EVs, Tariffs and the Big Debate

Plus, how Xi Jinping is remaking the PLA.

Good evening. The big news this week was the 100 percent tariffs the Biden administration slapped on Chinese-made EVs. We have Victor Shih commenting on how the tariffs could actually hurt American competitiveness, while our cover story looks at why this same debate is much more urgent and fierce in the European Union. (The E.U. took in close to 40 percent of China’s EV exports last year!) Elsewhere, we have infographics on Nongfu Spring and its billionaire founder; an interview with Daniel Mattingly on Xi Jinping’s cultivation of the PLA; and a reported piece on Xi Jinping’s attempts to get banks on his side.

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The Great EV Glut

The new U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made EVs are both unprecedented and largely performative since Chinese EVs haven’t yet penetrated the U.S. market. The European Union, by contrast, is facing a more critical and nuanced challenge from the influx of Chinese-made EVs and is currently debating what to do about it. Can the E.U. save its auto industry and still keep its green transition going? Luke Patey reports.

The Big Picture: Nongfu Spring’s Big Splash

The bottled water giant is as familiar in China as Coca Cola is in the West, but it’s not immune from online criticism. This week’s infographics by Aaron Mc Nicholas take a closer look at Nongfu Spring, its founder Zhong Shanshan, who is one of China’s richest men, and its near-three decade story.

A Q&A with Daniel Mattingly

Daniel Mattingly?is an assistant professor of political science at Yale University, where he studies authoritarian politics with a focus on China. In 2020, he published?The Art of Political Control in China, which explores how the Chinese state controls protests and implements sweeping social policies. Recently, he has turned his focus to the military, and is working on a book about the role of the military in Chinese elite politics. In this week’s Q&A with Katrina Northrop, he talks about Xi Jinping’s remaking of the People’s Liberation Army, and what the recent corruption scandals in the military mean about the state of China’s army.

Xi Tries To Get the Banks On Side

Beijing wants the Chinese financial sector to do more to support its economic goals, but progress has been hard to come by. Eliot Chen reports.

The High Costs of Tariffs without End

The Biden administration’s new measures against Chinese imports risks creating a doom-loop of declining American competitiveness, argues Victor Shih in this week’s op-ed.

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