal was largely arranged by the US government – also in order to push back China’s ambitions in the region. Experts therefore expect China to use the meeting in Beijing to negotiate its own deal with the Emirates.
China wants to push back US influence
It quickly becomes apparent that competition between China and the USA is behind almost all efforts and agreements. The aim is to curb each other’s influence. That is why China tries to maintain good relations with a wide variety of actors: With the Palestinians, but also with Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“This highly difficult balancing act has been successful mainly because China has kept out of everything so far,” Alexander Gabuyev, Director of the renowned Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told Table.Briefings. Accordingly, not much can be expected from Xi’s call for a peace conference for Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
However, the fact that China’s strategy is successful is illustrated by Liu Zhongmin from Shanghai International Studies University, who told the Global Times: “Amid intensified strategic competition among major powers, Arab countries have consistently supported China on key issues such as Taiwan question, the South China Sea, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.”
Energy
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia
Technologie
Translation missing.
Events
June 6, 2024; 11 a.m. CEST (5 p.m. Beijing time) Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Global China Conversations: Handling data: What are the challenges for foreign companies in China?More
June 6, 2024; 2:30 p.m. Beijing time German Chamber of Commerce in China, GCC Marketing Day (in Shanghai):B2B e-commerce in China More
June 9, 2024; 9:00 a.m. (3 p.m. Beijing time) China Macro Group, Webinar: Staying in Dialogue with China – Economic SecurityMore
News
Chinese EVs: Why the EU’s decision on punitive tariffs is taking its time
The EU Commission remains tight-lipped about when it will decide on possible punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Thursday that the investigation into state subsidies for Chinese electric cars was “running its course.” The exact date when the measures will be announced has not yet been decided.
Rombrovskis recalled the nine-month period within which provisional measures must be applied. The deadline ends at the beginning of July, as the procedure was initiated at the beginning of October 2023. On Wednesday, the EU Commission announced it would postpone the decision until after the EU elections. It cited the ongoing election campaign as the reason. cyb/ari
E-Autos
Battery cell factory: SVolt cancels its plans for Brandenburg
The Chinese battery company SVolt is not building a battery cell factory in Brandenburg after all, according to Asia Nikkei. Production was actually due to start at the beginning of 2025, with a capacity of 16 GWh per year. SVolt had acquired a former plant from wind energy company Vestas.
“In addition to an already low planning security at various levels – from the threat of international punitive tariffs to market distortions due to lengthy and unevenly distributed subsidies,” a “significant client project” was also canceled, said Kai-Uwe Wollenhaupt, President of SVolt Europe, explaining the move.
According to a report by German broadcaster Saarlaendischer Rundfunk (SR), this customer is BMW. According to industry circles, the order had a volume of around 13 billion US dollars over several years, SR reported. However, SVolt was unable to meet the set delivery dates.
European President Wollenhaupt cites political indecision as another reason for the move. “Added to this are the renewed discussions about the end of combustion engines in the EU, which are having a counterproductive effect on the planned localization efforts.”
The factory in Überherrn is to go ahead
SVolt denies reports on its website that the plans for another battery cell plant in Uberherrn, located in the state of Saarland, have been shelved. Nothing will change in the plans for Uberherrn, the company writes, and it is only waiting for approval from the responsible ministry for the general construction permit. Once this has been granted, the company will continue with the economic feasibility study – despite already announced lawsuits against the planned factory construction.
SVolt will open a plant in Heusweiler on July 1. However, it will not be producing cells here, but assembling battery modules and packs from imported cells. The company also announced plans to expand its business areas and focus on stationary energy storage systems, traction batteries for commercial vehicles and non-automotive applications. jul
Batterien
New action plan: How China wants to cut carbon emissions by the end of 2025
The State Council has presented a new action plan for reducing emissions for 2024 and 2025. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions by increasing efficiency in key industries, such as steel production and transportation. Xinhua reports that Energy consumption will be reduced by 2.5 percent and carbon emissions by 3.9 percent per unit of economic output in 2024. According to Reuters, this would result in an absolute emissions reduction of around one percent of total emissions in 2023.
The State Council stated that China’s long-term climate targets must also be substantiated by concrete short-term plans, such as the recently published paper. According to the paper, the share of energy consumption from non-fossil sources is to reach 18.9 percent by the end of this year and 20 percent by the end of 2025.
