Links for Thursday, July 9, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Google’s international cloud project gets nixed
  Google shuts down cloud project, says no plan to offer cloud services in China / Reuters
  “Google had shelved the project in China and other politically sensitive countries in May, partly due to rising geopolitical tensions and the pandemic.”
  Google reportedly cancelled a cloud project meant for countries including China / TechCrunch
  Context on The China Project: Google parent company Alphabet is back in China (because it never left)
• Stock surge brings a strengthened renminbi
  China’s currency hits highest level since March as stocks surge / FT (paywall)
  “The renminbi, which has strengthened steadily since late May, on Thursday broke through the seven to the dollar level for the first time in four months, when efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak squeezed economic activity.”
• China’s market hits a bull run…
  ‘There’s no way I can lose’: Inside China’s stock-market frenzy / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “There’s no way I can lose,” said the 36-year-old, who works at a technology startup and opened her first trading account in Beijing on Tuesday. “Right now, I’m feeling invincible.”
  Chinese IPO’s 876% first-day gain shows growing mania for stocks / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• …but will it lead to a crash?
  China state media urge investor caution amid torrid stock bull run / Reuters
  “Chinese official media on Thursday urged retail stock investors to be prudent, while regulators moved against illegal margin lending, betraying Beijing’s concern that a much-touted bull run could turn into a repeat of a spectacular boom and bust five years ago.”
• Chinese banks brace for potential tariffs
  Chinese banks prepare contingency plans over threat of U.S. sanctions, sources say / Reuters
  “Chinese state lenders are revamping contingency plans in anticipation of U.S. legislation that could penalize banks for serving officials who implement the new national security law for Hong Kong, sources at five state financial institutions said.”
• Bilibili considers a Hong Kong listing
  Chinese video site Bilibili considers secondary Hong Kong listing: sources / Reuters
  “Chinese video site Bilibili (BILI.O) is considering a secondary listing in Hong Kong, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter, joining other U.S.-listed Chinese companies eyeing a return to the exchange closer to home amid China-U.S. tensions.”
• Top EV battery manufacturer loses out to foreign firms
  CATL loses electric-car battery crown asf foreign firms muscle in / Caixin (paywall)
  “Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) has seen its spark fade this year, losing its position as the world’s No. 1 electric-car battery producer after foreign rivals started to take a share of the country’s massive market.”
• Huawei warns Italy against buying the U.S. line
  China’s Huawei says Italy should not act on ‘baseless allegations’ / Reuters
  “China’s Huawei Technologies defended its record as a private sector infrastructure group on Thursday following reports Italy was considering excluding it from building its planned 5G network over security concerns.”
• Opening the doors for foreign-invested telecom firms
  Some 266 foreign-invested firms approved to offer telecom services in China in first half of 2020 / Caixin (paywall)
  “In the first half of 2020, China approved 266 foreign-invested enterprises to run business in its telecom service market which was once off-limits to foreign investors, according to a think tank… The figure represents a big jump from two decades ago when the number was just single-digit.”
• Chinese airlines resort to discount incentives to draw cash
  Chinese airlines push presales to boost post-virus revenues / Caixin (paywall)
  “Chinese airlines are ramping up their offers of creative discount packages with unlimited flights and free upgrades to boost pre-sales and to ease cash crises as travel picks up from the coronavirus downturn.”
• New automotive health regulations
  China considers in-car air quality regulations – sources / Reuters
  “China is considering mandatory in-car air quality regulations to protect the health of drivers, in a move that could jack up costs for automakers importing vehicles from markets without such rules, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.”
• How TikTok’s Hong Kong pullout is unique
  TikTok’s Hong Kong exit differs from moves by Facebook, Twitter / Quartz
  “The steps being taken by Facebook, Google and Twitter affect law enforcement, while users continue to be able to use their services. TikTok’s move, instead, appears to be self-protective, to avoid being placed in the position of facing pressure to hand over user data outside mainland China.”
• A drought of high-end products
  The virus has trapped $111 billion of luxury spending in China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that’s halted travel and disrupted networks of parallel importers, Chinese high-end shoppers… who collectively spend $111 billion a year on luxury goods, powering over a third of the global industry — are finding it hard to spend their cash.”
• China’s LGBTQ dating app’s big U.S. debut
  Chinese LGBTQ dating app BlueCity shares jump in U.S. debut / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “BlueCity Holdings Ltd.’s shares, which rose as much as 124% earlier Wednesday, closed at $23.43 in New York trading. The Beijing-based company had sold 5.3 million shares at $16 each.”
• Weibo heavily restricts external links
  Social media site Weibo to heavily restrict external links / TechNode

Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging platform, on Wednesday announced (in Chinese) that its link-shortening service t.cn will block all web sites except those included on a new whitelist. The company said it made the decision because the free service is heavily abused by scammers, as well as pornography and gambling sites…

Domains on the whitelist will include those owned by government bodies, licensed media, major web portals, and verified companies, according to the statement.

