cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40459734

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In the past few years, China has been ramping up its construction of coal plants, partially eschewing climate targets for greater domestic energy production. China’s coal construction totaled an output of 94.5 GW in 2024, the highest number in 10 years, the equivalent of approximately 90 nuclear reactors.

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China is turning the clock backwards on its market-driven reforms; the country’s coal boom isn’t reflecting market pressures, but rather Beijing’s top-down campaign for energy security. With the surge in coal plant construction, operational inefficiencies are undermining the industry’s sustainability. China’s average coal plant operating hours have fallen to 4,628 hours a year, or about 53% of a year. This means the average Chinese plant sits idle for nearly half the year, signaling severe underutilization.

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To counter [...] market challenges, Beijing is artificially boosting demand. The National Development and Reform Commission of China, the country’s economic planner, asked domestic buyers to focus on purchasing from the northern regions to offset the excess supply there. It also directed a 10% increase in thermal coal reserves, stockpiles used for heating and electricity, continuing the trend of inflating demand.

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The proliferation of coal and cheap domestic energy, no matter how inefficient, has another impact: increasing Chinese exports. With sometimes literally free energy, producers of green tech products in China, such as EVs and Solar Panels, have no choice but to look overseas. This embraces the core competencies of the traditional method of Chinese growth since 1979, export-led development, while simultaneously serving China’s foreign policy objectives by burnishing its image as a green energy superpower providing renewable tech to the world.

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In the past few years, China has been ramping up its construction of coal plants, partially eschewing climate targets for greater domestic energy production. China’s coal construction totaled an output of 94.5 GW in 2024, the highest number in 10 years, the equivalent of approximately 90 nuclear reactors.

[...]

China is turning the clock backwards on its market-driven reforms; the country’s coal boom isn’t reflecting market pressures, but rather Beijing’s top-down campaign for energy security. With the surge in coal plant construction, operational inefficiencies are undermining the industry’s sustainability. China’s average coal plant operating hours have fallen to 4,628 hours a year, or about 53% of a year. This means the average Chinese plant sits idle for nearly half the year, signaling severe underutilization.

[...]

To counter [...] market challenges, Beijing is artificially boosting demand. The National Development and Reform Commission of China, the country’s economic planner, asked domestic buyers to focus on purchasing from the northern regions to offset the excess supply there. It also directed a 10% increase in thermal coal reserves, stockpiles used for heating and electricity, continuing the trend of inflating demand.

[...]

The proliferation of coal and cheap domestic energy, no matter how inefficient, has another impact: increasing Chinese exports. With sometimes literally free energy, producers of green tech products in China, such as EVs and Solar Panels, have no choice but to look overseas. This embraces the core competencies of the traditional method of Chinese growth since 1979, export-led development, while simultaneously serving China’s foreign policy objectives by burnishing its image as a green energy superpower providing renewable tech to the world.

[...]

• Chinese exporters cut wage costs to stay competitive
• Underemployment is hidden deflationary force, analysts say
• Temporary jobs pay less than last year as tariffs bite

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40434523

• Podul weakened from a typhoon after injuring 143 people in Taiwan
• Hong Kong media tycoon, pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai's trial cancelled
• Extreme rains pose threat to China's economic growth, says analyst

• Podul weakened from a typhoon after injuring 143 people in Taiwan
• Hong Kong media tycoon, pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai's trial cancelled
• Extreme rains pose threat to China's economic growth, says analyst

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40434365

This summer, much of North China has endured widespread temperatures above 35°C. Even typically cooler, high-latitude summer retreats like Harbin in Northeast China—usually a refuge from the heat—saw temperatures soar past 35°C in late June and July. As climate change accelerates, extreme heat events will become increasingly frequent.

