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Eliot Chen Profile picture
Eliot Chen
@eliotcxchen
Staff writer @thewirechina • eliot@thewire.media • 🇭🇰
Jul 21 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
🧵For the last year, @PekingMike @NorthropKatrina and I have investigated a secret about Jack Ma’s business empire:

For years, Xiao Jianhua, jailed financier to China’s political elite, found early, lucrative windows to invest $1B+ in Ma’s companies, from Alibaba to Ant. 1/8
Image It’s a secret so well protected that Ma and Alibaba claim to have no knowledge of Xiao’s investments. Xiao hid his involvement by buying stakes through proxies, including in 2 cases through a close friend of Ma’s — the husband of Zhao Wei, one of China’s biggest movie stars. 2/8
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Jun 18, 2023 • 10 tweets • 7 min read
I profiled BYD, whose stratospheric rise to become the world's largest EV maker almost beggars belief.

No silver bullet transformed BYD into what it's become; rather, it achieved excellence in several areas all at once — and its competition isn't ready.
thewirechina.com/2023/06/18/byd… One of the things I found most striking while reporting this piece:

In 2013, BYD's flagship EV, the e6, cost $49,000 b/f subsidies and had a 300km range.

In April, it released the Seagull, with an identical range, which starts at $11,000.

That's a 75% fall in $$ in 10 years. ImageImage
Oct 16, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
The Chinese Communist Party's 20th Party Congress kicks off today. Ten years after Xi Jinping ascended to China’s top leadership position, the CCP is a party remade.

My graphics this week on China's decade of Xi's rule:
thewirechina.com/2022/10/16/xi-… 4.3: the average number of times per night over the last year that Xi was mentioned in China Central Television’s (CCTV) evening newscast, 新闻联播 Xinwen Lianbo.

His mentions in one night peaked at 14, translating to roughly one mention every two minutes.
Oct 10, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Four years after the Trump administration first introduced the China Initiative, the legacy of the controversial program is becoming clear.

Almost three quarters of Chinese scientists feel unsafe in the United States. 6 in 10 say they intend to leave.
thewirechina.com/2022/10/09/chi… Those figures come from a recent study conducted pro bono by researchers at Princeton, Harvard and MIT.

Their findings show that the fear and unease among Chinese scientists which has been reported in recent years isn't just anecdotal, but wide and pervasive.
Aug 28, 2022 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Five months ago, my colleague was in a supermarket in Virginia when she came across a surprising discovery: a bag of dates labelled: "Bingtuan".

My investigation into how Xinjiang's sanctioned paramilitary group is openly selling its goods in the USA:
thewirechina.com/2022/08/28/xin… Two months after the enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, dozens of brands of Xinjiang dates remain available for sale. We traced the route of one, an XPCC subsidiary, to understand how it evaded CBP's scrutiny to land on American shelves.
Feb 28, 2021 • 38 tweets • 12 min read
Thread:

Translated final messages of the 47 charged democracy supporters, in their own words. "Today, to be guilty of our common ideals, I am deeply honored. I have received your well-wishes, and I wish everyone fulfillment each day. No matter the situation, fill everyone around you with love and with hope."