Xi Jinping paid his respects to his late predecessor Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday. “A great Marxist and leader” he had been, who maneuvered the country through times of “external pressures and internal difficulties,” Xi said in his speech. Xi even indirectly mentioned the 1989 Tiananmen protests, a taboo that is not often addressed publicly otherwise, as Frank Sieren reports from Beijing. He thus praised the suppression of the protests. That could be a nod to last week’s protesters that no one in the party would hesitate to take harsh measures.
In his speech, Xi emphasized the continuity of the great leaders and servants of the Chinese people, into whose traditions he modestly also put himself. Of course, he failed to mention that he has already given himself more power than his predecessors would have dared to by removing age and tenure limits.
Relations with the United States were much better in the Jiang era than they are today under Xi. But despite sanctions, threatening gestures and indications of a technological Cold War, Chinese and US companies continue to collaborate on key future technologies. The latest example is the cooperation between Chinese car company Geely and US firm Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet. The two companies jointly develop an autonomous EV. The car has now been presented in Los Angeles, as our author team in Beijing reports.
The unveiled van was designed exclusively for operation as an autonomous cab. Instead of a steering wheel, it has a sophisticated entertainment system. If the car becomes a success story outside China and the USA as planned, it could also weld the world’s two largest economies a bit closer together.
In the Great Hall of the People, where the Communist red usually dominates, everything was in black and white for yesterday’s funeral of former state and party leader Jiang Zemin. Men wore black suits, black ties and a white mourning flower in their buttonholes. Some came in Mao-style suits with stand-up collars. During the nationally decreed three-minute silence, Jiang’s widow Wang Yeping remained seated in her wheelchair in the front row. She appeared quite frail.
Former President Hu Jintao and former Premier Zhu Rongji – a popular economic reformer to this day and a trusted comrade of Jiang’s – did not attend for health reasons. The 94-year-old Zhu has not appeared in public for some time. Hu had at least been present at Jiang’s shorter, more private cremation ceremony (China.Table reported).
The memorial service for Jiang, who died of multiple organ failure in Shanghai last week at the age of 96, was the largest ceremony of its kind since the funeral of reformer Deng Xiaoping in 1997, when Jiang gave a 50-minute speech in front of 10,000 people at the Great Hall of the People to commemorate his predecessor. During this speech, he took off his famous glasses several times to wipe away tears.
In his speech, President Xi Jinping paid respect to the “great Marxist and leader” Jiang Zemin, who steered the country through difficult times, upheld the rule of socialism and insisted on liberalization and economic reform. “He dedicated his whole life and energy to the Chinese people, dedicated his life to fighting for national independence, people’s liberation, national prosperity and people’s happiness,” Xi summed up Jiang’s political legacy. The president appeared more composed than Jiang at Deng’s funeral service.
However, he did not distance himself from Jiang, who is said to not have always seen eye to eye with Xi. On the contrary, Xi praised the achievements of his predecessor, even on sensitive issues the CP otherwise rarely mentions publicly. For example, the period surrounding the bloody crackdown on the 1989 protests in Beijing. “In the late 1980s and early 1990s, serious political storms occurred at home and abroad, and world socialism experienced severe complications. Some Western countries imposed so-called ‘sanctions’ on China,” Xi said. “In the late spring and early summer of 1989, a severe political disturbance took place in China. Comrade Jiang Zemin resolutely upheld and implemented the CPC Central Committee’s correct decision on taking a clear stand against the turmoil.”
Such hints were perhaps aimed at the protesters in China last week (China.Table reported). While the rallies in major Chinese cities were mainly about the strict zero-Covid restrictions, some – particularly in Shanghai – openly criticized the party and Xi.
But the president also praised Jiang for his party theories, especially the “Theory of Three Represents” (三个代表). One of the key achievements of this theory was that private entrepreneurs were allowed to join the CP. Among Jiang’s achievements were the modernization of the party and his vision to create a prosperous country, Xi said. Jiang also managed to have China become a member of the World Trade Organization (WHO). Xi also praised Jiang for the smooth return of the former British and Portuguese colonies, Hong Kong and Macau, and his efforts to counter forces that had tried to separate Taiwan from the Mainland.
