Xi Jinping is dedicated to improving relations with the US; understand

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Re-appointed for his third term, Xi declared his willingness to cooperate with the US on mutually beneficial initiatives. The Chinese sent a letter to the New York-based National Committee on US-China Relations.

• “Today’s world is not peaceful. As major powers, China and the US must strengthen communication and cooperation to promote peace and help bring stability to the world,” Xi wrote.

• “China is willing to work together with the US through mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, finding the right way for both countries to get along in the new era, which will not only benefit both sides, but also to the planet”, he concluded.

He also urged the Committee (a private institution, despite its name) to continue supporting Sino-American ties and helping bilateral relations resume the course of healthy and stable development.

Xi and President Joe Biden are expected to come face to face soon at the 17th G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two since the Democrat was elected (although they have known each other in person since Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president, all conversations between the two took place via phone or videoconference).

why it matters: China and the US have significantly upped the ante in recent months, driven largely by the domestic agenda. While Xi wanted to present himself as a strong and reactive leader in the eyes of the Chinese public on the eve of the Communist Party Congress, Biden has to deal with low popularity and pessimistic projections for his Democratic Party in the midterm elections.

The turmoil has led both countries to a dangerous side. On more than one occasion, Biden said he would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, and Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island soured relations in several areas hitherto immune to the bad diplomatic climate (such as cooperation to combat climate change, exchange of information from defense and development of health technologies).

what also matters

China has a new director of the state propaganda apparatus: Li Shulei, elected to the Politburo during the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, which ended last Sunday.

Li was formerly secretary of disciplinary inspection and deputy secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Inspection Commission. Since 2020, he has held the position of vice-president of the Central School of the Party, an institution in charge of ideological training for government officials.

In this role, Li will be responsible for censoring films, television series, music albums, newspapers, books and the internet. A late ally of Xi (the two only met in 2007), he is considered a cadre closely aligned with the ideological work of the Chinese CP. He was internally regarded as a gifted academic, trained in modern literature at the prestigious Peking University.

Two journalists this week revealed that they had resigned from the South China Morning Post (SCMP) — Hong Kong’s main English-language newspaper and one of the few major outlets without formal state control — after being banned from publishing a report on human rights abuses in Xinjiang. .

The information was revealed by former senior editor of the newspaper Peter Langan in a lecture to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Japan. According to the journalist, the series of reports would be divided into three parts, covering birth control policies in the region. Based on official documents, journalists have identified strategies to bring down the birth rate among Muslims of the Uighur ethnic minority.

• “When I presented it to the executive editor, [a reportagem] was rejected […] We had several conference calls after that — but it became clear that there was no way they could publish this story about Xinjiang and the criticism it entailed of the Communist Party of China,” Langan said.

The Hong Kong Free Press, the first portal to report on Langan’s allegation, reached out to the paper. The SCMP defended itself by saying that the journalists’ work did not pass the “rigorous editorial validation process and did not meet the publication standard.” The newspaper also blocked attempts to publish the material in other vehicles, claiming copyright on the content.

keep an eye

China will need to invest US$ 23.8 trillion (R$ 127.1 trillion) by 2050 if it wants to go to zero carbon emissions and become a neutral country. The number was estimated in a report produced by the chief economist at BNY Mellon Investment Management, Shamik Dhar, and the head of climate economics at Fathom Consulting, Brian Davidson.

According to the two, as it will grow faster than most of the world’s economies, China will need to spend more than any other country on green initiatives. The main challenge will be the energy transition: the burning of coal still accounts for 60% of the energy generated in China and remains essential not only to supply households, but also in industrial production.

why it matters: Xi Jinping devoted much of his opening speech at the Communist Party Congress talking about climate change and sustainable transition. The watchword in China is “build the new before discarding the old”, that is, gradually decrease dependence on dirty technologies while clean infrastructure is developed. The Chinese leader also promised the UN that China will become carbon neutral by 2030.

The value estimated by Davidson and Dhar, however, is impressive: initial estimates were of spending in the region of US$ 14.7 trillion in 30 years. By way of explanation, the new amount foreseen by the experts is equivalent to 79 times the entire Brazilian GDP in 2021.

to go deep

• Fiap has opened enrollment for the course “China, Technology and Innovation”. Divided into 5 modules, the classes take place from November 3 to December 1, will be online and will address economic organization, technological development and innovation in the Asian country. (paid, in Portuguese)
• Applications for the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral scholarship program in China are open. In Brazil, interested parties need to gather documents and send them to the Chinese Embassy, ​​responsible for selecting the recipients. Those who pass the selection process are exempt from college fees and also receive airline tickets and financial aid to cover expenses during their studies. Information here. (free)
• The Confucius Institute will hold an online meeting to ask questions about the HSK, Chinese proficiency exam, and present study opportunities in China. The seminar will take place on November 8 and will be attended by representatives from Tsinghua, Xi’an Jiaotong, Hubei universities and others. (free, in Portuguese