Only at first glance does Draghi’s report seem like warmed-over coffee. The former head of the European Central Bank calls for a coordinated industrial policy, faster decision-making processes and massive investment – the only way the European Union will be able to keep up with the largest economies in China and the USA. Well, others have said the same or similar things before Draghi.
But what makes his report “historic,” as the media say, is the volume of investment. And it is quite something: a whopping 750 to 800 billion euros annually – equivalent to up to five percent of the EU’s gross domestic product. The report says this is far more than the one to two percent that was once earmarked in the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War.
If these are the necessary prerequisites to make Europe competitive against the US and China, then Europe faces a test of strength against which the posturing of autocrats like Viktor Orbán is laughably trivial. The EU is clearly at a crossroads – partner or lackey. Amelie Richter has taken a look at the report for us.
It is legitimate for a competitor like China to play hardball. Deception in science, on the other hand, is ethically painful. In a new study, linguist Jeffrey Stoff has collected examples and evidence of China’s problematic behavior regarding transparency and good scientific practice in international collaborations. Tim Gabel spoke to Stoff for us.
Your Marcel Grzanna
Feature
EU competitiveness: The Draghi report highlights these China aspects
Mario Draghi and Ursula von der Leyen at the presentation of the report.
Europe’s economy requires massive investment and significantly more innovation efforts if it is to keep pace with China in the long term – that is the core message of Mario Draghi ‘s strategy paper on the competitiveness of the European Union, which was presented in Brussels on Monday.
If Europe wants to compete with China and the USA, it must invest percentage points of GDP annually, “last seen in the 1960s and 70s,” the report states. Specifically: “A minimum annual additional investment of EUR 750 to 800 billion is needed.” Draghi proposes taking on new joint debt with a loan-financed aid package, as was recently the case during the Covid pandemic.
A year ago, the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen asked the former head of the European Central Bank and ex-head of the Italian government for a report on how the EU can make its economy competitive.
Draghi: Cannot take tougher action in all areas
The strategy paper makes it clear that the People’s Republic increasingly represents economic competition: “The ECB finds that the share of sectors in which China is directly competing with the euro area exporters is now close to 40 percent, up from 25 percent in 2002.” Draghi’s urgent warning: “For the first time since the Cold War, we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation.”
At Monday’s press conference, Draghi was critical of the idea that Brussels should generally take “tougher” action against China: “Trade policy has to be pragmatic … We can’t be softer or harder across the board. We have to look at specific sectors, and decide what we want to do.”
Draghi cited the sustainable technology sector as an example. “Increasing reliance on China may offer the cheapest and most efficient route to meeting our decarbonization targets. But China’s state-sponsored competition also represents a threat to our productive clean tech and automotive industries.”
Report: Energy urgently needs to become cheaper
In the almost 400-page report, China is primarily mentioned in the description of the problem. The first part of the Draghi paper covers ten sectors. The second part contains overarching proposals on the EU’s competitiveness.
The most important China aspects of the paper:
Energy: Energy is described as “a key driver of the European Union’s competitiveness gap vis-à-vis other world regions.” Retail electricity prices – especially for the industrial sector – are currently two to three times higher than in the USA and China. The ETS system, which applies to electricity generation, further increases the price and makes it more volatile than in China. The proposal: Energy must become cheaper for the end consumer. To this end, the Draghi report recommends temporary energy tax cuts, state subsidies and price caps. Moreover, the cost benefits of decarbonization would have to be transferred to all consumers. The Draghi report also calls for accelerating decarbonization – using all available technologies.
Critical raw materials: China is most frequently mentioned in this chapter. “Critical raw materials are essential to accelerate the transformation required of the EU’s economy,” the introduction states. Rapid demand growth is “putting at risk the global supply-demand balance,” and additional challenges are posed by the limited diversification of suppliers and a high level of dependency in the EU’s supply chains. The report notes that China has a dominant position in the global mining of rare earths and covers 68 percent of the global market. The People’s Republic is also a leader in graphite production, covering 70 percent of the global output. In addition, China has a virtual monopoly on the processing and refining of critical minerals. The proposal: Europe needs a jointly coordinated strategy that covers the entire value chain, from raw material to end product. According to the Draghi report, this requires greater involvement of national governments and EU authorities, and the recently adopted Critical Minerals Act has laid a solid foundation for this. However, the report urges the Act to be implemented quickly and fully. It also urges the EU to create financial solutions, among other things, to diversify the value chain of critical raw materials as well as to improve recycling.