Emissions could fall faster than officially planned
The plan envisages reforms in key sectors and industries, leading to energy savings of around 50 million tons of standard coal and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of around 130 million tons by the end of 2025. China’s carbon emissions surprisingly fell by three percent in March compared to the same month last year.
Some experts have been expecting China’s emissions to fall faster than the official targets. China aims to have reached the emissions peak by 2030. After that, carbon emissions are set to fall. In parallel, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment announced a plan to introduce a “uniform and standardized” system for determining and managing China’s carbon footprint in the near future. ck
Klima & Umwelt
Tesla: Why the US car manufacturer focuses on autonomous driving in China
According to insiders, the US EV manufacturer Tesla plans to register its Full Self Driving (FSD) software for autonomous driving in China. Reuters reports that it could be offered as a monthly subscription. This would open up a new revenue stream for Tesla after sales in China fell by almost eight percent by the end of April. China is Tesla’s second-largest market.
If the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Digitalization approves the FSD software, Tesla employees could initially test the software on public roads in China. After that, FSD could be offered to Tesla drivers as an upgrade to their software, two insiders said.
FSD allows semi-automated driving, i.e. level 2 of automated driving. The driver must still have their hands on the steering wheel. The company currently offers two less advanced autopilot assistance systems.
According to an earlier Reuters report, Tesla is also considering offering FSD under license to other manufacturers. However, there is already strong competition in China. Some Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xpeng already offer level 2 systems for semi-automated driving. rtr
Tesla
Opinion
Tiananmen: Why a witness to the massacre believes in the courage of the Chinese
Thirty-five years ago, I was a Student in Beijing. I participated in many demonstrations, but I wasn’t one of the leaders, not even a small one. As a matter of fact, my understanding of politics back then was even less than basic. And I was not on the street the night of June 3rd, not because of fear, but because of tiredness and insensitivity to the actually quite clear signals from the government that a bloody crackdown was looming.
The student movement, which started in mid-April and then spread to workers and other walks of life, had been going on for more than one month and seemed to have entered a stalemate. It was early June, warmer than usual. I was wondering what I should do should the school strike continue like that. Then, at dawn on June 4th, I was awakened by cries, screams, and wails by students who had returned to the campus from Tiananmen.
In the next few days, I rode my rackety bicycle into the streets out of curiosity about what was like out there. I saw dents in the roads left by tanks; I saw wrecks of burnt trolley buses used as blockades by Beijing residents and students fighting the People’s Liberation Army soldiers; and I saw corpses of people killed by bullets in a hospital morgue, which was intentionally left open for the public to see the atrocities committed by the government.
I was brainwashed
Despite the terrible experience, I somehow bought into the government’s argument that it had no other choice and that if no “decisive actions” were taken, the country would be plunged into total chaos and fall into pieces.
Only after I had lived in Western countries and read more did I change my mind. With my own eyes, I saw, felt and started to understand the stark difference between China’s people-government relationship and the relationships between the Western people and their governments.
I realized there were indeed other options for the Chinese Communist Party when handling Tiananmen. I, like the vast majority of Chinese people, was before simply brainwashed.
People fear unrest if the regime collapses
The sad truth is: a very big part of the Chinese still think in the way I did in those years. They don’t necessarily like the government, but they do believe the country will go into turmoil and foreign powers will take advantage of it if the communist regime collapses. Their worries are, to a certain extent, understandable. The communist party has always been working very hard to brainwash people with falsified history and distorted narratives about the current state of the world.
Those challenging their lies face punishments as harsh as execution. At the same time, the regime has also been stunting Chinese people’s capabilities for organizing themselves and acting democratically, even in the smallest units of society, such as schools and neighborhood committees.
White Paper protests prove that there are still courageous Chinese people out there
The Good news is: The world is different now after all. Many people, like me, have seen the world and can’t be cheated anymore. Despite the government’s efforts to lock the people in an Information cocoon, there are still ways to breach the Great Firewall of China. And sober and brave souls do exist, last year’s white paper movement bearing a strong testimony.
Efforts to learn from June 4th never stopped. On the side of the party, political reform – for which baby Steps were taken in the 1980s – died, most likely permanently. Since 1989, the regime has been staying constantly watchful for domestic “trouble-makers” and foreign influences and acting resolutely in crushing whatever it saw as attempts to subvert it. At the same time, the government embarked on State capitalism, which has made itself financially stronger while making people feel they are better off.
