Links for Tuesday, June 9, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• The people who make artificial intelligence
  A U.S. secret weapon in AI: Chinese talent / NYT (porous paywall)
  “New research shows scientists educated in China help American firms and schools dominate the cutting-edge field. Now industry leaders worry that worsening political tensions will blunt that edge.
  America’s got AI talent: U.S.’ big lead in AI research is built on importing researchers / MacroPolo
• China’s “street vendor economy”
  No ware to sell: Beijing’s street vendors back on the run / Reuters

The resistance towards street vendors widened on Monday as state television cautioned tier-one cities — traditionally Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen — against chasing short-term employment solutions.

Among them only Guangzhou has unveiled new policies promoting street vending.

Guangzhou on Friday specified 60 locations in the city where street stalls can be set up. It also imposed restrictions on merchandise type.

The street stall economy is more suitable in central and western cities, some state media said.

• Chinese tech giants’ new market: street vendors / TechNode
  Walk back on “street vendor economy” / China Digital Times
  David Paulk 波大卫 on Twitter: “The hashtag #地摊经济# (‘street vendor economy’) is now censored on Weibo, a week after Premier Li Keqiang advocated for allowing once-shunned street vendors to return to China’s cities and help invigorate flagging economies.”
• Alibaba’s cloud unit expands
  Alibaba says cloud unit to recruit 5,000 staff globally this financial year / Reuters
  “‘The digital transformation journey for businesses in China, which was previously expected to take three to five years, is now likely to be accelerated to be completed within one year,’ said Jeff Zhang [张建锋 Zhāng Jiànfēng], president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.”
• Abe joins Trump in trying to re-nationalize supply chains
  Japan wants manufacturing back from China, but breaking up supply chains is hard to do / Reuters
  “Spooked by coronavirus-induced factory shutdowns in China, [Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s] government has earmarked $2 billion to help companies shift production home. The policy, part of a massive stimulus package to cope with the pandemic, has even been termed by some bureaucrats as a matter of national security.”
• Private equity capitalizes on volatile markets
  Private equity scouts for China take-private deals amid tension, volatile markets / Reuters
  “Private equity investors are seeking Chinese companies to take private in the hope they can snap up bargains amid the coronavirus-related sell-off, but the banks that help find such deals are proving less keen to finance them.”
• Chinese telecom firms in hot water
  China Telecom, Unicom urge FCC not to halt U.S. service / TechNode
  “The U.S. arm of China Telecom urged the FCC on Monday not to revoke its right to operate in the U.S. ‘based solely on foreign policy concerns in the absence of any evidence whatsoever of specific misconduct…’”
  Rating cut raises fresh alarm over Chinese telecom firm’s debt / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “China’s largest private telecommunications services provider [Dr. Peng Telecom and Media Group Co.] is under deeper stress, after a global credit risk assessor cut its rating and labeled a delayed bond repayment by the firm a de facto default.”
• Tough times for unemployed migrant workers
  With China’s economy battered by pandemic, millions return to the land for work / NPR
  “…many of the newly unemployed have instead returned to their rural villages. China’s vast countryside now serves as an unemployment sponge, soaking up floating migrant workers in temporary agricultural work on small family plots.”
  Migrant worker thrown off public bus by the digital divide / China Digital Times
  “In an essay shared on Chinese social media site Douban, user @JiangBiliBili recalls an example of how economically disadvantaged Chinese face severe limitations to the conveniences and essentials now mediated by digital technology.”
• Continuing struggles in economic reopening
  UK businesses in China say opening measures have little impact / FT (paywall)
  “British businesses in China said on Tuesday that Beijing’s recent market opening measures have had little benefit for them, while cybersecurity regulations threaten to ‘isolate’ their local operations from their global networks.”
  China’s employment outlook expected to weaken in third quarter / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “The employment outlook in China will deteriorate in the third quarter because of the disruption to global business caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, a private survey showed.”
  Revenues fall by half for 37 listed Chinese brokerages / Caixin
• China favors agriculture over energy in trade deal purchasing
  China falling further behind US trade deal energy targets, even as crude oil imports soar to record volumes / SCMP
  “Almost halfway through 2020, China is falling further behind the deal’s ‘overly ambitious’ purchasing targets for American energy products, including natural gas and oil, even as it continues to buy record volumes of pork and ratchets up shipments of politically expedient soybeans…”
• Low investment rates amid China-Australia row
  Chinese investment in Australia plunges almost 60% to lowest level since 2007 / Guardian
  “Despite record trade between the two nations, Chinese investment in Australia fell from $8.2bn in 2018 to $3.4bn in 2019, with 43% fewer deals struck.”
• Hong Kong businesses scramble
  Hong Kong’s leader wants more financial integration with China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Hong Kong’s leader [Carrie Lam 林鄭月娥 Línzhèng Yuèé] said she told Chinese officials the city should be transformed into a global hub for private wealth and a more prominent offshore Renminbi center, even amid concerns about the former British colony’s future as a financial center.”
  Hong Kong hedge funds eye exit as national security law looms / FT (paywall)
• Cathay Pacific bailout
  Cathay Pacific unveils U.S. $5-billion bailout plan / AFP via Rappler
• China-India dispute hits cashmere production
  Global cashmere production hit as India-China border dispute deepens / SCMP
  “As tensions between India and China deepen amid an increasing fractious border dispute, the world is heading for a shortage of cashmere wool, a highly prized and super soft material that comes from pashmina goats living on the ‘roof of the world.’”
• Huawei’s IP in 5G
  Huawei’s 5G patents means U.S. will pay despite Trump ban / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Huawei Technologies Co. owns the most patents on next-generation 5G technology, ensuring the Chinese company will get paid despite Trump administration efforts to erase it from the supply chain, according to a new study” by technology research firm GreyB Services Pte. and software firm Amplified AI Inc.
• Are gaming platforms profiting off free education?
  Gaming platforms under fire for profiting from free online classes during pandemic / Caixin
  “Before users could click through to an online lecture they had to navigate through a maze of video game ads and other commercial content. Attracted by the ads, many spent money on games without their parents’ knowing.”
• Kuaishou’s massive new data center
  TikTok rival Kuaishou builds $1.4bn data center in China / Caixin
  “Chinese video sharing app Kuaishou will spend about 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) to build its largest data center, as the company looks to support a user base poised for continued growth in a post-coronavirus market.”
• Another Hong Kong IPO
  Tencent-backed WeDoctor readies Hong Kong IPO / Caixin