Digitalization and advanced technology: The report summarizes several subsections in this chapter, each with its own section. These include computing and artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cleantech. The Draghi report states that the restrictions on technology trade with China have further complicated Europe’s position, and individual EU states’ reactions are “mixed.” For example, although the “Toolbox for 5G Security” has been adopted, there are still no restrictions on high-risk suppliers such as Huawei or ZTE in 14 member states. Meanwhile, “the EU is losing ground in R&D and in the creation of innovative tech companies with global reach.” EU companies account for only seven percent of R&D spending among leading companies in the software and internet sectors, compared to 71 percent in the US and 15 percent in China. The situation looks better in the field of quantum computing. Here, the EU is in second place behind China with around seven billion euros in annual public investment and even ahead of China when it comes to patent applications. The proposal: More money for innovation and R&D. The EU is urged to secure a strong position in AI and key industries such as advanced manufacturing and industrial robotics, chemicals, telecommunications and biotechnology over the next five years. The report also advocates a new EU semiconductor strategy and an EU budget. The existing EU Chips Act should be reviewed and expanded to achieve these goals.
Cleantech: The Draghi report looks at China ‘s overcapacity in this sector. By 2030, China’s annual production capacity for photovoltaics is expected to be twice as high as that of global demand. On top of this, China’s battery cell production capacity is expected to at least cover global demand. The report attributes the EU’s poorer performance to higher production costs in the EU resulting from higher raw material and energy prices, among other things. China, however, has specifically promoted the sector since the 2000s and protected its own market. The proposal: The EU must ensure a “minimum level” of EU autonomy in the supply of selected clean technologies and their supply chains. The Draghi Report recommends, among other measures, awarding criteria like locally manufactured components in tenders and easier access to EU public funding for the sector.
Automotive sector: ‘China has moved faster’
Automotive sector: The report sees several factors behind the EU’s loss of competitiveness in the automotive sector. “EU climate policies set ambitious targets for low-carbon road transport (primarily EVs), as well as for the production of less polluting ICE vehicles.” What is remarkable here is the reason given: “However, the EU’s supply chain is taking time to adjust. At the same time, China has moved faster and at a larger, coordinated scale across the entire EV value chain and can now enjoy lower costs (know-how, economies of scale, lower labor costs) and a technological edge.” Previous EU papers on Chinese EVs have not been so open about this. The proposal: To ensure that the EU remains a leader in the global automotive industry and that jobs, R&D facilities and production are maintained in the region, two main objectives with different time horizons should be pursued: In the short term, the relocation of production or the rapid takeover of EU plants and companies by state-subsidized competitors must be avoided. In the medium term, the goal should be to “re-establish a competitive leading position for the EU for the ‘next generation’ of vehicles and maintain the European production base with current technological advantages as long as international markets show demand.” To this end, the report proposes, among other things, an EU action plan for the automotive industry.
EU-Klimapolitik
Künstliche Intelligenz
Rohstoffe
Seltene Erden
Trade
Research collaborations: How China systematically deceives international partners
In his latest report, US security expert Jeffrey Stoff describes the questionable methods used by Chinese research institutions.
For his new report “Transparency and Integrity Risks in China’s Research Ecosystem,” China analyst and linguist Jeffrey Stoff has compiled examples and evidence of scientific misconduct. They are intended to show that and, above all, how China – presumably as part of its geopolitical strategy to become the world’s leading scientific nation – systematically and deliberately violates the value system in international scientific cooperation.
“The observance of values such as trust, honesty, transparency, integrity and reciprocity have not yet been examined with the necessary care concerning research collaborations and joint publications with China,” Jeffrey Stoff told Table.Briefings. Democratic countries have also made no attempt to systematically survey China’s practices to make them available to the scientific community for better security precautions, he added.
Questionable practices of Chinese research institutions
The Center for Research Security and Integrity, founded by Stoff, has now – according to its own information – provided a preliminary catalog of China’s problematic practices concerning transparency and good scientific practice in international collaborations. At the heart of the publication are case studies providing concrete examples, some of which were published years ago and most of which should come as no surprise to people familiar with the subject.
However, they are intended to provide an overall picture of the methods used in the People’s Republic to make it difficult or impossible for international partners to identify links between institutions and military research, for example.
Stoff and his colleagues describe cases such as that of the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (CARDC). According to the authors, the institution is one of the key sites for the research and development of hypersonic weapons and a test center for the People’s Liberation Army. However, there is no information about this in recent archive versions of the website or in international collaborations. According to the report, the site can no longer even be accessed from the US.
Blocked websites, missing or incorrect information, new names
The institution’s strategy appears to be successful, as Stoff and his team state that the USA (70), the UK (51) and Germany (17) alone have published a total of 138 joint papers with the CARDC over the past six years. However, Stoff’s publication does not provide more detailed information on the nature and type of scientific collaboration.
Other universities, such as the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, have deleted content referring to military connections, unlike older versions of their websites. Or – like the Chinese Academy of Sciences Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics – they only display critical information on the Chinese website, but not on the English one. Other institutions use misleading or incorrectly translated names for international collaborations or rename their funding sources.