Xi emphasized that Jiang had willingly stepped down as party general secretary in 2002 and as chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2004. He had actively supported the party’s Central Committee after his resignation, including Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.
“Comrade Jiang Zemin has parted from us forever. But, his name and reputation, deeds of merit, thoughts and outstanding qualities will go down the annals of history and remain immortal in the hearts of the people from generation to generation,” Xi stressed. Elsewhere during his speech, Xi declaimed, “the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups are in profound grief for the loss of a great man in the passing of Comrade Jiang Zemin,” He urged China and the Communist Party to “carry forward Comrade Jiang Zemin’s legacy […] and write new chapters in the development of the cause of the Party and the country on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Xi also looked to the future. “Common prosperity,” a term Jiang had already used in a similar form, was now a priority for the next chapter in the history of the CP. At the end, Xi led the funeral procession, as expected, to bow three times in honor of Jiang.
China and the USA currently vie for global dominance in key future technologies. Despite ongoing political tensions between Beijing and Washington, however, there are still some exciting collaborations between companies from both countries that could ultimately produce remarkable results.
A good example is the collaboration between the Chinese car company Geely and the US company Waymo. Waymo is an autonomous vehicle technology development company owned by Google parent Alphabet. The two companies teamed up in December 2021 to develop an autonomous electric cab. (China.Table reported) It has now been unveiled in Los Angeles.
One thing that immediately stands out is that the concept van built by Geely’s premium EV subsidiary Zeekr no longer has much in common with the autonomous cabs occasionally seen on the roads today. Waymo, too, has so far relied primarily on conventional vehicles from Chrysler or Jaguar for its test fleets, which have been retrofitted with the necessary autonomous driving technology. With Zeekr, however, the Americans have now taken a different approach. The presented van has been designed exclusively for operation as an autonomous cab. It does not even have a steering wheel.
The absence of the steering wheel is the main difference from many existing robotaxi models. Instead, a large touch screen is mounted on the dashboard of the concept vehicle. The car is also relatively spacious, with room for five passengers. From the outside, the car looks more elegant than other self-driving cabs, as many of the sensors are integrated in the chassis. Although there is still a “knob” on the roof where cameras and other technological components are located. However, it is smaller than Waymo’s previous models. The Americans did not want to reveal much about the technical details yet. When the Zeekr cab might become part of the company’s own fleet also remained a secret for the time being.
Geely, on the other hand, provided more information. On the day of the presentation, the Chinese released several press releases to make it clear that the project is by no means just a manufacturing project for Waymo. Zeekr highlighted its new SEA-M platform, on which the van developed for Waymo is also based. Zeekr named Waymo its “first customer” for cars produced on this platform.
But the company has bigger plans already: “Zeekr will continue to work with great global partners to support better and more sustainable intelligent mobility for all,” Zeekr CEO Andy said, according to the statement. Apparently, the Chinese hope to launch other autonomous vehicles based on their new platform. In another Chinese announcement, for example, Zeekr did not show the new Waymo cab first – but a vehicle concept it called the M-Vision. Waymo’s logo is absent from these images.
According to Zeekr, the M-Vision is designed for a service life of 500,000 kilometers and can drive for 16 hours a day without needing to be recharged. These are impressive figures, which could certainly help to attract other autonomous driving service providers as partners. Waymo is a good reference for this, however. Joern Petring
Sinolytics is a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and concrete business activities in the People’s Republic.
If China experts are asked how they found their area of expertise, they often speak of experiences that almost have enlightenment qualities. This was also the case with Paul Triolo. For him, enlightenment came in the form of a newspaper report. In 1987, he read a New York Times story about the rise of China. At the time, Triolo, who holds a degree in electrical engineering, worked in the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley, was a translator for Russian and had just started studying international relations.
Today, Paul Triolo holds the position of Senior Vice President and Global Tech Policy Lead at Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), a political risk consulting firm. Triolo offers support on global business issues that may arise from geopolitical events and trends.
He can be contacted on issues ranging from data management and cybersecurity to industrial policy and supply chain security. His twenty-five years of experience as a US government analyst proves invaluable for his work. He writes weekly analyses for his clients and arranges meetings with government officials.
