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BEIJING

Big-Tech & Bitcoin Shrug Off Beijing Bloodbath; Bond Yields, Bullion, & Black Gold Battered

April 25, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Big-Tech & Bitcoin Shrug Off Beijing Bloodbath; Bond Yields, Bullion, & Black Gold Battered

Chinese stocks were Johnny-Depp’d overnight amid extended lockdowns, record COVID cases and deaths (worst month since 2016)…

Source: Bloomberg

No signs of The National Team at all (even as China cuts FX reserve ratio).

But US equities held it all together until the cash open when everything puked (except Nasdaq). That drop in stocks caught a bid as Europe closed (surprise surprise) and rallied back to unch (Nasdaq outperformed) and the TWTR news seemed to spur stocks even higher with everything turning green and Nasdaq leading the charge…

Tech outperformed as Energy lagged…

Source: Bloomberg

Small Caps dropped to their lowest since Dec 2020 (down over 22% from the highs)…

Source: Bloomberg

But don’t worry, Cramer says “the bear market is over”…

“I think the bear market is over.”@jimcramer makes a bold call in tonight’s Talk of the Tape. pic.twitter.com/hTwYWzbON6

— CNBCOvertime (@CNBCOvertime) March 25, 2022

Before we leave equity land, the Twitter board confirms it has accepted Musk’s offer to take the firm private for $54.20 ($44 billion)…

Bonds were bid with the belly of the curve outperforming (and the wings worst)…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar rallied once again…

Source: Bloomberg

…as Yuan faded further…

Source: Bloomberg

Ruble soared to its strongest relative to the Euro in 2 years…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin dumped and pumped on the day, plunging down to a low $38k handle before ripping back above $40k…

Source: Bloomberg

Ethereum also surged, topping $3000…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil prices plunged as China lockdown anxiety trumped geopolitical risk premia again with WTI down 5% and Brent back below $100. However, once Europe closed, WTI was bid and rallied back up near $100…

Gold was clubbed like a baby seal, once again testing $1900 (and once again rebounding higher back above it)…

Finally, are we replaying 2008? Bounce into the May FOMC?

Source: Bloomberg

Interestingly…

As the hawkish bravado builds over the Fed, keep in mind that the only time in history that it started a tightening campaign with the stock market this weak (as in, all the major averages languishing below the 200-day trendlines) was in …1987 (ouch). Take your umbrella with you!

— David Rosenberg (@EconguyRosie) April 25, 2022

Deja vu all over again?

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/25/2022 – 16:00

Tagged With: BEIJING, BigTech, Bitcoin, BLOODBATH, Bond, shrug

American Lawyer Quarantined For 37 Days In China Describes “Chaotic” Environment

April 25, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: BUSINESS, Forbes

Beijing seen following Shanghai into wider lockdowns

Tagged With: BEIJING, Following, into, seen, Shanghai, wider

Beijing Residents Scramble To Stockpile Food, Essentials As New COVID Outbreak Detected

April 24, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Beijing Residents Scramble To Stockpile Food, Essentials As New COVID Outbreak Detected

Hopes that the CCP might be easing its Shanghai lockdown were dashed this week as authorities loosened restrictions for manufacturers and others businesses, while mostly keeping restrictions on residential areas intact.

Instead of winding down restrictions in Shanghai, authorities are now scrambling to suppress an outbreak in Beijing which they believe may have been spreading for as long as a week. The capital city reported 22 new local cases on Sunday, its highest daily tally this year.

While the number of new cases would be considered inconsequential anywhere else, authorities have placed part of Beijing under high alert, cancelling classes in a middle school where cases were detected, with the shutdown expectected to last for at least a week.

As authorities mobilized to try and curb the spread with mass testing, which has helped to scare locals into bracing for a lockdown, spurring sudden runs on grocery stores and other businesses.

After masstesting was announced for the central Chaoyang district, photos of empty grocery store shelves flooded social media.

Chaoyang is the biggest district in Beijing and is home to nearly 3.5 million people.