Recommendation: Developing Mandarin skills and expertise
“China’s increasingly restrictive information policy, even in areas of basic research, calls into question the openness and transparency that we are used to in international research collaborations with partner countries,” said Jeff Stoff. When asked how he thinks the German government should respond, Stoff says that Mandarin skills and expertise are crucial for effective due diligence, requiring capacity and knowledge building by the German government and the research community.
“International cooperation in research security and exchanging information with partner countries are also key to spreading the resource burden across many shoulders.” A study on Sino-German research cooperation by Jeffrey Stoff shook up the German research landscape at the beginning of last year. In an interview with Table.Briefings, he also explained how German research institutions and companies collaborate with Chinese organizations with military ties.
Stoff cites other case studies that show that China is counting on the naivety or ignorance of potential partners. An example is the case of Chinese professor Tan Tieniu, who heads Nanjing University and is a globally renowned AI specialist for pattern recognition and biometric recording. However, as described in the paper, he is also the owner and CEO of several Chinese surveillance technology companies – a fact he completely omits in his online CVs and on websites.
“I am disappointed that the international research community continues to recognize the work of a scientist from the People’s Republic of China who has played a crucial role in the commercialization of mass surveillance technologies,” Stoff comments on the case. Tan developed these technologies specifically for China’s public security agencies, “which are known to use them to commit human rights violations.”
Attempts to boost publications using questionable methods
Stoff’s study is not limited to suspected misconduct by Chinese institutions and scientists when it comes to transparency, but also analyzes attempts to increase the value of scientific publications using questionable methods. Stoff reports that foreign scientists become co-authors without having provided any significant input to enhance the reputation of studies or that co-authors from renowned foreign institutions are made up for the same purpose.
Another interesting case is that of climate researcher Wang Chunzai, who conducted research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the US Department of Commerce. However, around the same time, he was recruited by a Chinese talent program despite holding a full-time position in the US. During this time, Wang published some of his highly regarded publications exclusively for Chinese institutions and was eventually sentenced to prison in the USA in 2018 after it was discovered that he had received a second salary from China.
In conversation with Table.Briefings, Stoff said that most of the examples and findings of his investigations no longer surprised him as he has been conducting these types of studies for many years. “However, I am surprised that large nations continue to work with PRC entities known to pose critical national security risks.”
China
News
Tibet: UN experts demand clarity after wave of arrests
UN human rights experts are “deeply concerned” about the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on dam protests in the Tibetan region of Derge (Mandarin Dege). 13 special rapporteurs had already sent a letter to this effect to the Chinese government in July. They demand transparency about how many people are still being detained for participating in the demonstrations and where they are being held. They also demand information on what risks the dam’s construction actually poses to people and nature.
Michael Brand, Chairman of the Tibet Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, laments China’s “extremely worrying” actions “also given the international escalation that the regime in Beijing is practicing more and more frequently.” He urged that the protection of Tibetans and “the country of Tibet” should be high on the agenda of international geopolitics.
Kai Müller, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in Berlin, warns: “What is being sold with the dams as climate-friendly and green energy is in reality a ruthless strategy of exploiting an oppressed country and disenfranchising those affected.” He continued that the international community should not fall for this sales ploy and that the Chinese development policy in Tibet should be resolutely questioned. Earlier, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) had already welcomed the letter from the UN human rights experts and called on governments to defend Tibetans’ fundamental rights.
On February 14, numerous people protested in front of the government building in Derge in the autonomous prefecture of Kardze (Ganzi) against the planned Kamtok (Gangtuo) hydropower project. Soon after the protests, reports of several hundred arrests and mistreated demonstrators emerged. It is unclear how many people are still in custody. The Derge protests are significant in that there was an apparently coordinated effort to document the peaceful resistance and disseminate video footage of the protests. grz
Proteste
Beijing visit: Sánchez seeks to prevent a trade war between Beijing and Brussels
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his hope to China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday that the European Union could avoid a trade war with China – even though Brussels is currently considering imposing tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China.
In the run-up to the meeting with Xi, Sánchez said in Beijing that measures such as additional EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles were “challenging” and that Spain would push for a negotiated consensus at the World Trade Organization. “A trade war would benefit no one,” said Sánchez, adding that he wanted to create a level playing field in cooperation with Chinese companies.
Beijing warned in June that friction with the EU over its electric vehicles could trigger a trade conflict, just days after China announced an anti-dumping investigation into European pork imports. Spain in 2023 exported 1.5 billion dollars worth of pork products that China will investigate, Chinese customs data showed, followed by the Netherlands with 620 million dollars and Denmark with 608 million dollars.
