Aussie China News
A weekly roundup of your favourite (and least favourite) Australian digital media coverage of China.
Hello everyone and welcome to a new issue of Aussie China News!
This post covers Australian digital news and commentary on China between Friday 11th August and Friday 18th August.
News
Politics
A shorter issue today, with an intended focus on Cheng Lei’s message from prison.
Australian Cheng Lei's first message from Chinese prison describes harsh conditions
Sarah Ferguson and Marina Freri, ABC, Thu 10 Aug 2023
"I miss the sun. In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window, but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year," she writes from an undisclosed facility in Beijing. This is a love letter to 25 million people and 7 million square kilometres of land, land abundant in nature, beauty and space. It is not the same in here, I haven't seen a tree in three years."
Release of detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei won't be a condition for Beijing visit, prime minister says
Natalie Whiting, ABC, Fri 11 Aug 2023
Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been detained in China for three years. In an open letter to Australians, she said that she misses things like sunshine and nature. Anthony Albanese said he will continue to raise her case, but the relationship with China should not be "transactional".‘Three years too long’: PM speaks out on Cheng Lei imprisonment
Sky News, Sat 12 Aug 2023
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken out on the incarceration of Australian journalist Cheng Lei during a press conference in Queensland on Saturday. “Cheng Lei should be released, this is three years too long, and we have made those representations, and we will continue to make those representations,” he said.
In other news, more detentions and political turmoil:
Imprisoned Sydney businessman accused of selling information to Chinese spies condemns ‘ridiculous’ police delay
Ben Doherty, The Guardian, Fri 11 Aug 2023
An Australian businessman accused of selling secrets to China has told a Sydney court it is “ridiculous” police still have not filed a full brief of evidence in his case, nearly four months after he was arrested, while he remains in prison.
China condemns visit of ‘troublemaker’ Taiwan vice-president to US
Ryan Woo, AFR, Sun 13 Aug 2023
China’s foreign ministry on Sunday condemned a brief US visit by Taiwan vice-president William Lai, saying he was a separatist and “troublemaker through and through” and Beijing would take strong steps to protect its sovereignty.
While floods ravage northern China, people are wondering — where is President Xi Jinping?
Kelly Wu and Kai Feng, ABC, Mon 14 Aug 2023
Heavy rains and floods have lashed China for two weeks, but President Xi Jinping has not toured the devastated areas. This has left some Chinese residents angry and confused. In response, people have started reposting videos and photos on social media comparing Mr Xi to former Chinese leaders such as Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. As Mr Xi's name has been censored heavily on China's social media, some users went on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) with VPNs to express their displeasure with his absence.
Security
These charts show why there may be a spike in Chinese military planes flying over Taiwan's airspace this week
Kathleen Calderwood and Lucy Sweeney, ABC, Sat 12 Aug 2023
Over the next few days, as one of Taiwan's most senior politicians touches down in the United States, observers are anticipating that China could take another opportunity to flex its military muscles. China has ratcheted up military and political pressure on its democratically governed neighbour over the last three years, and has repeatedly voiced its opposition to friendly relations between Taiwan and the US.
Unconventional Philippines outpost in South China Sea will 'inevitably' succumb to the elements, says security analyst
Will Jackson, ABC, Thu 17 Aug 2023
A dilapidated Philippines ship intentionally run aground on a South China Sea reef to counter China's claim to the area could soon "succumb to the elements", an American security analyst says.
China deploys swarm of satellites to monitor military exercises in Australia
Andrew Greene, ABC, Fri 18 Aug 2023
Three Chinese geostationary orbit satellites manoeuvred into position over northern Australia to monitor July's "Talisman Sabre" war games. Hundreds of smaller satellites are surveilling "Exercise Malabar", which involves warships from the US, India and Japan. Experts say Beijing has extraordinary capability to gather intelligence on Australian military operations.
Tech
An interesting new report by Human Rights Watch on the other problematic side of censorship:
China is big on internet censorship unless it's racist content, Human Rights Watch says
Joyce Cheng and Toby Mann, ABC, Fri 18 Aug 2023
A new report by Human Rights Watch found racist content targeting black people inside and outside of China is common across the country's main social media platforms. It found black people were often depicted in racist stereotypes, and users had vilified interracial relationships. China's censors are quick to move against unwanted political content but appear to turn a blind eye to racist content, HRW said.