Stock up, Beijing today.
After mass Covid testing was announced for the central Chaoyang district this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/OPq1NhrJiT

— Tong Bingxue 仝冰雪 (@tongbingxue) April 24, 2022

Locals will be required to take three PCR tests during the coming week.

Anxious vibe in #Beijing Chaoyang area where 4 mn people (incl me & my family) worry a lockdown is coming. Mass testing for everyone & long lines + empty shelves at stores. Officials assure a ‘stable’ food supply but we’ve been stockpiling for days. @NBCNews (vid @freddufour_DOP) pic.twitter.com/c0RbfKXsmn

— Janis Mackey Frayer (@janisfrayer) April 24, 2022

On Friday, the city pledged to make “every effort” to deal with provide adequate food supplies, but truck drivers have already been hindered by multiple checkpoints and virus tests, leading to long waits. 

But Beijing isn’t the only Chinese city facing Shaghai-style lockdowns. City leaders met Saturday evening in Hangzhou, a technology hub best known to westerners as the home of Alibaba, to discuss how they plan to respond after more than 100 new cases were detected in the city since Tuesday.

In other COVID news, Bloomberg reported Sunday that Foxconn’s factory in Zhengzhou, situated in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone that hosts Foxconn’s iPhone City campus, will continue operating despite the surrounding city facing an indefinite lockdown.

It goes without saying that a major lockdown in Beijing would have a massive impact on China’s economy, which has seen growth shrivel in the face of the lockdown in Shanghai.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 04/24/2022 – 22:00

Tagged With: BEIJING, essentials, Food, Residents, scramble, stockpile

Beijing Carries Out Military Drills Over Taiwan As US Lawmakers Meet With President Tsai

April 15, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Beijing Carries Out Military Drills Over Taiwan As US Lawmakers Meet With President Tsai

The cadre of American lawmakers who are currently visiting Taiwan will have the opportunity to witness something that has become a common spectacle for the Taiwanese: CCP jets and bombers cruising overhead.

Beijing was (unsurprisingly) miffed by the “surprise” visit (Nancy Pelosi had canceled a planned trip after conveniently being diagnosed with COVID after the Chinese expressed their displeasure at the idea) and Chinese spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded to the news by declaring that Beijing will “continue take forceful measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

An official government twitter account also tweeted the following:

China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and China’s Taiwan region.https://t.co/swLKcsE5IT

— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) April 14, 2022

The bipartisan group of 6 US lawmakers (including members of the House and Senate) flew to Taiwan on Thursday in defiance of China’s threats. The group includes: Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Rob Portman of Ohio, Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, and Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, according to Fox News.

The lawmakers joined Taiwanese leader President Tsai Ing-wen for a quick photo-op before preparing to depart on Friday.

1/ Taiwan welcomed six US lawmakers this week, in what presidential spokesperson Xavier Chang called a show of “rock solid” support. Photo: Taiwan Gov’t. pic.twitter.com/588e6XqPrp

— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) April 15, 2022

But before they could leave, China’s military conducted military drills around the island, as a state broadcaster confirmed. The drills are targeted at the “wrong signal” the US has sent about Taiwan, a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said on Friday, CCTV reported.

Beijing to Sen. Lindsey Graham: Here are some of our frigates, bombers and fighter planes. “This operation is in response to the recent frequent release of wrong signals by the United States on the Taiwan issue.”https://t.co/Qg03kDb3sZ

— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) April 15, 2022

Here’s more on the drills from DW:

China held military drills around Taiwan on Friday, officials said, just hours after a high-level US delegation arrived for talks.

The Chinese army sent frigates, bombers and fighter planes to the East China Sea and held multi-arms joint combat readiness patrols in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, according to a government statement.

The move was intended to counter the frequent “wrong signals” by the US government, the statement read, not mentioning the visiting delegation.

“The US bad actions and tricks are completely futile and very dangerous,” the statement continued. “Those who play with fire will burn themselves.”

For decades, the US has observed the “one China” policy, which involves acknowledging that Taiwan is just a rogue province of China that will someday be reunified, and that diplomatic ties between the US and Taiwan must be strictly limited (although the US is also treaty-bound to protect the Taiwanese in the event of an invasion by the mainland). President Trump started the process of undermining this longstanding policy by accepting a call from the island’s president while he was still president-elect in December 2016.