Sánchez seeks assurances from China that the People’s Republic will not retaliate by increasing its own tariffs on imported large-engined gasoline vehicles. This could hurt Seat, a car manufacturer owned by Volkswagen and one of Spain’s largest employers. rtr
Zölle
Military: Russia wants to participate in Chinese naval exercise
China and Russia plan to hold another joint military exercise. This was reported by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua on Monday. Russian military forces will reportedly send naval and air forces to an exercise that China will conduct in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk this month. The drills aim to deepen “the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats,” Xinhua said.
At the end of August, Japan accused China of violating its sovereign rights twice within a week. The Japanese government is alarmed by the increase in Chinese military activities in the vicinity of Japan and around Taiwan in recent years. Since then, Japan has strengthened its military build-up. China justifies its actions with territorial claims in the region. rtr
Russland
North Korea: Why Xi only offered subdued congratulations on Foundation Day
China’s President Xi Jinping has offered Kim Jong-un the opportunity to intensify strategic cooperation with North Korea further. The occasion was the 76th anniversary of the founding of North Korea on Monday. In a congratulatory message to head of state Kim, Xi praised the reign of the North Korean ruler, saying that Kim had led North Korea to achievements in construction and development. He also expressed the hope that Pyongyang would continue to “win new and greater victories in the journey of promoting the cause of Korean-style socialism.”
Nevertheless, the congratulations were strikingly sober. No wonder, relations between China and North Korea have cooled noticeably in recent months due to the rapprochement between Pyongyang and Moscow, which Beijing observes with suspicion.
Xi and Kim last communicated in January when they exchanged New Year’s greetings. There was also speculation about a possible visit by Xi. Xi last traveled to Pyongyang in 2019. However, instead of Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang in June – for the first time in 24 years. rad
Nordkorea
Demotion: Former foreign minister has new low-level publishing job
China’s former foreign minister, Qin Gang, has a new job. According to theWashington Post, Qin now holds a low-level position at a publishing house affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, specifically at the World Affairs Press.
Qin Gang was appointed Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic in March 2023 and was considered a staunch supporter of Xi Jinping’s policies. However, in mid-2023, just 200 days in office, Qin disappeared without a trace. In July 2023, Qin was officially ousted – but without being expelled from the Communist Party. He was succeeded by his predecessor: current Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The Washington Post quotes two former US officials in its report. One commented on the matter as follows: Qin’s demotion is a “fall from grace” but also means “he’s off the hook,” one of them said. “He’s not going to jail, but his career is over.” rad
Geopolitik
Emissions trading: China announces expansion for the end of 2024
China wants to expand its national emissions trading scheme (ETS) to include the iron and steel, cement, and aluminum sectors by the end of 2024. Environment Minister Huang Runqiu announced this at last weekend’s opening of the Beijing Global Energy Transition Conference industry trade fair. The Ministry of the Environment refers to the period between 2024 and 2026 as the “introductory phase.”
China’s ETS is currently limited to around 2,200 coal-fired and a few gas-fired power plants. The expansion is based very closely on the previous ETS: The CO2 certificates are to be allocated freely based on a guideline value for the CO2 intensity of production. If a steelworks, cement manufacturer or aluminum smelter produces more sustainably than the benchmark for the entire industry, it can sell CO2 certificates. If production is dirtier, additional certificates must be purchased. No certificates need to be purchased for the expansion of production itself, i.e. if emissions rise due to an increase in production. Analysts criticize this design of the Chinese ETS and complain that it would not set a correct CO2 price. In the aluminum industry, emissions of carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) and carbon hexafluoride (C2F6) are also to be covered by trading, as analyst Lauri Myllyvirta writes on X.
The climate action effect of emissions trading is still very limited, as analyst Xinyi Shen from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) writes on X. The ETS has no emissions cap, the majority of CO2 certificates are allocated free of charge and the CO2 price is still relatively low. “At present, regulators seem to be focusing more on improving data collection and familiarizing regulated companies with the details of the system than on reducing emissions,” says Xinyi Shen. An emissions cap for the ETS is not expected until 2030, when China plans to introduce such a cap for the entire economy and society. From 2026, China’s steel, cement and aluminum exporters will face CO2 costs from the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). nib
China
Executive Moves
Eva Murati has been Product User Experience Manager at the Chinese smartphone company Honor in its European office in Duesseldorf since August. Murati has previously worked for Chinese tech companies such as NIO and Vivo. A language specialist, she studied economics, Chinese and intercultural communication in Munich, Milan and Guiyang.
Is something changing in your organization? Let us know at heads@table.media!
Dessert
Better safe than sorry: Police officers in Altay in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region look over the shoulder of a hotel concierge as two guests check-in. The inspection’s purpose is to monitor hotel guest registration procedures and local security measures.