Just two years earlier, in late June 2023, North China sweltered under a searing three-day heat wave that arrived weeks earlier than usual and broke six decades' worth of temperature records. Daily highs soared past 40°C in some areas, triggering heat-related illnesses, straining the region's power grid, and threatening crops during the growing season. For millions living in this vital agricultural and industrial heartland, the scorching conditions were a stark reminder of the mounting risks posed by climate extremes.

A study published in Earth's Future by researchers Kexin Gui and Tianjun Zhou of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has pointed out the dual drivers behind this unprecedented heat: large-scale atmospheric circulation and an unusually strong soil moisture feedback.

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The study warns that such conditions may become more common under climate change. Model projections suggest that heat waves with the same intensity as the 2023 event could become the new normal by the end of the century. While the influence of soil moisture feedback on extreme heat may weaken in the long term due to projected increases in soil moisture.

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The findings underscore the urgency of climate adaptation strategies in North China, where the increasing heat extremes pose a significant threat to livelihoods and ecosystems.

This summer, much of North China has endured widespread temperatures above 35°C. Even typically cooler, high-latitude summer retreats like Harbin in Northeast China—usually a refuge from the heat—saw temperatures soar past 35°C in late June and July. As climate change accelerates, extreme heat events will become increasingly frequent.

Just two years earlier, in late June 2023, North China sweltered under a searing three-day heat wave that arrived weeks earlier than usual and broke six decades' worth of temperature records. Daily highs soared past 40°C in some areas, triggering heat-related illnesses, straining the region's power grid, and threatening crops during the growing season. For millions living in this vital agricultural and industrial heartland, the scorching conditions were a stark reminder of the mounting risks posed by climate extremes.

A study published in Earth's Future by researchers Kexin Gui and Tianjun Zhou of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has pointed out the dual drivers behind this unprecedented heat: large-scale atmospheric circulation and an unusually strong soil moisture feedback.

[...]

The study warns that such conditions may become more common under climate change. Model projections suggest that heat waves with the same intensity as the 2023 event could become the new normal by the end of the century. While the influence of soil moisture feedback on extreme heat may weaken in the long term due to projected increases in soil moisture.

[...]

The findings underscore the urgency of climate adaptation strategies in North China, where the increasing heat extremes pose a significant threat to livelihoods and ecosystems.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40431544

Op-ed by Tom Harper, Lecturer in International Relations, University of East London, UK.

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This potential to control downstream water supply to another country has been demonstrated by the effects that earlier dam projects in the region have had on the nations of the Mekong river delta in 2019. As a result, this gives Beijing a significant degree of leverage over its neighbours.

One country restricting water supply to put pressure on another is by no means unprecedented. In fact in April 2025, following a terror attack by Pakistan-based The Resistance Front in Kashmir, which killed 26 people (mainly tourists), India suspended the Indus waters treaty, restricting water supplies to Pakistani farmers in the region. So the potential for China’s dam to disrupt water flows will further compound the already tense geopolitics of southern Asia.

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Op-ed by Tom Harper, Lecturer in International Relations, University of East London, UK.

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This potential to control downstream water supply to another country has been demonstrated by the effects that earlier dam projects in the region have had on the nations of the Mekong river delta in 2019. As a result, this gives Beijing a significant degree of leverage over its neighbours.

One country restricting water supply to put pressure on another is by no means unprecedented. In fact in April 2025, following a terror attack by Pakistan-based The Resistance Front in Kashmir, which killed 26 people (mainly tourists), India suspended the Indus waters treaty, restricting water supplies to Pakistani farmers in the region. So the potential for China’s dam to disrupt water flows will further compound the already tense geopolitics of southern Asia.

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Op-ed by Ihsan Yilmaz, Research Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Deakin University - Ana-Maria Bliuc, Associate Professor in Social Psychology, University of Dundee - John Betts, Senior Lecturer, Monash University - Nicholas Morieson, Research fellow, Deakin University.

Last week, Australian authorities arrested a woman for foreign interference. The Chinese citizen and Canberra resident is just the third person ever charged under our foreign interference laws.