With concern, Triolo observes the current development, which has been described as a technological Cold War between the United States and China. First, the framing as a whole bothers him, he says. For example, the increasingly popular and influential metaphor of an “arms race” in semiconductors, AI and quantum computing. It does not do justice to the complexity of the situation, he says. After all, modern technology development is a global endeavor, involving different players and regions in global value and supply chains. This makes it “very difficult to pry apart and separate out who is ‘winning’ in a particular sector.”
Triolo dates the start of the cold tech war to 2015 – namely the aftermath of an attempt by Tsinghua Unigroup, China’s state-owned semiconductor manufacturer, to acquire US-based Micron Technology for 23 billion dollars. Tsinghua withdrew when it became clear that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US would carefully examine the deal.
This set in motion a spiral of protectionism that remains unchecked to this day. At its end, Triolo sees collateral damage looming for the US-China bilateral relationship, for stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and for global supply chains as a whole. With US efforts to restrict Chinese access to components, equipment, and technological advances, Washington could cross Beijing’s “unknown red lines”. “The overapplication of national security related restrictions could end up being a case of ‘shooting oneself in the foot’ in the name of what are unclear national security gains.”
The battle for technological participation also raises concrete geopolitical risks. For example, Taiwan’s so-called “silicon shield” could be affected: The more dependent China is on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, the less likely Beijing will forcibly reunite Taiwan, the theory goes.
However, the effects of US export control policies could undermine that shield, Triolo says: “Beijing has so far been very restrained in responding, but further efforts to restrict Chinese companies from using Taiwan, which China considers to be part of China, as a manufacturing base, are sure to generate a stronger response, pushing up against redlines that we do not understand.” Julius Schwarzwaelder
It was no coincidence that Jiang Zemin was keen to visit Wolfsburg during his state visit to Germany in 2002. After all, he had already been to the VW city 24 years earlier, in November 1978, to be exact. At that time, Jiang was the Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the First Ministry of Mechanical Engineering. He is therefore only in the background in the picture. He is the second man from the left in the Western suit; the gentleman in the Chinese jacket is the minister. This first visit was the beginning of a successful business relationship between China and VW – which continues to this day. Felix Lee
Xi Jinping paid his respects to his late predecessor Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday. “A great Marxist and leader” he had been, who maneuvered the country through times of “external pressures and internal difficulties,” Xi said in his speech. Xi even indirectly mentioned the 1989 Tiananmen protests, a taboo that is not often addressed publicly otherwise, as Frank Sieren reports from Beijing. He thus praised the suppression of the protests. That could be a nod to last week’s protesters that no one in the party would hesitate to take harsh measures.
In his speech, Xi emphasized the continuity of the great leaders and servants of the Chinese people, into whose traditions he modestly also put himself. Of course, he failed to mention that he has already given himself more power than his predecessors would have dared to by removing age and tenure limits.
Relations with the United States were much better in the Jiang era than they are today under Xi. But despite sanctions, threatening gestures and indications of a technological Cold War, Chinese and US companies continue to collaborate on key future technologies. The latest example is the cooperation between Chinese car company Geely and US firm Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet. The two companies jointly develop an autonomous EV. The car has now been presented in Los Angeles, as our author team in Beijing reports.
The unveiled van was designed exclusively for operation as an autonomous cab. Instead of a steering wheel, it has a sophisticated entertainment system. If the car becomes a success story outside China and the USA as planned, it could also weld the world’s two largest economies a bit closer together.
In the Great Hall of the People, where the Communist red usually dominates, everything was in black and white for yesterday’s funeral of former state and party leader Jiang Zemin. Men wore black suits, black ties and a white mourning flower in their buttonholes. Some came in Mao-style suits with stand-up collars. During the nationally decreed three-minute silence, Jiang’s widow Wang Yeping remained seated in her wheelchair in the front row. She appeared quite frail.
Former President Hu Jintao and former Premier Zhu Rongji – a popular economic reformer to this day and a trusted comrade of Jiang’s – did not attend for health reasons. The 94-year-old Zhu has not appeared in public for some time. Hu had at least been present at Jiang’s shorter, more private cremation ceremony (China.Table reported).