Beijing has recently spoken out against American efforts to sanction Russia for its invasion of Taiwan. They have also warned that “no one and no force” could stop China from taking Taiwan.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 04/15/2022 – 07:35

Tagged With: “Taiwan”, BEIJING, carries, drills, military, over

US Pulls Consulate Staff From Shanghai As Beijing Eases Lockdown

April 12, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

US Pulls Consulate Staff From Shanghai As Beijing Eases Lockdown

Despite continuing to report record numbers of daily cases (more than 25K on Monday and another 22K+ on Tuesday), Shanghai started easing its lockdown on Monday, while the American State Department starting pulling all non-essential personnel from its consulate in the city of more than 25 million – a decision that greatly angered the Chinese government.

City officials announced on Monday that they would be easing the lockdown after a tremendous public backlash. From now on, they would be grouping residential units into three risk categories as a step towards allowing “appropriate activity” for those who live in neighborhoods with no positive cases during a two-week stretch.

Authorities insisted they remained committed to a “dynamic zero” strategy – that is, a modified version of the “zero COVID” policy that has been such a spectacular failure in the country, which is presently struggling with its worst COVID outbreak since Wuhan.

Across Shanghai, anger has risen over food shortages, the inability to access medical care and even the killing of pets by COVID workers. But the pullout of diplomats from Shanghai comes as relations between the US and China have soured as the West has pressured China to do more to restrain Russia in its war in Ukraine.

“Many Americans in Shanghai were dismayed to hear of the previous consulate staff departures given the current situation,” said Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University in Shanghai, referring to an earlier announcement that staff could leave.

“This new order will certainly increase the impression that the situation is worsening despite indications to the contrary, or that this is political posturing on behalf of the U.S., or that consulate staff – who are already rather privileged – are unable to stomach the inconveniences that others are required to endure.”

The latest US State Department order comes days after Washington said all non-emergency employees and their family members from the consulate in Shanghai were allowed to leave. The department also told Americans to reconsider travel to China due to what it calls an “arbitrary enforcement” of virus restrictions.

“Our change in posture reflects our assessment that it is best for our employees and their families to be reduced in number and our operations to be scaled down as we deal with the changing circumstances on the ground,” an Embassy spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday, noting that staffers and their relatives would leave on commercial flights.

“The United States has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas, including Mission China’s personnel and their families,” the spokesperson added.

CCP authorities weren’t exactly thrilled about America’s decision to withdraw.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said they deplored the way the US has politicized the departure of staff from the consulate.

“The US should immediately stop attacking China’s epidemic protocol and policy, stop political manipulation, and stop its smears and attacks on China,” Zhao said “Relevant Chinese departments and local governments have been providing assistance and convenience to foreign diplomatic and consular personnel in China as much as possible in accordance with relevant international conventions and policies,” he said.

As for Shanghai’s decision to ease policy, some social media users criticized the easing move as risky at a time of record new daily cases, while others said the city had no choice.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/12/2022 – 18:25

Tagged With: BEIJING, consulate, from, pulls, Shanghai, STAFF

China’s “Breathtaking” Nuclear Expansion Confirmed – Beijing Officials Cite Fear Of US-Led Regime Change

April 10, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

China’s “Breathtaking” Nuclear Expansion Confirmed – Beijing Officials Cite Fear Of US-Led Regime Change

The Chinese government has greatly “accelerated” its nuclear weapons program due to a revised threat assessment of risk posed by the United States, according to a new in-depth Wall Street Journal report that cites both Chinese and US officials. It follows a Pentagon assessment from last year which laid out Beijing’s drive to “modernize, diversify and expand” its nuclear arsenal. 

The fresh WSJ investigative report appears to confirm the prior US military assessment that China seeks to expanding “land, sea and air-based nuclear delivery platforms” while establishing more necessary infrastructure to support it.

While its nuclear goals predate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war which kicked off on Feb.24 is believed to have given greater impetus to the belief China needs a stronger deterrent arsenal. Specifically, the report underscores that “Chinese leaders see a stronger nuclear arsenal as a way to deter the U.S. from getting directly involved in a potential conflict over Taiwan.”