According to the Australian Federal Police, she was allegedly gathering information on, and may be involved in efforts to infiltrate, the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist association. The group is banned in China.

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The story might seem unimportant. After all, it doesn’t involve defence secrets or political leaders, but a small, relatively obscure community.

But this is exactly why it matters. The case shows the Chinese Communist Party is deeply interested in Australia’s Chinese diaspora communities. It’s willing to disregard Australian law to police and manipulate them in ways that serve Beijing’s interests.

It also shows how authoritarian regimes use “sharp power”, or covert, manipulative influence, to do more than just spy. They also surveil, intimidate and control communities far beyond their borders.

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Sharp power is different [from soft power and hard power in that] it manipulates and distorts the information people receive, quietly shaping how they see the world and the choices they think they have. It’s the use of covert, manipulative and often emotional tactics to shape how other countries think, decide and act, often without them realising it’s happening.

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When China’s state news agency, Xinhua, operates openly in other countries, it is playing the soft power game. But when China Radio International secretly funds 33 radio stations in 14 countries, or when Turkey spreads anti-Western conspiracy theories and disinformation, it crosses into sharp power.

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Sharp power in Australia

The Canberra spy case shows how Beijing can shape opinions by infiltrating local Chinese organisations. It can also control information and mobilise people in ways that serve its own political interests. It reveals how some authoritarian governments regard co-ethnic, co-religious, or culturally linked diasporas in the West as part of their national community and seek to influence them accordingly.

Australia’s universities have also been targets of China’s sharp power. Scholars critical of Beijing’s oppression of Tibetans, Uighur Muslims, and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have faced pressure from student groups aligned with Chinese state interests.

The Chinese language media in Australia has also become deeply influenced by Beijing’s narratives. Many once independent outlets now republish state controlled content, narrowing the diversity of views available to Chinese-speaking Australians. This also encourages them to remain loyal and connected to China.

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For a multicultural society such as Australia, the challenge is to respond firmly to authoritarian sharp power attacks without undermining the openness and diversity that are among our greatest democratic strengths.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40426531

The technological and strategic brilliance of the country's world-class companies are being swamped by macroeconomic troubles.

Op-ed by George Magnus, research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre and at Soas University of London, UK.

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Common concerns about coercive politics and human rights aside, some notions of China as an unstoppable economic, technological and military behemoth sit alongside others focused more on an increasingly sclerotic, over- centralised political economy, that depends on wasteful economic stimulus, and features poor governance and institutions. The fusion of these notions suggests that we may already have reached “peak China”.

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At the Central Economic Work Conference in December last year, China’s premier, Li Qiang, summarised his country’s condition by saying candidly that the foundation for sustained economic recovery and growth was not strong, demand was weak, and there were pressures on job creation and “fiscal difficulties” among several local governments.

Although consumption has been made a top priority, actual policy measures to make it so have been underwhelming, partly because redistributing economic power to companies and citizens also entails changes in political power, which are anathema to the Communist party.

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The super-globalisation from which China benefited is pretty much over, and the world’s biggest export nation is now confronted by a fragmenting and fracturing trade and investment environment in which commerce within blocs is holding up better than trade between them.

China’s bloc includes a majority of the world’s population, but very small proportions of world GDP, investment and wealth. At the same time, developed and middle-income economies, as well as emerging nations, are pushing back against what they perceive to be predatory trade policies by a mercantilist China.

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Rare earths are critical to the green transition, electric vehicles, and defence technologies – making their control a pressing national priority.

"The open international market in critical minerals and rare earths is a mirage. It doesn't exist. And the reason it doesn't exist is because there is one supplier of these materials and they have the wherewithal to change where the market goes, whether that be in pricing or supply," Australia's resources minister Madeleine King says.

Canberra sees government intervention as necessary to provide an alternative supply, and help the world rely less on China.

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