Only at first glance does Draghi’s report seem like warmed-over coffee. The former head of the European Central Bank calls for a coordinated industrial policy, faster decision-making processes and massive investment – the only way the European Union will be able to keep up with the largest economies in China and the USA. Well, others have said the same or similar things before Draghi.
But what makes his report “historic,” as the media say, is the volume of investment. And it is quite something: a whopping 750 to 800 billion euros annually – equivalent to up to five percent of the EU’s gross domestic product. The report says this is far more than the one to two percent that was once earmarked in the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War.
If these are the necessary prerequisites to make Europe competitive against the US and China, then Europe faces a test of strength against which the posturing of autocrats like Viktor Orbán is laughably trivial. The EU is clearly at a crossroads – partner or lackey. Amelie Richter has taken a look at the report for us.
It is legitimate for a competitor like China to play hardball. Deception in science, on the other hand, is ethically painful. In a new study, linguist Jeffrey Stoff has collected examples and evidence of China’s problematic behavior regarding transparency and good scientific practice in international collaborations. Tim Gabel spoke to Stoff for us.
Your Marcel Grzanna
Feature
EU competitiveness: The Draghi report highlights these China aspects
Mario Draghi and Ursula von der Leyen at the presentation of the report.
Europe’s economy requires massive investment and significantly more innovation efforts if it is to keep pace with China in the long term – that is the core message of Mario Draghi ‘s strategy paper on the competitiveness of the European Union, which was presented in Brussels on Monday.
If Europe wants to compete with China and the USA, it must invest percentage points of GDP annually, “last seen in the 1960s and 70s,” the report states. Specifically: “A minimum annual additional investment of EUR 750 to 800 billion is needed.” Draghi proposes taking on new joint debt with a loan-financed aid package, as was recently the case during the Covid pandemic.
A year ago, the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen asked the former head of the European Central Bank and ex-head of the Italian government for a report on how the EU can make its economy competitive.
Draghi: Cannot take tougher action in all areas
The strategy paper makes it clear that the People’s Republic increasingly represents economic competition: “The ECB finds that the share of sectors in which China is directly competing with the euro area exporters is now close to 40 percent, up from 25 percent in 2002.” Draghi’s urgent warning: “For the first time since the Cold War, we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation.”
At Monday’s press conference, Draghi was critical of the idea that Brussels should generally take “tougher” action against China: “Trade policy has to be pragmatic … We can’t be softer or harder across the board. We have to look at specific sectors, and decide what we want to do.”
Draghi cited the sustainable technology sector as an example. “Increasing reliance on China may offer the cheapest and most efficient route to meeting our decarbonization targets. But China’s state-sponsored competition also represents a threat to our productive clean tech and automotive industries.”
Report: Energy urgently needs to become cheaper
In the almost 400-page report, China is primarily mentioned in the description of the problem. The first part of the Draghi paper covers ten sectors. The second part contains overarching proposals on the EU’s competitiveness.
The most important China aspects of the paper:
Energy: Energy is described as “a key driver of the European Union’s competitiveness gap vis-à-vis other world regions.” Retail electricity prices – especially for the industrial sector – are currently two to three times higher than in the USA and China. The ETS system, which applies to electricity generation, further increases the price and makes it more volatile than in China. The proposal: Energy must become cheaper for the end consumer. To this end, the Draghi report recommends temporary energy tax cuts, state subsidies and price caps. Moreover, the cost benefits of decarbonization would have to be transferred to all consumers. The Draghi report also calls for accelerating decarbonization – using all available technologies.
Critical raw materials: China is most frequently mentioned in this chapter. “Critical raw materials are essential to accelerate the transformation required of the EU’s economy,” the introduction states. Rapid demand growth is “putting at risk the global supply-demand balance,” and additional challenges are posed by the limited diversification of suppliers and a high level of dependency in the EU’s supply chains. The report notes that China has a dominant position in the global mining of rare earths and covers 68 percent of the global market. The People’s Republic is also a leader in graphite production, covering 70 percent of the global output. In addition, China has a virtual monopoly on the processing and refining of critical minerals. The proposal: Europe needs a jointly coordinated strategy that covers the entire value chain, from raw material to end product. According to the Draghi report, this requires greater involvement of national governments and EU authorities, and the recently adopted Critical Minerals Act has laid a solid foundation for this. However, the report urges the Act to be implemented quickly and fully. It also urges the EU to create financial solutions, among other things, to diversify the value chain of critical raw materials as well as to improve recycling.