Image source: Global Times

Satellite imagery cited in the report additionally appears to confirm accelerating work on over 100 suspected new missile silos in remote desert regions of Western China. While some of this has been subject of much Western reporting and speculation over the past number of months, based also on open source satellite analysis, the weekend WSJ report has some bombshell and alarming lines such as the following, which says Chinese Communist government leadership fears covert Washington regime change efforts down the road:

The people close to the Chinese leadership said China’s increased focus on nuclear weapons is also driven by fears Washington might seek to topple Beijing’s Communist government following a more hawkish turn in U.S. policy toward China under the Trump and Biden administrations.

American military officials and security analysts are concerned China’s nuclear acceleration could mean it would be willing to make a surprise nuclear strike. The people close to the Chinese leadership said Beijing is committed to not using nuclear weapons first.

However, while China does have an official ‘no first use’ nuclear policy doctrine, the United States does not and has even been long resistant to it over years of activist lobbying of both Democrat and Republican administrations. 

The precise numbers of China’s nuclear warheads are not known, but it’s generally understood to be far behind that of the United States, likely by a magnitude of multiple thousands. One official cited in the report, described as “close to the leadership” in Beijing, said: “China’s inferior nuclear capability could only lead to growing US pressure on China.”

Testimony by the head of the U.S. Strategic Command showed for the first time that China’s ICBM-launched hypersonic glide vehicle tested in July flew 40,000 km for more than 100 minutes. https://t.co/0M7Bl364uQ

— The Japan Times (@japantimes) April 5, 2022

And further on the way the Ukraine crisis has impacted China’s thinking – remembering too that Washington has of late piled on the pressure warning Beijing to cease any and all support to Moscow – the WSJ describes the following: 

Nervous international reaction to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s call for his nuclear forces to be put on alert following his invasion of Ukraine has offered Chinese officials a real-world lesson about the strategic value of nuclear weapons. So did Ukraine’s decision in 1994 to turn over the nuclear weapons left in the country after the breakup of the Soviet Union in return for security assurances from the U.S. and Russia.

Watching the tense situation continue to unfold, one former Chinese military officer was cited in the report as saying, “Ukraine lost its nuclear deterrence in the past and that’s why it got into a situation like this” – again which has only served to reinforce China’s worries over its nuclear preparedness. 

Last week the head of U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. Charles Richard, warned US lawmakers over the “breathtaking expansion of strategic and nuclear capabilities” which he said translates to the PLA military being able to “execute any possible nuclear employment strategy.”

Tyler Durden
Sun, 04/10/2022 – 21:00

Tagged With: BEIJING, breathtaking, China's, confirmed, expansion, nuclear

Beijing Hired TikTok ‘Influencers’, ‘Real Housewives’ Stars To Spread Propaganda Ahead Of Winter Games

April 7, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Beijing Hired TikTok ‘Influencers’, ‘Real Housewives’ Stars To Spread Propaganda Ahead Of Winter Games

In recent years (most notably since the dawn of TikTok, which has been known to intersperse bits of Chinese propaganda with videos of scantily clad, attention-seeking American teenagers) Beijing has sought to influence American public opinion in its favor by manipulating social media.

And as the international backlash over China’s treatment of its Uygher Muslim minority in the far-flung Xinjiang Province threatened to derail the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the CCP ratcheted up its influence campaign, and as it turns out, American social-media influencers, and one-well connected management firm, were eager to help (for a price).

According to the latest update from the Washington Free Beacon, which the story using records from the DoJ, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, a company co-owned by Jobs, was paid by China Central Television to carry out a ‘promotional blitz’ for the 2022 Winter Games during a Washington Capitals hockey game.

And as part of another promotional effort, the Chinese consulate in New York hired 11 social media influencers to talk up the Games (and China’s amenable business climate) on TikTok and Instagram.

Disclosure filings revealing work for foreign entities revealed that the consulate in New York paid $300,000 to public relations firm Vippi Media to have TikTok and Instagram users promote the Beijing Olympics, just as pressure was growing for corporate sponsors in the West to join a boycott over China’s human rights abuses.