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Chinese COVID-19 antibody treatment begins trials
  China begins first virus antibody trials on healthy people / Caixin (paywall)
  “China has begun the world’s first trials of coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies on healthy people, marking a new step in the development of a treatment for Covid-19.”
• How climate-friendly are government policies?
  Shanghai renewable subsidies to support solar and offshore wind / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China tries to have it both ways with virus recovery / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “The country announced a slate of climate-friendly stimulus priorities, but has also loosened coal regulations.”
• Confusion about asymptomatic COVID-19 cases
  The Health 202: WHO says asymptomatic people usually don’t spread coronavirus. Experts doubt that. / Washington Post (paywall)
  WHO clarifies comments on asymptomatic spread of Covid-19 / StatNews
• Pangolin protections
  China raises protection for pangolins by removing scales from medicine list / Guardian
  “Pangolin scales have been removed from an official 2020 listing of ingredients approved for use in traditional Chinese medicine in a move lauded by animal protection groups as a key step in stamping out trade in the scaly anteater, the world’s most trafficked mammal.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Hong Kong updates
  Hong Kong protesters charged by riot police as they mark anniversary / Guardian
  “Thousands of protesters who took to the streets of Hong Kong in defiance of a police order to mark the first anniversary of the anti-government movement have been charged at by riot units who arrested several of them.”
  Behind HSBC’s rare foray into politics over Hong Kong / WSJ (paywall)
  “HSBC Holdings PLC steered a neutral course through the messy geopolitics of east versus west. Now a public signal of the bank’s support for China over the future of Hong Kong has set off a storm of criticism.”
  China says main challenge in Hong Kong is opposition to Communist Party / WSJ (paywall)
  “China’s leadership believes its main challenge in Hong Kong is a political struggle against forces trying to subvert Communist Party rule, a senior Chinese official said Monday, marking a shift in Beijing’s official diagnosis of unrest in the city.”
  China Xinhua News on Twitter: “A ‘zero tolerance’ approach must be taken against ‘Hong Kong independence’ movement, says a Chinese official”
  EU vows to work ‘constructively’ with China, calls on Beijing to ‘de-escalate’ Hong Kong situation / SCMP
  China’s foreign minister urges Britain ‘to tread carefully’ over HK law instead of interfering / SCMP
  Hong Kong needs to prove residents are ‘responsible and sensible citizens’ of China, says Chief Exec. Carrie Lam / HKFP

“The immediate issue is to prove that One Country, Two Systems works well in Hong Kong. And to prove that Hong Kong people are reasonable and sensible citizens of the People’s Republic of China, that we could be trusted to continue to have our own way of life, and our own way of system within the whole country,” [Chief Executive Carrie Lam 林郑月娥 Línzhèng Yuèé] said ahead of her weekly Executive Council meeting.