In retrospect, there are many accusations
On the side of the demonstrators and their supporters, reflections were conducted in various directions. Regretful hindsight hypotheses were raised: What if the demonstrators were smart enough to have taken the radio and television stations? What if Zhao Ziyang, the liberal-minded Party general secretary sacked for his sympathy with the students, openly rebelled against Deng Xiaoping and did something like what Boris Yeltsin did in the final days of the Soviet Union?
There have also been blames: The Student should’ve made compromises to avoid bloodshed and to leave for the reformers in the regime to maneuver; George H.W. Bush, the then US President, should not have let Chinese Communist Party off the hook so easily after the massacre; Bill Clinton, Bush’s successor, who accused Bush for his appeasement of China in the election campaign to replace him, should not have changed route to usher China into the WTO, a crucial move helping China become a superpower and a rival for the US and the West in general; Western Companies should have delinked with China unhesitatingly to stop helping the evil regime.
Exile activists want to inform the Chinese population
Those thoughts reflected people’s anxieties facing a seemingly invincible monster. However, neither blame game, regret, hope nor wait are the correct strategy. There are always things that should be done and can be done. We can’t see what is happening under the surface, but even above the surface, the government is clearly facing an uphill battle to make the Chinese people as cooperative as before.
Outside of China, quite a big group of overseas Chinese fighters in different countries has been working to circumvent the hindrances to communicating with the people in China to inform them about the truth. In recent years, they have also started to reveal the Chinese government’s efforts to harass and intimidate overseas dissidents and make the thugs pay for their crimes. These fighters include former Student and worker leaders from 1989 and scholars, lawyers and journalists who have left China.
More encouragingly, many young people have also joined. Li Ying, an art student in Italy, accidentally became the Information center on X for last year’s white paper movement. Li, who now has 1.5 million followers; has since become a very influential Information hub for egregious acts of the Chinese government and demonstrations and resistance against them.
Political movement and democracy are something you learn by doing. Luckily, there have already been people trying to help themselves and others learn.
There were protest in other cities – they were massive
The scale of the 1989 democratic movement in China was much bigger than I knew back then. The world’s eyes were on Beijing, thanks to hundreds of international journalists coming to report on Mikhail Gorbachev’s historic visit, but they found themselves in something more significant.
But Beijing was really not the entire picture. At the moment, I vaguely knew that there were also demonstrations in other Chinese cities, ironically, from government news outlets, which announced a few in Shanghai under Zhu Rongji as mayor were executed swiftly for their roles in the “unrests.” Only many years later, I learned that the demonstrations were indeed all over China, and they were massive.
I don’t know if I could see China’s democratization in my lifetime. History is unpredictable and can be accidental. I won’t have regrets even if I can’t. The Chinese have tried. In the spring of 1989, tens of millions of them took to the streets and told the world that they didn’t want to live in lies and they were fed up being enslaved. I saw them and in my tiny humble way, I was one of them.
And many of them are still trying.
KP Chinas
Weißblatt-Proteste
Executive Moves
Niels Hegewisch has been Desk Officer China at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung since April. He is based in Berlin. Hegewisch was previously Country Director for Pakistan at the party-affiliated foundation and previously headed its office in Mongolia.
Nico Clari Chulià has been Director & Head of Business Unit Laundry, Dishcare & Cooling Greater China at the E.G.O. Group. Chulià has been working for the German household appliance manufacturer in China for several years. He will continue to be based in Taicang in Jiangsu province.
Is something changing in your organization? Let us know at heads@table.media!
Dessert
Are the USA and China cozying up to each other? Not at all. But at least it’s a fresh start for panda diplomacy. As the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington has announced, China has decided to entrust it with two young giant pandas. Bao Li and Qing Bao are expected to arrive at their new home before the end of the year. The zoo only had to say goodbye to three pandas last fall when China wanted them back. One of them was Xiao Qi Ji and his mother Mei Xiang. In our picture, they are celebrating the panda cub’s nine-month birthday in the US capital. Four panda bears – father, mother and their twin cubs – currently live in Atlanta
At their meeting in California in November 2023, China’s President Xi held out the prospect to US President Biden of possibly lending giant bears to the USA again. These words are now being followed by action. Incidentally, China gave the first pair of bears – Lingling and Xingxing – to the United States back in 1972 as a gift to US President Nixon – or, more precisely, his wife, Pat. In Madrid, the time has already come: A new pair of pandas was revealed here on Thursday. To make them feel at home, there are more than 60 varieties of bamboo on the menu.