One TikTok influencer, Anna Sitar, released a video on Feb. 11 that used the hashtags #Beijing2022 and #WinterOlympics. In the clip, Sitar touted the fact that Beijing is the only city to host both the winter and summer Olympics. The clip was a success: it went on to garner 2.2 million impressions.

@annaxsitar We know I woulda taken home gold if I was there ✨Go team USA! #Beijing2022 #WinterOlympics #Partner ♬ original sound – anna x

Through its American intermediary (a mercenary marketing firm), Beijing also recruited stars from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and a former Paralympian swimmer, to promote the games. Some of these influencers even promoted claims from Chinese officials that the internment camps in Xinjiang were actually “education training centers” – a claim that Beijing has long pushed to its own people and the international press.

Vippi Media also hired Ryan Dubs, a TikTok influencer who uses the site to promote his line of beauty products. Dubs touted China’s business climate, at one point praising China’s “high tech and forward thinking.” In the same video, Dubs said it would be “impossible” to make his products elsewhere.

Dubs also published an interview he conducted with Huang Ping, the Chinese consul general in New York. Dubs said he was “really impressed” with Huang’s comments about China’s climate change goals. He and Huang expressed their mutual opposition to U.S. tariffs against Chinese products, which were enacted during the Trump administration in response to China’s unfair trade practices.

Huang has denied China is engaged in human rights atrocities and said that internment camps housing Uyghurs are legal “education training centers.”

Vippi Media also recruited a cast member of the reality show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and American Paralympian swimmer Jessica Long to promote the games.

One Real Housewives star, Crystal Kung Minkoff, promoted the Beijing Winter Games on her Instagram account.

 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Crystal Kung Minkoff 孔令华 (@crystalkungminkoff)

Toward the end of its report, the Free Beacon mentioned that none of the influencers who shared Chinese propaganda on TikTok and Instagram were registered as foreign agents (something that all Americans who do any kind of politically-sensitive work on behalf of foreign governments are required by law to do).

This of course begs the question: how many more ‘influencers’ are presently engaged in similar work?

Tyler Durden
Thu, 04/07/2022 – 23:05

Tagged With: BEIJING, hired, Housewives, influencers, Real, TikTok

Beijing Dispatches Military To Shanghai As Expanded Lockdown Triggers More Unrest

April 4, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Beijing Dispatches Military To Shanghai As Expanded Lockdown Triggers More Unrest

As local authorities expand what was supposed to be a staggered, nine-day lockdown in Shanghai (China’s most populous city and also its financial hub), the CCP has decided to send in the military as the backlash worsens in a city that has become a critical battleground in the government’s fight to legitimize its “Zero COVID” policy.

After the city reported a record 9,000 COVID cases, the CCP announced the deployment of thousands of soldiers and military personnel to Shanghai in order for them to assist in the mandatory screening of all 25 million inhabitants (the latest in a seemingly interminable policy of mandatory testing). The next round of nucleic acid tests will begin Monday. The reinforcements include more than 2,000 military personnel and another 30,000 “medical workers”, per CNN.

The BBC pointed out that the latest lockdown will be “particularly costly” for China’s economy – and for western companies like Tesla and Disney which have major bases of operations in the city (including Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory).

On top of this, Shanghai is a hub for semiconductor, electronics, car manufacturing and China’s financial services industry. It is also the world’s busiest shipping port.

The CCP has struggled to meet the needs of the local population, which has grown restive in the face of shortages of essential goods like food and medicine. Cases of locals dying after being turned away from local hospitals for non-COVID-related illnesses have also rattled them.

Xu Tianchen, China economist for the Economist Intelligence Unit, warned that short-term supply chain disruptions tied to the city’s lockdown could have a serious impact on China’s economy.

“There will also be ripple effects elsewhere because of the interconnectedness between Shanghai and other regions of China, especially the manufacturing hub of the Yangtze River Delta,” he said.

