Robin Brant
@robindbrant
Followers
18K
Following
0
Media
2K
Statuses
28K
Advising on reputation and crisis. Was @bbcnews correspondent in China, Westminster, presenter. #Hacking trial. @TimesRadio @SpeakersTrust @Monocle
London, England
Joined June 2011
STORY The firms looking to sell snow sports in #Xinjiang off the back of @Beijing2022 and whether you can ‘divorce’ yourself from the genocide claims. That’s what @burtonsnowboard #china boss Craig Smith told me.
29
19
36
This reminds me of #china eternal push to usurp Japan in its production of ballpoint pens but failing to harness the capability around making the hard ball bit.
China’s pens—which look like the real thing but sell for just a few bucks—force consumers to ask what they’re getting from the entrenched brands, said Willy Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School specializing in manufacturing and supply chains. https://t.co/1jUaJZPJ43
0
0
0
I'm now on Substack, explaining a little more about what I've written in The Times and the reading that informs it. Today: why Keir Starmer needs some fat men, the No 10 adviser who's actually doing a good job, and the best books on Brownism. https://t.co/TA6CzLKuBt
api.omarshehata.me
Keir Starmer's government is full of the wrong Brownites
6
11
118
Mixed messaging and confusion on #china from @patrickkmaguire in @thetimes today... or maybe it's meant to be that way? I wrote about this a few months ago
linkedin.com
Mixed messaging is the diplomatic modus operandi of the moment. Is it working? The truth is it is too soon to tell. Let’s see where the relationship settles in a year or so. I’m not talking about...
0
0
0
On Thursday, responding to media inquiries about reports that some former British security officials claimed Chinese state actors had systematically hacked into UK government’s classified computer systems over the past decade, accessing confidential documents, private
2
4
8
Driverless taxis are coming to London in a Europe-wide first next year. See what it’s like being in one here. In my old job, in China, way back in 2020…
bbc.co.uk
Driverless taxis are now available in China’s biggest city, Shanghai. The BBC took a ride.
0
0
0
That new embassy thing - in both London and Beijing - not looking good as the days, and briefings, go by. To be fair though Xi is a little more focused on rare earth supply chain dominance at time of writing #china (v liberal use of ‘cabinet ministers’ here by @thetimes)
Exclusive from @Geri_E_L_Scott Cabinet ministers believe Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser is too close to China and his position is increasingly unsustainable Jonathan Powell faces mounting scrutiny over his relationship with Beijing after a China spy trial
0
0
0
I did a translation of all 6 related announcements here. Today's actions go way beyond semiconductors. You company needs drill bits for oil and gas drilling? You will need a PRC license... The PRC just showed that it can control the supply chains for "new quality productive
sinocism.notion.site
Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs Announcement No. 55 of 2025: Decision to Impose Export Controls on Superhard Materials aqygzj 商务部 海关总署公告2025年第55号 公布对超硬材料相关物项实施出口管制的决定
CHINA JUST WEAPONIZED THE ENTIRE RARE EARTH SUPPLY CHAIN get used to reading chinese MOFCOM bulletins because they're writing american industrial policy now. announced today: any product containing >0.1% chinese rare earth materials needs beijing's approval before re-export to
90
549
2K
.@SteveReedMP now has the weekend to read up on #china embassy app and decide by Tuesday. Beijing will be very, very keenly watching.
1
0
2
update on this from yesterday - big, and imminent, #china decision awaits for incoming Housing Sec
0
0
0
update on this from yesterday - #china views of the incoming Housing Sec in play now
Somewhere in the #china London embassy an official is trying to calculate then craft a cable to Beijing on implications of @AngelaRayner travails for 9th Sept decision she was due to make about their contentious new embassy. And do a runners n riders on new Housing Sec.
0
0
0
Don’t forget the big decision for @AngelaRayner over the next few days… that new #china embassy
linkedin.com
Somewhere in a room in the Chinese embassy in London there’s an official trying to craft a cable back to Beijing which assesses the impact of Angela Rayner’s travails and what it could mean for a...
1
2
1
Somewhere in the #china London embassy an official is trying to calculate then craft a cable to Beijing on implications of @AngelaRayner travails for 9th Sept decision she was due to make about their contentious new embassy. And do a runners n riders on new Housing Sec.
1
4
4
It’s the message that’s the problem, not the policy, apparently.
linkedin.com
It’s not the policy it’s the message. That appears to be one conclusion from this morning’s delivery-tastic shake up at No.10. Darren Jones takes on the more powerful role of getting big things done...
0
0
0
It’s giving major Shanghai boyfriend bag carrying vibes #china
BTS star J-Hope was greeted by screaming fans as he attended the Louis Vuitton show in Paris, Tuesday.
0
0
0
My eldest graduated High School today - I couldn’t stop crying- I’m getting too emotional in my dotage
1
1
2
Feel like I may be betraying a family secret here but I don’t think keeping the bath water for the kids to wash is a huge departure from the norm, is it?! Obs this plays in nicely to the ‘mountains and rivers’ eco side of Xi jnr narrative #china
There are some really great anecdotes about Xi Jinping in @JosephTorigian’s new bio of his father Xi Zhongxun, such as the future Chinese leader, as a boy, dreading bath time
0
0
0
#chinaaudit coming soon
Visiting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday held talks in London with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves on enhancing economic and financial cooperation between the two countries. He, who leads the Chinese side to the China-UK Economic and Financial
0
0
1