The memorial service for Jiang, who died of multiple organ failure in Shanghai last week at the age of 96, was the largest ceremony of its kind since the funeral of reformer Deng Xiaoping in 1997, when Jiang gave a 50-minute speech in front of 10,000 people at the Great Hall of the People to commemorate his predecessor. During this speech, he took off his famous glasses several times to wipe away tears.
In his speech, President Xi Jinping paid respect to the “great Marxist and leader” Jiang Zemin, who steered the country through difficult times, upheld the rule of socialism and insisted on liberalization and economic reform. “He dedicated his whole life and energy to the Chinese people, dedicated his life to fighting for national independence, people’s liberation, national prosperity and people’s happiness,” Xi summed up Jiang’s political legacy. The president appeared more composed than Jiang at Deng’s funeral service.
However, he did not distance himself from Jiang, who is said to not have always seen eye to eye with Xi. On the contrary, Xi praised the achievements of his predecessor, even on sensitive issues the CP otherwise rarely mentions publicly. For example, the period surrounding the bloody crackdown on the 1989 protests in Beijing. “In the late 1980s and early 1990s, serious political storms occurred at home and abroad, and world socialism experienced severe complications. Some Western countries imposed so-called ‘sanctions’ on China,” Xi said. “In the late spring and early summer of 1989, a severe political disturbance took place in China. Comrade Jiang Zemin resolutely upheld and implemented the CPC Central Committee’s correct decision on taking a clear stand against the turmoil.”
Such hints were perhaps aimed at the protesters in China last week (China.Table reported). While the rallies in major Chinese cities were mainly about the strict zero-Covid restrictions, some – particularly in Shanghai – openly criticized the party and Xi.
But the president also praised Jiang for his party theories, especially the “Theory of Three Represents” (三个代表). One of the key achievements of this theory was that private entrepreneurs were allowed to join the CP. Among Jiang’s achievements were the modernization of the party and his vision to create a prosperous country, Xi said. Jiang also managed to have China become a member of the World Trade Organization (WHO). Xi also praised Jiang for the smooth return of the former British and Portuguese colonies, Hong Kong and Macau, and his efforts to counter forces that had tried to separate Taiwan from the Mainland.
Xi emphasized that Jiang had willingly stepped down as party general secretary in 2002 and as chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2004. He had actively supported the party’s Central Committee after his resignation, including Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.
“Comrade Jiang Zemin has parted from us forever. But, his name and reputation, deeds of merit, thoughts and outstanding qualities will go down the annals of history and remain immortal in the hearts of the people from generation to generation,” Xi stressed. Elsewhere during his speech, Xi declaimed, “the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups are in profound grief for the loss of a great man in the passing of Comrade Jiang Zemin,” He urged China and the Communist Party to “carry forward Comrade Jiang Zemin’s legacy […] and write new chapters in the development of the cause of the Party and the country on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Xi also looked to the future. “Common prosperity,” a term Jiang had already used in a similar form, was now a priority for the next chapter in the history of the CP. At the end, Xi led the funeral procession, as expected, to bow three times in honor of Jiang.
China and the USA currently vie for global dominance in key future technologies. Despite ongoing political tensions between Beijing and Washington, however, there are still some exciting collaborations between companies from both countries that could ultimately produce remarkable results.
A good example is the collaboration between the Chinese car company Geely and the US company Waymo. Waymo is an autonomous vehicle technology development company owned by Google parent Alphabet. The two companies teamed up in December 2021 to develop an autonomous electric cab. (China.Table reported) It has now been unveiled in Los Angeles.
One thing that immediately stands out is that the concept van built by Geely’s premium EV subsidiary Zeekr no longer has much in common with the autonomous cabs occasionally seen on the roads today. Waymo, too, has so far relied primarily on conventional vehicles from Chrysler or Jaguar for its test fleets, which have been retrofitted with the necessary autonomous driving technology. With Zeekr, however, the Americans have now taken a different approach. The presented van has been designed exclusively for operation as an autonomous cab. It does not even have a steering wheel.
The absence of the steering wheel is the main difference from many existing robotaxi models. Instead, a large touch screen is mounted on the dashboard of the concept vehicle. The car is also relatively spacious, with room for five passengers. From the outside, the car looks more elegant than other self-driving cabs, as many of the sensors are integrated in the chassis. Although there is still a “knob” on the roof where cameras and other technological components are located. However, it is smaller than Waymo’s previous models. The Americans did not want to reveal much about the technical details yet. When the Zeekr cab might become part of the company’s own fleet also remained a secret for the time being.