What’s more, consumer spending in a city known for its luxury storefronts has also fallen precipitously. Lost business at retailers, hotels, and restaurants could directly cost Shanghai 3.7% of its annual GDP.

All of this threatens to undermine China’s target for the country’s GDP: the CCP has promised growth of 5.5% this year, but a growing number of analysts doubt that the government will achieve this goal (unless its resorts to even larger-than-normal distortions in its official economic data).

Shanghai isn’t the only Chinese city to face mass lockdowns. Shenzhen, known as China’s technology hub, and the Province of Jilin, situated in China’s industrial heartland, have also faced lockdowns earlier in the year.

But as President Xi has called for increasingly “targeted” COVID restrictions to minimize the blowback for residents, some have taken to the country’s heavily censored social media platforms to address the growing chorus of concerns, and to accuse the CCP of breaking its ‘social compact’ to take care of the population. Locals have been particularly incensed by the CCP’s decision to separate COVID positive children from their parents, triggering a wave of outrage that swept across China’s social media.

Political pressure has been mounting on Shanghai authorities to both quell the outbreak and address the growing chorus of concerns from residents grappling with the costs and inconveniences of the stringent measures.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/04/2022 – 19:20

Tagged With: BEIJING, dispatches, expanded, Lockdown, military, Shanghai

The Geneva Motor Show Will Return in 2023 After a 3-Year Absence

April 4, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: Robb Report, SUCCESS

The announcement was made the same day the 2022 Beijing Motor Show was postponed.

Tagged With: 2022, announcement, BEIJING, made, motor, same

EU Bureaucrats Pressure Beijing To Do More To Stop War In Ukraine

April 2, 2022 Ogghy Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

EU Bureaucrats Pressure Beijing To Do More To Stop War In Ukraine

As Russia’s insistence that its European customers pay for their gas in rubles has shown, the EU simply doesn’t have the leverage to try and force Moscow to scale back its military efforts in Ukraine (in fact, as we noted earlier, European powers can’t even agree on a negotiation strategy for President Zelensky, as London pushes him to hold out while Paris and Berlin are more inclined toward a settlement).

But this hasn’t stopped the high-minded bureaucrats from Brussels from trying to lean on other world powers for help. Case in point, during a call with Beijing on Friday, senior EU officials including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen chided President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang about Beijing’s efforts to try and talk Moscow down, which they see as severely lacking.

According to Bloomberg, these comments were made during a virtual summit on Friday.

“We expect China, if not supporting the sanctions, at least to do everything not to interfere in any kind,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after the meeting. “On that point we were very clear.” She added that the EU expected China to use its influence on Russia to end to the war.

During the Friday conference, von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel attempted to do the impossible: convey a “stern” warning about Beijing’s record on human rights, while underlining the importance of continued re-engagement and cooperation between the two world powers.

Von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel held separate sessions by videoconference with Chinese President Xi Jinping and its prime minister, Li Keqiang on Friday where they discussed the war in Ukraine, as well as a series of trade and human-rights issues.

The long-scheduled summit was an important opportunity for EU leaders to set out their expectations for Beijing, which has sought to avoid taking a clear position on the invasion. But it’s not clear that they won any new commitments from China on Ukraine.

Europe is trying to strike a difficult balance: giving China a stern warning over Ukraine, human rights and trade issues, while still trying to maintain the EU’s objective of re-engaging with the Asian giant.

Unsurprisingly, this strategy didn’t yield much in terms of results.

“We called on China to help end the war in Ukraine,” Michel said at a news conference in Brussels. “China cannot turn a blind eye to Russia’s violation of international law.”

After the summit, Premier Li responded to the EU’s pressure campaign by insisting that Beijing has been working to promote peace “in its own way”. Li stressed that China follows an independent foreign policy, working to settle disagreements and conflicts through dialogue and negotiation: “China has been promoting talks for peace in its own way, and will continue to work with the EU and the international community to play a constructive role for early easing of the situation, cessation of hostilities, prevention of a larger-scale humanitarian crisis, and the return of peace at an early date,” Li said.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/02/2022 – 08:45

Tagged With: BEIJING, Bureaucrats, more, pressure, Stop, Ukraine

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