Weimin Chen

The Lede: On Friday Taiwanese authorities said that they are investigating four Taiwan-based companies suspected of helping China’s Huawei Technologies to build semiconductor facilities as Taipei follows Washington’s lead on cutting off China from sensitive technologies. What We Know: * The Companies under investigation include semiconductor material reseller Topco

The Lede: A report from Nikkei this week indicates that Japan has been lagging in securing critical mineral supply chains for its electric vehicle industry as the country follows larger U.S. and Western shifts away from dependence on China. In recent months, Japan has had meetings with Canadian and

The Lede: On Sunday, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and He Lifeng, China’s vice-premier and top economic aide to Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Frankfurt at the third China-Germany High-Level Financial Dialogue and released a joint statement outlining a number of areas of consensus amid Berlin charting its

The Lede: On Monday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway. It has been a key project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative and is part of a larger effort by Beijing to expand rail connectivity in Southeast Asia. What We Know: * The high-speed train

The Lede: Beijing has rejected calls from Islamabad to invest in fresh Belt and Road projects in Pakistan, the minutes from a high-level meeting show, according to a report from Nikkei on Monday. This comes as China has moved toward being more selective and cost-conscious in its foreign development projects,

The Lede: Chinese Central Bank research director Zhou Chengjun at a forum in Beijing Tuesday, called for Chinese banks to set up branches in countries that cooperate in the Belt and Road Initiative amid disrupted financial and economic conditions between Western countries and China. What We Know: * Zhou, director of