REPORT: China: Combat Anti-Black Racism on Social Media
Human Rights Watch, Wed 16 Aug 2023
Economics and trade
While many in Australia are watching the Chinese economy and tariffs with angst:
Removing Chinese tariffs on wine a tougher fight than barley, trade minister warns
Latika Bourke, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sun 13 Aug 2023
Trade Minister Don Farrell has warned that getting China to drop its tariffs on Australian wine will be a harder victory to secure than the backdown on barley. Farrell, also a winemaker, is hosting his New Zealand counterpart, Damien O’Connor, at his home at a vineyard in the Clare Valley in South Australia, where both ministers said Beijing’s economic coercion had prompted them to pursue other export markets for their countries and boost trans-Tasman trade.
Massive Australian wine glut highlights impact of China sanctions on industry
Richard Wood, 9News, Tue 15 Aug 2023
Almost 860 Olympic swimming pools could be filled by the Australian wine glut as growers continue to grapple with Chinese trade sanctions, according to a new report.Penfolds maker tweaks shipments as it eyes end of Chinese tariffs
Jessica Yun, The Sydney Morning Herald, Tue 15 Aug 2023
Global wine giant Treasury Wine Estates is planning for the potential end of China’s hefty wine tariffs, adjusting the global shipments of its flagship Penfolds brand and driving higher brand recognition among younger consumers in China.
Australian dollar ‘at risk of a slide’ as China’s economic troubles deepen
David Taylor, ABC, Mon 14 Aug 2023
The Australian dollar has hit a nine-month low. There are growing concerns about the health of China's economy. Global investors are on edge as another major Chinese investment firm shows signs of stress.
Aussie dollar hits nine-month low on China woes
Cecile Lefort, AFR, Mon 14 Aug 2023
The Australian dollar hit a nine-month low, falling below US65¢ amid growing concern about the strength of the Chinese economy and the country’s debt-laden real estate sector.
The bigger issue in China that Australian firms are watching
Robert Gottliebsen, The Australian, Thu 17 Aug 2023
The world’s stock markets are beginning to realise that reducing inflation and interest rates is going to be a harder task than first envisaged, so we are seeing share and bond prices decline as fears that the era of low interest rates is passing. Australia’s largest customer, China, faces different challenges and the way they are tackled will impact shares and bonds.
Rail car manufacturers can’t compete with China, and it has cost WA jobs
Hamish Hastie, WA Today, Fri 18 Aug 2023
WA’s fledging rail wagon manufacturing sector backed with millions in state government grants still can not compete with their cheaper and quicker Chinese counterparts. The state’s biggest grain handler CBH has admitted it selected a Chinese outfit over local firms to build hundreds of wagon cars because of their design capability, capacity to complete the work and the cost.
Society
Hiro experienced culture shock after giving birth in Australia – so she sought out a nanny to adhere to Chinese postpartum traditions
Joyce Cheng and Olivia Ralph, ABC, Sat 12 Aug 2023
The popularity postpartum centres have gained comes from a Chinese tradition known as "sitting the month" or "postpartum confinement". According to data from China-based data analysis company iiMedia Research, the market size of China's maternity hotel industry will reach 24.3 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) this year. In Australia, these kinds of services are becoming more and more popular among Chinese mums.
School away from school: Chinese students are spending summer holidays in Australian classrooms
Nicole Gong, SBS 中文, Wed 16 Aug 2023
Australia allows visitor visa holders to enrol in short-term schooling while they are here. Many Chinese parents find short-term Australian schooling has multiple benefits for their children. There are currently 728 temporary international students in Victoria.
Ambition meets politics in gallery’s unsettling picture of China
John McDonald, The Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 18 Aug 2023
In China, art is constantly flirting with politics. It’s a game of approach and retreat everywhere in evidence in the new White Rabbit exhibition, I Am the People, which features 27 artists or groups of artists. It’s one of curator David Williams’s most ambitious, most overtly political shows - perhaps not as attractive or spectacular as some of the gallery’s previous surveys of contemporary Chinese art, but it cuts deep.
Opinion and analysis
Xi faces tough choices as economic pain spreads
Jill Disis, AFR, Wed 16 Aug 2023
President Xi Jinping has resisted pulling the trigger on a major stimulus to revive the world’s second-biggest economy. The grim market reaction to a surprise rate cut this week shows investors want to see him take much bolder steps.
The good, the bad and the very ugly: Chinese giant faces collapse
Shuli Ren, WA Today, Wed 16 Aug 2023
Country Garden, once China’s biggest real estate developer, is edging toward a default. The distressed builder suspended trading in nearly a dozen onshore bonds on Monday, paving the way for debt negotiations and a possible restructuring. Investment bank CICC International Capital has been engaged to explore options for the company, including extending some soon-to-mature yuan notes.
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