Links for Wednesday, July 1, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Decoupling: easier said than done
  Companies prodded to rely less on China, but few respond / AP
  Damien Ma, founder of think tank MacroPolo, remarked on the world’s reliance on China via Twitter: “Notice how all these anecdotes rarely mention low cost as China advantage. It’s much more than that. Can you quit Amazon, the everything store? Then how do you quit China, the ‘make everything’ country?”
• A formal U.S. ban on Huawei and ZTE
  U.S. FCC issues final orders declaring Huawei, ZTE national security threats / Reuters
  “The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday formally designated Chinese’s Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) as posing threats to U.S. national security, a declaration that bars U.S. firms from tapping an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from the companies.”
• Fake online traffic
  Almost one third of online ad traffic in China is fake or invalid / WARC
  “Nearly a third of all online ad traffic in China last year was fake or invalid and cost the marketing industry an estimated 28 billion yuan, [$3.96 billion] a study by advertising technology company Miaozhen Systems has found.”
• Tearing down risk barriers in banking
  China prepares to tear down 25-year bank-brokerage divide / Caixin (paywall)
  “China’s regulators are planning a trial that could tear down the wall separating banks and securities companies, 25 years after the barrier was first put up to control the spread of risk between different parts of the financial system.”
• Beyond Meat hits China’s grocery markets
  Alibaba’s Freshippo grocery chain to sell Beyond Meat / TechNode
  “The U.S. alternative protein company is keen to tap into China’s market, but is facing competition from local players like Starfield and Z-Rou.”
• Arm China executive refuses to step down
  Inside the battle for Arm China / FT (paywall)
  “Invest in my personal fund and get a discount on Arm’s cutting edge chip technology: that was the offer allegedly made by China boss Allen Wu to some of his customers.”
• Shanghai trade shows reopen
  Shanghai gets back to business with resumption of major trade shows / Caixin (paywall)
  “Shanghai has resumed staging exhibitions, trade shows and other major events, as disease prevention takes a back seat to business with the prolonged easing of the country’s Covid-19 epidemic.”
• Ant group chief expands his reach
  Jack Ma chieftain Simon Hu lays out plan to fend off Tencent / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Ant Group Chief Executive Simon Hú Xiǎomíng 胡晓明 is aggressively pitching digital payment and cloud offerings to the local arms of KFC Holding Co. and Marriott International Inc., expanding the firm’s focus from banks and fund managers on its ubiquitous app.”
• Data leaks
  Unsecured Chinese companies leak users’ sensitive personal and business data / CyberNews
  “Our research uncovered two unsecured databases, with millions of records, belonging to companies that are based in China and provide different types of services. One database belongs to Xiaoxintong, which offers multiple apps and services aimed at elderly care. The other database we discovered seems to be connected to Shanghai Yanhua Smartech tools, which provides services related to intelligent buildings.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Sinopharm ramps up COVID-19 vaccine production capabilities
  China’s Sinopharm unit completes new COVID-19 vaccine plant, doubles capacity / Reuters
  “China National Biotec Group (CNBG) said on Wednesday it has completed construction of a new plant for coronavirus vaccines, doubling its capacity to more than 200 million doses a year, as it prepares late-stage trials of its potential COVID-19 shots.”
• Only three new COVID-19 cases in Beijing
  China reports three new coronavirus cases on June 30 vs 19 a day earlier / Reuters
  “All the new infections were in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The capital city reported seven new infections for June 29. There were no new deaths.”
• Red tape blocks infectious disease survey
  Chinese survey and database on important new viruses ‘delayed by red tape’ / SCMP
  “A Chinese survey and database of pathogenic viruses that infect animals and sometimes jump to humans was authorised last year, but a researcher says it has been delayed by red tape.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• China and India drift further apart
  India’s app ban threatens China’s rise as a global tech power / BNN Bloomberg
  “With China’s tech companies poised to become some of the most dominant in emerging industries like artificial intelligence, India’s actions may spur countries around the world to weigh the extent to which they let China gain user data — and potentially economic leverage in future disputes.”
  China-India Kinetic / China India Networked
  “Two views on the border clash from a well-known academic and a former vice-commander.”
  Beijing troops write ‘China’ in giant letters on disputed border with India / Daily Mail
  “Beijing has staked its claim on a piece of disputed land near the border with India, by writing the word ‘China’ on it in huge letters.”
  Bill Bishop on Twitter: “Satellite images show what appears to be Mandarin letters spelling ‘China’ (left) and a map of China on Pangong Lake shore”
• Australia bolsters cyber and physical defense spending
  Australia spending nearly $1 billion on cyberdefense as China tensions rise / NYT (porous paywall)
  “Confronting a surge of cyberattacks attributed to the Chinese government, Australia moved to bolster its defenses on Tuesday, promising to recruit at least 500 cyberspies and build on its ability to take the battle overseas.”
  Australia lays out China-focused defense overhaul / WSJ (paywall)
  Australia boosts defence spending by 40% as China tensions rise / SCMP
  Scott Morrison evokes World War II as Australia unveils larger, more lethal defence strategy / ABC
• Taiwan and Somaliland exchange recognition
  Outflanked by China in Africa, Taiwan eyes unrecognised Somaliland / Reuters
  “Taiwan and Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland will establish representative offices in each other’s capitals, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Wednesday, a step guaranteed to anger Beijing.”
  Taiwan and Somaliland to set up representative offices: MOFA / CNA via Focus Taiwan
  “Taiwan and Somaliland, a self-declared state in East Africa, have signed an agreement to set up representative offices in each other’s territory, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced Wednesday.”
• Allegations of scientist-spies in U.S.
  FBI: China’s top diplomat in America covertly recruits scientists / The Daily Beast (paywall)
  “China’s ambassador to the United States and a top Chinese diplomat in New York City have been facilitating their nation’s covert recruitment of scientists working in the United States, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court last year.”
• Retaliation for the latest U.S. media restrictions
  Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhào Lìjiān’s 赵立坚 regular press conference on July 1, 2020 / Chinese Foreign Ministry