Digitalization and advanced technology: The report summarizes several subsections in this chapter, each with its own section. These include computing and artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cleantech. The Draghi report states that the restrictions on technology trade with China have further complicated Europe’s position, and individual EU states’ reactions are “mixed.” For example, although the “Toolbox for 5G Security” has been adopted, there are still no restrictions on high-risk suppliers such as Huawei or ZTE in 14 member states. Meanwhile, “the EU is losing ground in R&D and in the creation of innovative tech companies with global reach.” EU companies account for only seven percent of R&D spending among leading companies in the software and internet sectors, compared to 71 percent in the US and 15 percent in China. The situation looks better in the field of quantum computing. Here, the EU is in second place behind China with around seven billion euros in annual public investment and even ahead of China when it comes to patent applications. The proposal: More money for innovation and R&D. The EU is urged to secure a strong position in AI and key industries such as advanced manufacturing and industrial robotics, chemicals, telecommunications and biotechnology over the next five years. The report also advocates a new EU semiconductor strategy and an EU budget. The existing EU Chips Act should be reviewed and expanded to achieve these goals.
Cleantech: The Draghi report looks at China ‘s overcapacity in this sector. By 2030, China’s annual production capacity for photovoltaics is expected to be twice as high as that of global demand. On top of this, China’s battery cell production capacity is expected to at least cover global demand. The report attributes the EU’s poorer performance to higher production costs in the EU resulting from higher raw material and energy prices, among other things. China, however, has specifically promoted the sector since the 2000s and protected its own market. The proposal: The EU must ensure a “minimum level” of EU autonomy in the supply of selected clean technologies and their supply chains. The Draghi Report recommends, among other measures, awarding criteria like locally manufactured components in tenders and easier access to EU public funding for the sector.
Automotive sector: ‘China has moved faster’
Automotive sector: The report sees several factors behind the EU’s loss of competitiveness in the automotive sector. “EU climate policies set ambitious targets for low-carbon road transport (primarily EVs), as well as for the production of less polluting ICE vehicles.” What is remarkable here is the reason given: “However, the EU’s supply chain is taking time to adjust. At the same time, China has moved faster and at a larger, coordinated scale across the entire EV value chain and can now enjoy lower costs (know-how, economies of scale, lower labor costs) and a technological edge.” Previous EU papers on Chinese EVs have not been so open about this. The proposal: To ensure that the EU remains a leader in the global automotive industry and that jobs, R&D facilities and production are maintained in the region, two main objectives with different time horizons should be pursued: In the short term, the relocation of production or the rapid takeover of EU plants and companies by state-subsidized competitors must be avoided. In the medium term, the goal should be to “re-establish a competitive leading position for the EU for the ‘next generation’ of vehicles and maintain the European production base with current technological advantages as long as international markets show demand.” To this end, the report proposes, among other things, an EU action plan for the automotive industry.
EU-Klimapolitik
Künstliche Intelligenz
Rohstoffe
Seltene Erden
Trade
Research collaborations: How China systematically deceives international partners
In his latest report, US security expert Jeffrey Stoff describes the questionable methods used by Chinese research institutions.
For his new report “Transparency and Integrity Risks in China’s Research Ecosystem,” China analyst and linguist Jeffrey Stoff has compiled examples and evidence of scientific misconduct. They are intended to show that and, above all, how China – presumably as part of its geopolitical strategy to become the world’s leading scientific nation – systematically and deliberately violates the value system in international scientific cooperation.
“The observance of values such as trust, honesty, transparency, integrity and reciprocity have not yet been examined with the necessary care concerning research collaborations and joint publications with China,” Jeffrey Stoff told Table.Briefings. Democratic countries have also made no attempt to systematically survey China’s practices to make them available to the scientific community for better security precautions, he added.
Questionable practices of Chinese research institutions
The Center for Research Security and Integrity, founded by Stoff, has now – according to its own information – provided a preliminary catalog of China’s problematic practices concerning transparency and good scientific practice in international collaborations. At the heart of the publication are case studies providing concrete examples, some of which were published years ago and most of which should come as no surprise to people familiar with the subject.
However, they are intended to provide an overall picture of the methods used in the People’s Republic to make it difficult or impossible for international partners to identify links between institutions and military research, for example.
Stoff and his colleagues describe cases such as that of the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (CARDC). According to the authors, the institution is one of the key sites for the research and development of hypersonic weapons and a test center for the People’s Liberation Army. However, there is no information about this in recent archive versions of the website or in international collaborations. According to the report, the site can no longer even be accessed from the US.
Blocked websites, missing or incorrect information, new names
The institution’s strategy appears to be successful, as Stoff and his team state that the USA (70), the UK (51) and Germany (17) alone have published a total of 138 joint papers with the CARDC over the past six years. However, Stoff’s publication does not provide more detailed information on the nature and type of scientific collaboration.
