Chinese mercenaries fighting for Russia, Beijing schmoozes the world

This is The China Week, a succinct roundup and analysis of what happened in the People’s Republic in the last seven days. The China Week is free for the next few weeks—please subscribe here if this was forwarded to you, or give a subscription as a gift.

Other things I worked on this week: What Even Is Trump’s China Strategy? A ChinaFile Conversation with Wendy Cutler, Michael Hirson, Lizzi C. Lee, Isabel Hilton, Andrew Polk, and Arthur R. Kroeber

—Jeremy Goldkorn

Last week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted (with video evidence) that the Ukrainian military had captured two Chinese citizens fighting with the Russian army in the Donetsk region.

On April 9, at the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s daily press briefing, the spokesperson was asked about this. He said that “the Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals to stay away from areas of armed conflict, avoid any form of involvement in armed conflict, and in particular avoid participation in any party’s military operations.” In response to a question about Zelenskyy’s claim in his tweet that he had “information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just these two,” the spokesperson said “Such claim has no basis in facts.”

Later that day, Zelenskyy tweeted: “As of now, we have precise data on over 150 Chinese citizens who were involved in the war against Ukraine by Russia. We know that the actual number is higher.”

Analysis: In my view, it’s highly unlikely that the Chinese government is sending any soldiers to Russia. The young men going to fight for Russia seem to be doing it out of financial need and machismo alone—they don’t need the state to encourage them.

See also: Translation: Chai Jing Interviews a Chinese Mercenary Fighting for Russia in Ukraine on China Digital Times, and ‘Do you want to show strength here?’: Russia’s ads recruiting Chinese mercenaries in the Guardian.

As Donald Trump and his representatives threaten, horrify, and tariff the rest of the world, China is making friends:

• Xi Jinping is on three country tour to meet the leaders of Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and shore up economic and political ties.

• Earlier this month, a “joint logistics and training center established by the armed forces of China and Cambodia was officially inaugurated and put into operation…at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia.”

• Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Xi Jinping in Beijing; they talked of increasing cooperation and trade between China and the European Union and especially Spain to resist Trump’s “bullying.” Sanchez spoke positively about Chinese electric cars, which are currently tariffed by the EU.

• European Union leaders “are planning to travel to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late July,” according to the South China Morning Post.

• “The head of the British military has visited Beijing for the first time in a decade,” reports the Financial Times.

• “Korea will promptly push for a trilateral free trade agreement with Japan and China in a bid to jointly tackle U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff tussle,” the Korea Joongang Daily reported last week. This follows noises from Beijing earlier this month about a co-ordinated response by the three countries.

• The Chinese government last week held a leadership conference on work with neighboring countries during which Xi vowed to forge closer ties.

This a timeline of the past eight day’s craziness:

April 7: Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing did not retract a 34% retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods that China had announced in response to Trump’s initial tariff measures. NPR

April 8: China vowed it would not back down in the face of Trump’s threat, with officials stating they would “fight to the end” in the escalating trade war. NPR

April 9: China announced an additional 50% retaliatory tariff on all U.S. imports, bringing the total tariff level to 84%. NPR

In response to China’s increased tariffs, Trump announced he was hiking tariffs on China even higher to 125%. CNBC

Then Trump made a sudden reversal, lowering most global tariffs to 10% for a 90-day period, but maintaining the higher 125% tariff rate specifically for China. Reuters

April 10: A White House official confirmed that the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports now effectively totals 145%, which includes the new 125% tariff plus a previous 20% fentanyl-related tariff. Beijing filed complaints accusing the U.S. of breaching World Trade Organization rules. CNBC

April 11: China raised its tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125%, effective April 12. In a statement, China’s State Council Trump’s tariffs as a “joke” that “no longer have any economic significance” because the current levels make U.S. exports to China financially unviable. Reuters

Xi Jinping told visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that China and the EU should “join to oppose unilateral acts of bullying.” Reuters

April 12: The Trump administration announced tariff exemptions for smartphones, computers, and other electronics from China. Reuters

April 15: As of today, U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, aside from electronics, remain at 145%, while China has maintained its increased tariffs of 125% on U.S. goods, including semiconductors, which research form Trivium says will “cause havoc with China’s supply chains, hitting manufacturers who rely on semiconductor inputs,” but will also “undermine U.S. efforts to reshore chip manufacturing,” and “force Chinese buyers to source their chips elsewhere—supporting China’s chip manufacturing base.”

Beijing remains refreshingly uncompliant with Trump. “China does not want to fight these [tariff and trade] wars but is not scared of them,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson last week: “If the U.S. is determined to fight a tariff and trade war, China’s response will continue to the end.”

Many Chinese people are stoic: “Look around; people live their lives as usual. Who cares about the crazy Yankees?” said one commenter cited by Global Voices. But China’s many export-oriented factories and their employees are feeling the pain already, as these anecdotes and quotes compiled by the Following the Yuan newsletter illustrate.

What is to be done? The Pekingnology newsletter summarized advice from Chinese economists and public intellectuals. This includes recommendations to:

• Boost the domestic economy by stimulating consumption.

• Launch a major public rental housing project to address social welfare for migrant workers which could “ would create tens of trillions in internal demand over the coming years.”

• Push rural land reform which would give the rural poor capital.

• Encourage entrepreneurs and the private sector.

• Support the real estate industry.

• Eliminate tariffs on all countries except the U.S. while removing restrictions on foreign investment.

The Sinification newsletter has also compiled reactions from Chinese scholars and analysts, who express concern about “the negative repercussions that China’s ballooning trade surplus is having—and will continue to have—on its relations with the rest of the world,” and who share “broad consensus that China should continue reducing its overall reliance on the U.S. as it deepens ties with the Global South,” and note that “the current trade war seems to be accelerating pre-existing trends, such as China’s ongoing drive towards greater economic self-reliance and security.”

General He Weidong 何卫东, the second highest ranking uniformed member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and the second of two vice-chairs of the Central Military Commission has been purged, according to the Financial Times.

“This is by far the largest shake-up of PLA leadership and state-owned enterprises involved in military procurement in recent memory,” Lyle Morris at the U.S.-based Center for China Analysis told India’s Economic Times: “It suggests deep anxiety and dysfunction within the ranks of China’s military, and a failure of trust between Xi and the military.”

Here are some noteworthy tech developments from the last week.

Robots

• “Chinese state-owned automaker GAC Group said it will set up a humanoid robot demonstration zone this year, aiming to begin mass production of the machines in 2027,” per Nikkei.

• China has gained the “dexterous upper hand in humanoid robot tussle” with U.S., says the Financial Times.

Artificial intelligence

The low altitude economy

• The Ministry of Transport issued new “management measures for pilot projects for building a strong transportation nation” that include guidelines for the development of the low-altitude economy, i.e. drones, flying cars, and air taxis etc.

• AutoFlight, a Chinese company that develops and manufactures eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, has broken ground on a new testing facility and factory in Wuhan, Hubei Province. This follows a 157 million yuan ($21.5 million order “announced in February by the Wuhan Hanyang Investment Development Group for 12 aircraft.

Electric cars

• China’s “battery king CATL joins with Sinopec to build swapping-station network,” for electric vehicles (EVs) reports the South China Morning Post. Some in China believe that battery swapping, rather than charging, is the future of EVs.

• Electric car company BYD’s premium marque Denza is set to launch in Europe, where Wired says it will “take on Audi, BMW, and Mercedes with its crab-walking, blowout-beating Z9GT.”