Tech Diplomacy Now: China’s Leader Xi Jinping Will Skip the G20 Summit
On the heels of the BRICS Summit, the Chinese Government has announced that Xi Jinping will skip the G20 Summit hosted by India
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Top News of the Week
Announcements
Latest News
Technology Strategy and Policy
Artificial Intelligence
Telecommunications Networks and Infrastructure
Critical Minerals
Synthetic Biology
Quantum
Advanced Aerospace Technology
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
Energy and Climate
Opinion and Commentary
Top News of the Week – China’s Leader Xi Jinping will Skip the G20 Summit
On the heels of the BRICS Summit in which Xi Jinping achieved his goal of expanding the bloc over the objections of India and Brazil, the Chinese Government has announced that he will skip the G20 Summit hosted by India. This is a major rebuke to Indian Prime Minister Modi, who appeared to acquiesce to Xi during the BRICS Summit to ensure his attendance.
Relations between India and China have been particularly tense since Chinese troops attacked and killed 20 Indian soldiers during a border incursion in the summer of 2020. Just last week the Chinese Government released an official map claiming Indian territory, as well as the territory of other neighbors of China, as belonging to the PRC.
Xi’s refusal to attend the G20 calls into question whether he will attend the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit hosted by the United States in San Francisco this November.
One of the main objectives of the high-level visits by senior U.S. officials to Beijing over the last four months has been to ensure that President Biden and Leader Xi could meet at one of the major diplomatic summits this year. Now that Xi will not attend the G20 and relations between the U.S. and the PRC continue to worsen, it appears possible that the two superpower leaders will not meet this year.
Expect to see increasing pressure on Washington to end its technology and diplomatic campaign against Beijing to persuade Xi to attend. At the very least, Xi will insist that Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, who is sanctioned by the United States, be allowed to attend the San Francisco Summit and that Taiwan not be allowed any participation.
More background:
Xi to skip G20 summit in India, China to send Li instead – Reuters, September 4, 2023
China’s top spy agency casts doubt over Xi Jinping attending Apec talks – SCMP, September 4, 2023
President Biden doesn't plan to meet Chinese counterpart Xi at G20 – NBC News, August 31, 2023
US bars Hong Kong leader John Lee from San Francisco Apec summit – The Guardian, July 28, 2023
Announcements
Please join the Global Tech Security Commission (GTSC) – a joint partnership between the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub – on September 27 at 2:00pm ET for a virtual panel discussion on the how the US and its allies should think about and counter Beijing’s ambitions to modernize its military through Military-Civil Fusion.
China’s defense sector is largely controlled by state-owned enterprises insulated from its commercial economy. However, Beijing has increasingly sought to bolster its military capabilities and modernize the People’s Liberation Army through its civilian sectors.
A key pillar of these efforts, Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) encourages Chinese civilian companies to acquire and pass along to defense firms dual-use technologies from foreign sources rather than developing them indigenously (through both legal and illegal means). MCF has had mixed success and has largely relegated the civilian tech sector as a pass-through entity rather than serving as the source of technology and expertise. Nonetheless, Beijing is likely to continue using MCF to advance its military ambitions, and Washington and its allies must therefore pay close attention to it.
This discussion will examine Beijing’s MCF practices and help shine a light on the extent to which MCF is succeeding. It will also offer insights on how the US and its allies and partners can best counter MCF.