On June 22, the U.S. issued a new determination to designate four additional Chinese media agencies, namely, China Central Television, the People’s Daily, the Global Times and China News Service, as foreign missions. China demands in retaliation that the Associated Press, United Press International, Columbia Broadcasting System, and National Public Radio declare in written form information about their staff, finance, operation and real estate in China within seven days starting from today.

• Critiquing Trump’s China strategy
  Five critiques of the Trump administration’s China strategy / War on the Rocks
  Zack Cooper summarized his piece in a tweet: “My new piece @WarOnTheRocks analyzes the White House’s China strategy. I’ve heard five critiques:1) Too confrontation for admin critics 2) Too restrained for CCP critics 3) Too transactional for allies 4) Too values-based for Trump 5) Too late to matter”
• Ponzi scheme fugitive extradited to China
  Fugitive accused of helping raise billions illegally extradited from Greece to China / Caixin (paywall)
  “The case is just the latest development in one of the largest illegal fundraising cases in China’s fast-growing internet finance industry. Qbao.com’s website has been shut down, and police believe millions of investors across China may have fallen prey to its Ponzi-style scam.”
• China grooming accusations anger U.K. elites
  48 Group Club sues over claims U.K. elite ‘groomed by China’ / Daily Mail
  “An influential London club packed with business and political heavyweights is taking legal action against a book which claims Beijing is grooming the British establishment.”
  The 48 Group Club also released a Statement:

It became clear that the book contained a number of inaccurate and potentially libellous statements relating to the role and function of the 48 Group Club and some of its members. On taking legal advice the Club wrote to the publishers of the book to request sight of the text and opportunity to correct and respond to the errors in the book. Errors have been acknowledged by the publishers and we are working to correct the others.

• Forced relocations
  China’s urbanisation drive leaves some rural residents ‘heartbroken’ as local governments accused of unfair evictions / SCMP
  “The province of Shandong began ‘consolidating’ villages a decade ago by removing peasants from traditional rural houses and shifting them into matchbox residential buildings, a process known as ‘forcing farmers to live upstairs.’”
• The CCP touts its COVID-busting on 99th birthday
  Chinese Communist Party celebrates 99th anniversary by praising coronavirus success / SCMP
  “People’s Daily, the party’s official mouthpiece, said in an editorial: ‘This great struggle has fully demonstrated the clear political excellence of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and our socialist system.’”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Restoring China’s urban energy through prints
  Culture & Creativity in Asia / Neocha
  “For [Artist Nini Sum], a Nanjing native who’s lived in Shanghai since 2008, seeing the streets deserted during the city’s lockdown was deeply unsettling. ‘It was as if everything had evaporated,’ she recalls. ‘The city’s vibrant personality was suddenly gone, and it occurred to me. This personality was exactly what I sought to capture in Snapshot.’”
• Cambodian culture survives through spirits
  Spirits of a Kindred / World of Chinese
  In Southern China, long-persecuted Cambodians preserve their heritage through a “parade of spirits” festival.