Lucas Niewenhuis is the Newsletter Editor at SupChina. Previously, he has researched China-Africa relations at the Social Science Research Council, interned at the Council on Foreign Relations, and studied Chinese language and culture in Shanghai and Beijing.
Pangong Lake, part of the disputed border between India and China, will essentially become a no-man’s-land after an agreement between the two countries’ armies. While a significant step back from the brink, tensions remain high along many other parts of the India-China border.
China is millions of doses behind the U.S. in its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and officials are reportedly pushing back their timeline for the first 50 million shots. Vaccine diplomacy abroad, and vaccine hesitancy at home, are slowing China’s domestic rollout.
The invite-only audio-chat app offered a rare chance for Chinese-language speakers around the world to connect. But just days after thousands joined discussions about Xinjiang, Taiwan, and other sensitive issues, the app was blocked by China’s Great Firewall.
Chinese short-video giant Kuaishou made a splashy IPO in Hong Kong, reaching a valuation close to its larger competitor, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Will Douyin’s parent company, ByteDance, follow and also list its short-video product in Hong Kong?
Chinese state news channel CGTN has been taken off the air in the U.K., after British regulator Ofcom found problems with its license ownership.
Top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi warned the Biden administration against making the “strategic misjudgment” of treating China as an adversary. The issues of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang all “constitute a redline that must not be crossed,” he added.
One of China’s formerly high-flying global conglomerates is crashing. After three units of the company revealed massive embezzlement, hundreds of firms linked to HNA are now expected to follow it into bankruptcy restructuring.
The U.K. expects around 300,000 Hongkongers to apply, over the next five years, for a new visa for those with British National Overseas (BNO) status. Beijing retaliated by saying it would not recognize BNO passports, but this appears to be an entirely symbolic gesture.
China is not eager to appear friendly with the U.S., despite the change of leadership in Washington.