Links for Monday, April 12, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• World’s biggest ride-share company secretly files for U.S. IPO
  Asia ride-hailing giants Didi, Grab proceed with listing plans / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Didi Chuxing, the ride-hailing giant and the Chinese version of Uber, has filed confidentially for a listing in the U.S. that could raise as much as $100 billion. Last week, Didi was reported to have created a new autonomous vehicle division.
• China wants Hainan to be a Hong Kong Hawaii
  China issues guidelines on opening up Hainan financial sector / Caixin Global
  On Friday, China’s financial regulators issued guidelines to allow financial services to commence on Hainan, an island in the South China Sea and China’s southernmost province.
  The provisions include increasing yuan convertibility and allowing market access to foreign investors. The guidelines are just one step in a massive plan announced in June to develop Hainan into an “internationally influential, high-level” port by 2050.
• China’s biggest battery supplier buys mine in the Congos
  CATL pays $137.5 million for stake in China Moly’s copper, cobalt mine in Congo / Yicai Global
  Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a global leader in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, will take a stake in a Congolese copper and cobalt mine owned 95% by China Molybdenum for $137.5 million. Cobalt is an essential component of Li-ion batteries.
• No more cobalt for China’s OG electric car company
  DRC take note: China’s BYD says it’ll no longer used cobalt in its electric vehicles / China Africa Project
  The world’s second-largest EV-maker “will no longer use cobalt in any of its vehicles. Instead, the company is going all-in on LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries in place of NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese).”
• Self-driving car software and hardware from drone king DJI
  Chinese drone maker DJI to reveal first self-driving auto products in Shanghai next week / Yicai Global
• Craigslist for profit wars
  58.com CEO Calls for four billion yuan anti-monopoly Fine on Beike / Pandaily
• Xinjiang and supply chains
  Solar-energy supply chain depends on region where China is accused of genocide / WSJ (paywall)
• Playing fast and loose with consumer data?
  P&G worked with China trade group on tech to sidestep Apple privacy rules / WSJ (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Local governments experiment with environment-focused development metrics
  GEP, a green alternative to GDP, gaining ground in China / Sixth Tone
  “Tech hub Shenzhen is the latest city to announce it will start using ‘gross ecosystem product’ to drive policy.”
• Continued campaign against binge-eating livestreamers
  China’s graft watchdog rebukes ‘mukbang’ binge-eating, drinking videos / Reuters
  Last year on The China Project: Chinese authorities take aim at binge-eating livestreamers as food prices spike.

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Xi thinks American democracy is “a sheet of loose sand”
  China’s message to America: We’re an equal now / WSJ (paywall)
  “In Beijing’s corridors of power, Mr. Trump was derisively known as ‘a great unifier’ — America’s aggressive actions were unifying support in China for the party and [Xí Jìnpíng 习近平]…America’s chaotic pandemic response, followed by a summer of racial upheaval and the Jan. 6 Capitol storming, solidified his faith in the Chinese system’s superiority, Chinese officials say. In internal meetings, they say, he compares American democracy to ‘a sheet of loose sand’ and declares that the one-party system allows him to get things done.”
• Policing politically incorrect history takes on social media
  China launches hotline for netizens to report ‘illegal’ history comments / Reuters
  “China’s cyber regulator has launched a hotline to report online comments that defame the ruling Communist Party and its history, vowing to crack down on ‘historical nihilists’ ahead of the Party’s 100th anniversary in July.”
  PRC: Are your neighbors distorting history or spreading politically incorrect ideas online? Report them! / David Cowhig’s Translation Blog
• Military activity around Taiwan continues to increase
  Taiwan reports largest incursion yet by Chinese air force / Reuters
  “Twenty-five Chinese air force aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, the island’s government said, the largest reported incursion to date.”
  Julian Ku on Twitter: “Some ominous Chinese Air Force mid air taunting while in Taiwan’s ADIZ: ‘This is China’s airspace. You will all get used to this soon.’”
  Blinken warns of China’s ‘increasingly aggressive actions’ against Taiwan / Reuters
  Taiwan to stage live-fire drills as fears of possible PLA attack grow / SCMP (paywall)
  Last week on The China Project: U.S. debates changes in Taiwan policy as warships swirl around island.
• Canada threatened to pull funding from a nonprofit if it provoked Beijing
  Trudeau government threatens Halifax Security Forum over proposed Taiwan award / Politico
  “Late last year, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the forum’s organizers decided to give its John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan…When Canadian officials learned of the forum’s plans, they made it clear that if organizers gave the honor to Tsai, the Canadian government would pull support — and funding — from HFX…HFX hasn’t decided how to proceed. For now, the situation appears to be on ice.”
• Another impasse in India-China border talks?
  China-India border dispute: latest round of talks fail to ease tensions / SCMP (paywall)
  “Saturday’s negotiations ended without a joint statement on disengagement from the two sides, suggesting that neither was willing to compromise.”
  LAC talks: China says de-escalation trend ‘positive,’ silent on remaining issues / The Hindu
• Liú Xiǎomíng 刘晓明 to head up Korea policy
  China’s former envoy to U.K. gets new job overseeing Korean affairs / Caixin
• South China Sea
  Philippines, U.S. launch military drills amid South China Sea tensions / Reuters
  “Philippine and U.S. soldiers started two weeks of military exercises on Monday against a backdrop of rising tensions in the South China Sea, though the drills were reduced in scale due to the coronavirus pandemic.”
  China turning South China Sea supply ships into mobile surveillance bases / RFA
• Myanmar diplomacy
  China, Russia undermine international Myanmar response, EU’s top diplomat says / Reuters
  Taiwan takes tougher line against Myanmar regime / Nikkei (paywall)
  “Taiwan’s national legislature has passed a motion urging the Myanmar junta to restore democracy and halt its violence against demonstrators opposing the coup…While having no formal diplomatic ties, Taiwan is among the biggest investors in Myanmar.”
• The great infrastructure game
  EU says it can’t help Montenegro on China loan but can on financing / Reuters

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Legacy of ping-pong diplomacy
  U.S.-China ping-pong diplomacy, 50 years later / NPR
  “April 10 marks the 50th anniversary of that unlikely trip, an episode that’s come to be known as ping-pong diplomacy. Analysts say those ping-pong games in China put the first crack in the ice between the two countries.”
  China ambassador invokes ping-pong diplomacy, urging cooperation / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Pete Millwood on Twitter: “It’s fifty years since ping-pong diplomacy. A historic moment — but not the first time that Americans visited the PRC. A thread debunking this and other myths of ping-pong diplomacy. 1/9”
• Urban misbehavior
  Shanghai man sentenced to 8 months in prison for throwing garbage out of apartment window / What’s on Weibo
• Online video is reshaping entertainment
  China’s entertainment industry threatens legal action against re-edited fan videos / Sixth Tone
  The man who accidentally became a [Douyin] megastar / Sixth Tone
• When even TV is too scary
  Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures, Peppa Pig and My Little Pony children’s cartoons too dangerous and violent, Chinese consumer group claims / SCMP (paywall)
• Left behind in the village with mom and dad working in the city
  The plight of China’s “left-behind” children / Economist (paywall)