Latest News
Startup founders are from Mars, policymakers are from Venus – Semafor, September 1, 2023
China’s Disinformation Fuels Anger Over Fukushima Water Release – NYTs, August 31, 2023
Seoul’s spy agency says Russia has likely proposed North Korea to join three-way drills with China – Associated Press, September 4, 2023
China State Media Declares Huawei Phone a Victory in US Tech War – Bloomberg, August 31, 2023
Has Huawei overcome U.S. sanctions by developing its own 5G chip? – Reuters, September 1, 2023
Technology Strategy and Policy
MINDEF announces review of Defence Trade Controls Act – Defence Connect, August 29, 2023
Western Officials Plan to Warn U.A.E. Over Trade with Russia – WSJ, September 4, 2023
South Africa says inquiry found no evidence of arms shipment to Russia – Reuters, September 4, 2023
Cybercrime to cost Germany 206 billion euros in 2023, survey finds – Reuters, September 1, 2023
Artificial Intelligence
China lets Baidu, others launch ChatGPT-like bots to public, tech shares jump – Reuters, August 31, 2023
Behind the AI boom, an army of overseas workers in ‘digital sweatshops’ – Washington Post, August 28, 2023
From Google To Nvidia, Tech Giants Have Hired Red Team Hackers To Break Their AI Models – Forbes, September 1, 2023
AI will change American elections, but not in the obvious way – The Economist, September 3, 2023
Telecommunications Networks and Infrastructure
A Fake Signal App Was Planted on Google Play by China-Linked Hackers – Forbes, August 30, 2023
TikTok removes 284 accounts linked to Chinese disinformation group – The Guardian, August 31, 2023
China's Huawei opens cloud data centre in Saudi Arabia in regional push – Reuters, September 4, 2023
Telstra-owned Pacific mobile network likely exploited by spies for hire – ABC News, September 1, 2023
Why LinkedIn is a snooper’s paradise – The Telegraph, August 24, 2023
Critical Minerals
Lithium developer Liontown backs Albemarle's $4.3 billion bid – Reuters, September 4, 2023
Japan and U.K. to jointly invest in critical minerals in Africa – Nikkei Asia, September 4, 2023
China’s global reach grows behind critical minerals – S&P Global, August 24, 2023
The global fight for critical minerals is costly and damaging – Nature, July 19, 2023
Synthetic Biology
The Transformative, Alarming Power of Gene Editing – The New Yorker, September 2, 2023
GDNF gene therapy for alcohol use disorder in male non-human primates – Nature, August 14, 2023
The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman review – AI, synthetic biology, and a new dawn for humanity – The Guardian, August 28, 2023
Biotech Stocks Join AI-Fueled Rally – WSJ, July 26, 2023
Quantum
Quantum wormholes, explained – Big Think, September 4, 2023
Post-Quantum Cryptography Should Be Part Of Your Security Strategy – Forbes, August 30, 2023
EU Late to the Quantum Party, Report Warns – IEEE Spectrum, August 6, 2023
Advanced Aerospace Technology
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on record-breaking 62nd mission of the year – Space.com, September 3, 2023
Europe to decide within weeks on when to restart space launches – Reuters, September 4, 2023
Chandrayaan-3 rover and lander in sleep mode but might wake up later this month – Space.com, September 4, 2023
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy reschedules moon rocket launch for Thursday – Reuters, September 4, 2023
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
The Chips Education Challenge – The Wire China, September 3, 2023
TSMC's fab creates stronger-than-expected economic effect on Kumamoto – DigiTimes, September 1, 2023
Rapidus breaks ground on 2nm chip fab – DigiTimes Asia, September 4, 2023
Energy and Climate
Europe's carmakers fret over China's EV prowess at Munich car show – Reuters, September 4, 2023
Clean Energy Projects Are Booming Everywhere. Except in Poor Nations. – NYTs, September 4, 2023
US clean energy drive fuels shortage of engineers in Australia – The Guardian, September 3, 2023
The Coming Green Energy Bailout – WSJ, September 4, 2023
Opinion and Commentary
The Real Contest With China: Washington Needs a Comprehensive Industrial Strategy to Outpace Beijing – Michael Brown and Robert Atkinson, Foreign Affairs, August 28, 2023
Part of China's economic miracle was a mirage. Reality check is next – Joe Cash, Reuters, September 3, 2023
‘Defending democracy’ a losing strategy against authoritarian narratives – The Strategist, September 1, 2023
How Russia Globalized the War in Ukraine – Foreign Affairs, September 1, 2023
Welcome to the New Era of Nuclear Brinkmanship – Hal Brands, Bloomberg, August 27, 2023
About: Tech Diplomacy Now
The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue is the world’s preeminent trusted technology accelerator. As the leader of the new category of Tech Diplomacy, the Institute integrates technology expertise, Silicon Valley strategies, and foreign policy tools to build the Global Trusted Tech Network of governments, companies, organizations and individuals to accelerate the innovation and adoption of trusted technology and ensure technology advances freedom.