Other universities, such as the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, have deleted content referring to military connections, unlike older versions of their websites. Or – like the Chinese Academy of Sciences Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics – they only display critical information on the Chinese website, but not on the English one. Other institutions use misleading or incorrectly translated names for international collaborations or rename their funding sources.
Recommendation: Developing Mandarin skills and expertise
“China’s increasingly restrictive information policy, even in areas of basic research, calls into question the openness and transparency that we are used to in international research collaborations with partner countries,” said Jeff Stoff. When asked how he thinks the German government should respond, Stoff says that Mandarin skills and expertise are crucial for effective due diligence, requiring capacity and knowledge building by the German government and the research community.
“International cooperation in research security and exchanging information with partner countries are also key to spreading the resource burden across many shoulders.” A study on Sino-German research cooperation by Jeffrey Stoff shook up the German research landscape at the beginning of last year. In an interview with Table.Briefings, he also explained how German research institutions and companies collaborate with Chinese organizations with military ties.
Stoff cites other case studies that show that China is counting on the naivety or ignorance of potential partners. An example is the case of Chinese professor Tan Tieniu, who heads Nanjing University and is a globally renowned AI specialist for pattern recognition and biometric recording. However, as described in the paper, he is also the owner and CEO of several Chinese surveillance technology companies – a fact he completely omits in his online CVs and on websites.
“I am disappointed that the international research community continues to recognize the work of a scientist from the People’s Republic of China who has played a crucial role in the commercialization of mass surveillance technologies,” Stoff comments on the case. Tan developed these technologies specifically for China’s public security agencies, “which are known to use them to commit human rights violations.”
Attempts to boost publications using questionable methods
Stoff’s study is not limited to suspected misconduct by Chinese institutions and scientists when it comes to transparency, but also analyzes attempts to increase the value of scientific publications using questionable methods. Stoff reports that foreign scientists become co-authors without having provided any significant input to enhance the reputation of studies or that co-authors from renowned foreign institutions are made up for the same purpose.
Another interesting case is that of climate researcher Wang Chunzai, who conducted research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the US Department of Commerce. However, around the same time, he was recruited by a Chinese talent program despite holding a full-time position in the US. During this time, Wang published some of his highly regarded publications exclusively for Chinese institutions and was eventually sentenced to prison in the USA in 2018 after it was discovered that he had received a second salary from China.
In conversation with Table.Briefings, Stoff said that most of the examples and findings of his investigations no longer surprised him as he has been conducting these types of studies for many years. “However, I am surprised that large nations continue to work with PRC entities known to pose critical national security risks.”
China
News
Tibet: UN experts demand clarity after wave of arrests
UN human rights experts are “deeply concerned” about the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on dam protests in the Tibetan region of Derge (Mandarin Dege). 13 special rapporteurs had already sent a letter to this effect to the Chinese government in July. They demand transparency about how many people are still being detained for participating in the demonstrations and where they are being held. They also demand information on what risks the dam’s construction actually poses to people and nature.
Michael Brand, Chairman of the Tibet Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, laments China’s “extremely worrying” actions “also given the international escalation that the regime in Beijing is practicing more and more frequently.” He urged that the protection of Tibetans and “the country of Tibet” should be high on the agenda of international geopolitics.
Kai Müller, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in Berlin, warns: “What is being sold with the dams as climate-friendly and green energy is in reality a ruthless strategy of exploiting an oppressed country and disenfranchising those affected.” He continued that the international community should not fall for this sales ploy and that the Chinese development policy in Tibet should be resolutely questioned. Earlier, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) had already welcomed the letter from the UN human rights experts and called on governments to defend Tibetans’ fundamental rights.
On February 14, numerous people protested in front of the government building in Derge in the autonomous prefecture of Kardze (Ganzi) against the planned Kamtok (Gangtuo) hydropower project. Soon after the protests, reports of several hundred arrests and mistreated demonstrators emerged. It is unclear how many people are still in custody. The Derge protests are significant in that there was an apparently coordinated effort to document the peaceful resistance and disseminate video footage of the protests. grz
Proteste
Beijing visit: Sánchez seeks to prevent a trade war between Beijing and Brussels
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his hope to China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday that the European Union could avoid a trade war with China – even though Brussels is currently considering imposing tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China.
In the run-up to the meeting with Xi, Sánchez said in Beijing that measures such as additional EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles were “challenging” and that Spain would push for a negotiated consensus at the World Trade Organization. “A trade war would benefit no one,” said Sánchez, adding that he wanted to create a level playing field in cooperation with Chinese companies.
Beijing warned in June that friction with the EU over its electric vehicles could trigger a trade conflict, just days after China announced an anti-dumping investigation into European pork imports. Spain in 2023 exported 1.5 billion dollars worth of pork products that China will investigate, Chinese customs data showed, followed by the Netherlands with 620 million dollars and Denmark with 608 million dollars.