Geely, on the other hand, provided more information. On the day of the presentation, the Chinese released several press releases to make it clear that the project is by no means just a manufacturing project for Waymo. Zeekr highlighted its new SEA-M platform, on which the van developed for Waymo is also based. Zeekr named Waymo its “first customer” for cars produced on this platform.
But the company has bigger plans already: “Zeekr will continue to work with great global partners to support better and more sustainable intelligent mobility for all,” Zeekr CEO Andy said, according to the statement. Apparently, the Chinese hope to launch other autonomous vehicles based on their new platform. In another Chinese announcement, for example, Zeekr did not show the new Waymo cab first – but a vehicle concept it called the M-Vision. Waymo’s logo is absent from these images.
According to Zeekr, the M-Vision is designed for a service life of 500,000 kilometers and can drive for 16 hours a day without needing to be recharged. These are impressive figures, which could certainly help to attract other autonomous driving service providers as partners. Waymo is a good reference for this, however. Joern Petring
Sinolytics is a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and concrete business activities in the People’s Republic.
If China experts are asked how they found their area of expertise, they often speak of experiences that almost have enlightenment qualities. This was also the case with Paul Triolo. For him, enlightenment came in the form of a newspaper report. In 1987, he read a New York Times story about the rise of China. At the time, Triolo, who holds a degree in electrical engineering, worked in the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley, was a translator for Russian and had just started studying international relations.
Today, Paul Triolo holds the position of Senior Vice President and Global Tech Policy Lead at Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), a political risk consulting firm. Triolo offers support on global business issues that may arise from geopolitical events and trends.
He can be contacted on issues ranging from data management and cybersecurity to industrial policy and supply chain security. His twenty-five years of experience as a US government analyst proves invaluable for his work. He writes weekly analyses for his clients and arranges meetings with government officials.
With concern, Triolo observes the current development, which has been described as a technological Cold War between the United States and China. First, the framing as a whole bothers him, he says. For example, the increasingly popular and influential metaphor of an “arms race” in semiconductors, AI and quantum computing. It does not do justice to the complexity of the situation, he says. After all, modern technology development is a global endeavor, involving different players and regions in global value and supply chains. This makes it “very difficult to pry apart and separate out who is ‘winning’ in a particular sector.”
Triolo dates the start of the cold tech war to 2015 – namely the aftermath of an attempt by Tsinghua Unigroup, China’s state-owned semiconductor manufacturer, to acquire US-based Micron Technology for 23 billion dollars. Tsinghua withdrew when it became clear that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US would carefully examine the deal.
This set in motion a spiral of protectionism that remains unchecked to this day. At its end, Triolo sees collateral damage looming for the US-China bilateral relationship, for stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and for global supply chains as a whole. With US efforts to restrict Chinese access to components, equipment, and technological advances, Washington could cross Beijing’s “unknown red lines”. “The overapplication of national security related restrictions could end up being a case of ‘shooting oneself in the foot’ in the name of what are unclear national security gains.”
The battle for technological participation also raises concrete geopolitical risks. For example, Taiwan’s so-called “silicon shield” could be affected: The more dependent China is on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, the less likely Beijing will forcibly reunite Taiwan, the theory goes.
However, the effects of US export control policies could undermine that shield, Triolo says: “Beijing has so far been very restrained in responding, but further efforts to restrict Chinese companies from using Taiwan, which China considers to be part of China, as a manufacturing base, are sure to generate a stronger response, pushing up against redlines that we do not understand.” Julius Schwarzwaelder
It was no coincidence that Jiang Zemin was keen to visit Wolfsburg during his state visit to Germany in 2002. After all, he had already been to the VW city 24 years earlier, in November 1978, to be exact. At that time, Jiang was the Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the First Ministry of Mechanical Engineering. He is therefore only in the background in the picture. He is the second man from the left in the Western suit; the gentleman in the Chinese jacket is the minister. This first visit was the beginning of a successful business relationship between China and VW – which continues to this day. Felix Lee