• Updates on the Chinese-Indian border dispute
  The border spat between India and China is turning into an all-out media war / CNN
  “Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have built public support in large part on nationalism and a promise of future greatness. This often translates into jingoism and aggressive rhetoric, particularly when playing to a domestic audience… Such an approach was evidenced in Chinese coverage of the PLA maneuvers in the Himalayas.”
  China puts rising star in command of forces in border face-off against India / SCMP
  “As tensions with India are escalating over border disputes, the Western Theatre Command needs a younger commander [徐起零 Xú Qǐlíng] to lead frontier soldiers and officers in this current sensitive period,” an anonymous military insider told the South China Morning Post.
  China mobilises thousands of troops, armoured vehicles near border with India / SCMP
  Indian, Chinese troops mutually pull back from most Ladakh areas: sources / NDTV (India)
  China-India border conflicts are pushing New Delhi toward the United States / Foreign Policy (porous paywall)
• Commentary on U.S.-China relations
  ‘Cold war’ isn’t helpful term in China relations / WSJ (paywall)
  Former deputy secretary of state Robert B. Zoellick briefly responds to Representative Mike Gallagher’s June 7 op-ed. Zoellick’s first point is that “the U.S. built and relied on alliances in the Cold War; today, America is undermining its alliances, and we will push partners further away with cold-war rhetoric.”
• NATO chief urges allies to hold the line
  Nato chief urges nations to stand up to ‘bullying’ as China power rises / FT (paywall)
  Nato’s chief [Jens Stoltenberg] has warned that China is “multiplying the threats to open societies and individual freedoms,” as he urged like-minded countries to join the military alliance to stand up against “bullying and coercion.”
• Beijing aims to influence diaspora communities
  China steps up moves to influence diaspora communities / WSJ (paywall)
  “China is making fresh efforts to influence Chinese communities around the world to advance Beijing’s interests, requiring heightened vigilance from democratic countries…”
• The U.S. releases a jailed ex-Hong Kong official
  Jailed ex-Hong Kong official Patrick Ho released after finishing US sentence for bribery and money laundering / SCMP
  “The former secretary for home affairs [Patrick Ho Chi-ping 何志平 Hé Zhìpíng] — who claimed he was ‘the first of the sacrificial lambs’ caught up in the US-China trade war — was given credit for the 16 months he had spent behind bars before his conviction.”
• The Philippines plans construction in the SCS
  Philippines plans to build more on South China Sea island / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “The Philippines plans to spend 1.3 billion pesos ($26 million) to build more structures on a disputed island in the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday.”
• A Senate report highlights U.S. cybersecurity failures
  The cybersecurity 202: Senate panel says U.S. telecoms failed for decades to prevent Chinese spying / Washington Post

“The federal government failed for nearly two decades to properly guard against the cybersecurity risks posed by Chinese government-owned telecoms operating in the United States, a Senate report released this morning finds.

That resulted in four of China’s largest such telecom companies being able to operate subsidiaries here with almost no oversight,

It might also have allowed them to help the Chinese government spy on reams of data from U.S. companies by routing their phone and Internet traffic through China…”

• U.S. and Iran clash on Chinese social media
  US, Iran are again trading barbs on Chinese social media – this time over protests, economic crisis / SCMP
• Flood in Hunan Province
  Flooding kills at least seven in central China / AP via Times of India
  “Authorities say at least seven people have died in flooding in central China with more heavy rain forecast for the region in coming days.”
• China steps up the pressure on Australia
  China tries to step up pressure on Australia with warning to students / SCMP
  “The Ministry of Education reminds overseas students to conduct proper risk assessments, and at this time take caution in choosing to go to Australia or return to Australia for their studies…”
  China warns students to reconsider travel to Australia for study / Guardian
• Chinese warplanes enter Taiwan Strait
  Chinese warplanes enter Taiwan Strait after US flyover / SCMP
  “A group of Chinese warplanes flew into the Taiwan Strait and briefly approached Taiwan, just hours after a US transport plane passed over the island on Tuesday.”
  Military planes from China and the U.S. enter Taiwan’s airspace / Focus Taiwan
  “In a short statement issued at 12:30 p.m., the MND said several Chinese Su-30s briefly entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone southwest of Taiwan, and Taiwan’s Air Force responded with radio warnings and monitored their movements until they flew off.”
• Twitter bots
  Behind China’s Twitter campaign, a murky supporting chorus / NYT (paywall)
  “Behind China’s combative new messengers, a murky hallelujah chorus of sympathetic accounts has emerged to repost them and cheer them on. Many are new to the platform. Some do little else but amplify the Beijing line.”
  See also, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute: The Party speaks for you.
• Denmark wants its 5G from close allies
  Denmark wants 5G suppliers from closely allied countries, says defense minister / NYT (paywall)
  “Denmark wants to be able to exclude 5G technology suppliers from providing critical infrastructure in Denmark if they are not from countries considered security allies, online technology news outlet ITWatch reported on Monday.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Televised proposal from a celebrity’s stalker
  Celeb’s fans irate over stalker’s slap-on-the-wrist punishment / Sixth Tone
  “A Chinese man has been given administrative detention after interrupting a live television broadcast to ‘propose’ to a celebrity he’d allegedly been stalking and harassing for half a year, The Beijing News reported Tuesday.”
• Status-conscious parenting in Shanghai
  The ups and downs of ‘intensive motherhood’ in Shanghai / Sixth Tone
  “We are not sure if our baby — or we, for that matter — would be comfortable socializing with Shanghai’s haut monde.”