Sánchez seeks assurances from China that the People’s Republic will not retaliate by increasing its own tariffs on imported large-engined gasoline vehicles. This could hurt Seat, a car manufacturer owned by Volkswagen and one of Spain’s largest employers. rtr
Zölle
Military: Russia wants to participate in Chinese naval exercise
China and Russia plan to hold another joint military exercise. This was reported by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua on Monday. Russian military forces will reportedly send naval and air forces to an exercise that China will conduct in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk this month. The drills aim to deepen “the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats,” Xinhua said.
At the end of August, Japan accused China of violating its sovereign rights twice within a week. The Japanese government is alarmed by the increase in Chinese military activities in the vicinity of Japan and around Taiwan in recent years. Since then, Japan has strengthened its military build-up. China justifies its actions with territorial claims in the region. rtr
Russland
North Korea: Why Xi only offered subdued congratulations on Foundation Day
China’s President Xi Jinping has offered Kim Jong-un the opportunity to intensify strategic cooperation with North Korea further. The occasion was the 76th anniversary of the founding of North Korea on Monday. In a congratulatory message to head of state Kim, Xi praised the reign of the North Korean ruler, saying that Kim had led North Korea to achievements in construction and development. He also expressed the hope that Pyongyang would continue to “win new and greater victories in the journey of promoting the cause of Korean-style socialism.”
Nevertheless, the congratulations were strikingly sober. No wonder, relations between China and North Korea have cooled noticeably in recent months due to the rapprochement between Pyongyang and Moscow, which Beijing observes with suspicion.
Xi and Kim last communicated in January when they exchanged New Year’s greetings. There was also speculation about a possible visit by Xi. Xi last traveled to Pyongyang in 2019. However, instead of Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang in June – for the first time in 24 years. rad
Nordkorea
Demotion: Former foreign minister has new low-level publishing job
China’s former foreign minister, Qin Gang, has a new job. According to theWashington Post, Qin now holds a low-level position at a publishing house affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, specifically at the World Affairs Press.
Qin Gang was appointed Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic in March 2023 and was considered a staunch supporter of Xi Jinping’s policies. However, in mid-2023, just 200 days in office, Qin disappeared without a trace. In July 2023, Qin was officially ousted – but without being expelled from the Communist Party. He was succeeded by his predecessor: current Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The Washington Post quotes two former US officials in its report. One commented on the matter as follows: Qin’s demotion is a “fall from grace” but also means “he’s off the hook,” one of them said. “He’s not going to jail, but his career is over.” rad
Geopolitik
Emissions trading: China announces expansion for the end of 2024
China wants to expand its national emissions trading scheme (ETS) to include the iron and steel, cement, and aluminum sectors by the end of 2024. Environment Minister Huang Runqiu announced this at last weekend’s opening of the Beijing Global Energy Transition Conference industry trade fair. The Ministry of the Environment refers to the period between 2024 and 2026 as the “introductory phase.”
China’s ETS is currently limited to around 2,200 coal-fired and a few gas-fired power plants. The expansion is based very closely on the previous ETS: The CO2 certificates are to be allocated freely based on a guideline value for the CO2 intensity of production. If a steelworks, cement manufacturer or aluminum smelter produces more sustainably than the benchmark for the entire industry, it can sell CO2 certificates. If production is dirtier, additional certificates must be purchased. No certificates need to be purchased for the expansion of production itself, i.e. if emissions rise due to an increase in production. Analysts criticize this design of the Chinese ETS and complain that it would not set a correct CO2 price. In the aluminum industry, emissions of carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) and carbon hexafluoride (C2F6) are also to be covered by trading, as analyst Lauri Myllyvirta writes on X.
The climate action effect of emissions trading is still very limited, as analyst Xinyi Shen from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) writes on X. The ETS has no emissions cap, the majority of CO2 certificates are allocated free of charge and the CO2 price is still relatively low. “At present, regulators seem to be focusing more on improving data collection and familiarizing regulated companies with the details of the system than on reducing emissions,” says Xinyi Shen. An emissions cap for the ETS is not expected until 2030, when China plans to introduce such a cap for the entire economy and society. From 2026, China’s steel, cement and aluminum exporters will face CO2 costs from the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). nib
China
Executive Moves
Eva Murati has been Product User Experience Manager at the Chinese smartphone company Honor in its European office in Duesseldorf since August. Murati has previously worked for Chinese tech companies such as NIO and Vivo. A language specialist, she studied economics, Chinese and intercultural communication in Munich, Milan and Guiyang.
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Dessert
Better safe than sorry: Police officers in Altay in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region look over the shoulder of a hotel concierge as two guests check-in. The inspection’s purpose is to monitor hotel guest registration procedures and local security measures.
