Good evening. You’re no doubt aware of the increasingly hawkish rhetoric against China, but our cover story this week looks at the harder-to-document flip side: those in the West who are reluctant to publicly criticize China and top Chinese companies because they perceive a high legal or political risk in doing so. Elsewhere, we have infographics on why China’s largest lithium producers are hurting; an interview with Peter Hessler on China’s past and present; a reported piece on China’s role in the gunpowder supply chain; and an op-ed about why China’s contradictions remain unresolved after the Third Plenum. And, in case you missed it, check out this 6-minute video about how our reporters traced China’s most notorious businessman back to Jack Ma. If you’re not already a paid subscriber to The Wire, please sign up here.
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Libel Lawfare
In recent years, several large Chinese companies have filed defamation suits against small organizations or individual researchers, leading to strange new reality: Even as the general rhetoric against China has become more hawkish, many in the West have grown increasingly reluctant to publicly criticize China and top Chinese companies. Bethany Allen reports.
The Big Picture: Black Prices for White Gold
China’s largest lithium producers have warned of losses this year despite expected strong demand for the key battery ingredient. This week’s infographics by Aaron Mc Nicholas look at the top Chinese companies that produce lithium.
A Q&A with Peter Hessler
Peter Hessler is a staff writer at the New Yorker and one of the best known non-fiction writers covering China today. In 2019, he started teaching at Sichuan University, and recently published a book, Other Rivers (2024), documenting his time there during the tumultuous outbreak of Covid-19 and the spiraling downwards of U.S.-China relations. In this week’s Q&A with Katrina Northrop, he talks about the new book, what had and hadn’t changed from his initial teaching experience in China in the 1990s, why he thinks the lab leak theory is wrong, and why he was eventually forced to leave China.
Peter Hessler
Illustration by Lauren Crow
Gunpowder Gambit
The Russia-Ukraine war has shone a light on China’s integral role in the supply chain for nitrocellulose, a key component of modern gunpowder, and spurred concerns in Washington and Brussels. Katrina Northrop reports.
China’s Contradictions Remain Unresolved
The CCP’s latest Third Plenum meeting failed to deliver a coherent economic blueprint for the country, argues Diana Choyleva, the founder and chief economist of Enodo Economics.
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