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• A third day of zero new cases in Beijing
  Beijing reports zero new coronavirus cases for July 8 / Reuters
• Hong Kong grapples with increasing COVID-19 rates
  Restaurant seating cap set to 8 per table again as Hong Kong records 34 local infections / HKFP
• Water conservancy projects get further government backing
  China to boost investments, financing for water conservancy projects / Reuters
  “China will deepen investment and boost financing mechanisms to expedite construction of water conservancy projects and improve its ability to guard against floods, state television reported on Thursday citing a meeting of the country’s state council.”
• First-tier city air pollution problem
  An estimated 49,000 deaths in Beijing and Shanghai this year were caused by smog, say pollution trackers / SCMP
  “Air pollution has caused an estimated 49,000 deaths and US$23 billion in economic losses in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai alone since January 1, 2020, according to a ‘clean air counter’ launched by environmental groups on Thursday.”
• An unknown pneumonia in Kazakhstan
  China warns of ‘unknown pneumonia’ more deadly than coronavirus in Kazakhstan / SCMP
  “‘The death rate of this disease is much higher than the novel coronavirus. The country’s health departments are conducting comparative research into the pneumonia virus, but have yet to identify the virus,’ [China’s embassy in Kazakhstan] said in a warning to Chinese citizens in the country.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Exiled tweeting businessman Guō Wénguì 郭文贵 under investigation by FBI
  FBI probes Chinese exile, including work with former Trump Aide Steve Bannon / WSJ (paywall)

The FBI is examining exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui and the money used to fund his media efforts in the U.S., including his work with Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter…

The purpose of the FBI’s interests couldn’t be determined.

• Trump administration rejects VOA journalists’ visas
  U.S. broadcasting agency will not extend visas for its foreign VOA journalists / NPR

Dozens of foreign nationals working as journalists in the U.S. for Voice of America, the federal government’s international broadcaster, will not have their visas extended once they expire, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.

Those people — each with current or past ties to the agency — said the new CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Michael Pack, signaled he will not approve the visa extensions…

The foreign journalists affected by the visa decision are particularly valued for their language skills, which are crucial to VOA’s mission as an international broadcaster covering news in many countries that do not have a free or robust press. One VOA journalist, who asked not to be named because of a fear of retaliation, said it could lead to the departure of more than 100 staffers in the foreign language services.

• Russia is top defender of Beijing’s imposition on Hong Kong
  China’s silent axis on human rights / China Media Project

Some have referred to the countries supporting the pro-China statement at the Human Rights Council as an “Axis of Shame.” But outside the HRC statement, the countries comprising this “axis” seem to have said nothing themselves, and their media seem to have reported nothing, about Hong Kong and the national security law. The only country that seems to have actively spoken out on its own in support of Hong Kong’s national security law, and against tying it to the issue of human rights, is Russia, which did not sign the June 30 statement from Cuba. As Russia’s TASS news agency reported, Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, called the HRC discussion “biased and politicized.” But this statement was made through Gatilov’s Twitter account.

• Hong Kong security law updates
  Taiwan threatens countermeasures if Hong Kong law causes ‘damage’ / AFP via HKFP
  Hong Kong security law: New police powers to surveil lawyers a ‘major threat’, barrister and legal scholars say / HKFP
  Pope strays from script to avoid mention of Hong Kong in Sunday address / SCMP
  Hong Kongers lean toward Taiwan for emigration as Beijing chokes city / Foreign Policy
  One of the authors, Lev Nachman, summarized his article on Twitter, “We surveyed Hong Kongers asking if they have considered leaving Hong Kong and where they would want to go. We found 50% have considered leaving and the most popular destination is Taiwan.”
• PLA road construction along the Indian border
  China’s military is using spider excavators to build roads near Indian border / SCMP
  “Chinese troops are using all-terrain walking excavators to speed up road-building and other construction work in the rugged Himalayas near the country’s disputed border with India, where tensions have been rising.”
• Examining China’s longest-running public opinion survey
  Understanding CCP resilience: Surveying Chinese public opinion through time / Ash Center
  “Since the start of the survey in 2003, Chinese citizen satisfaction with [their] government has increased virtually across the board. From the impact of broad national policies to the conduct of local town officials, Chinese citizens rate the government as more capable and effective than ever before.”
• A new era of book burning in China’s schools…
  In echo of Mao era, China’s schools in book-cleansing drive / Reuters
  “As schools reopened in China after the COVID-19 outbreak, they have thrown themselves into a nationwide exercise to remove books deemed politically incorrect, deepening Chinese President [Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平] push to instil patriotism and ideological purity in the education system.”
• …and “low taste” censorship online
  China cracks down on poor taste in renewed bid to clean the internet / Reuters
  “China has punished video platforms including Alibaba-backed Youku and Baidu-backed iQiyi for carrying ‘low taste’ content in a renewed effort to clean up the internet, a pornography watchdog said.”
• International students can’t escape the firewall
  U.K. universities comply with China’s internet restrictions / BBC
  “[A new online teaching link] enables students in China to keep studying UK degrees online, despite China’s limits on internet access… But it means students can only reach material on an ‘allowed’ list.”
  U.K. universities comply with China internet limits / BBC
• Mosque destruction in Xinjiang
  Chinese authorities continue to destroy mosques in Xinjiang / Radio Free Asia
  “Uyghurs in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region say that authorities are continuing a campaign to destroy mosques as part of a wider crackdown on their religion, contradicting a recent comment by a Chinese diplomat that the region has more mosques per capita than other countries.”
• A rare sight: NGOs in China
  NGOs in China have helped the government provide COVID-related relief / Economist (porous paywall)
  “While endlessly extolling the party’s response to the pandemic, state media also give credit to groups that are not under the government’s direct control. This is not evidence of a softer approach towards ngos. It is a sign that the party believes it has succeeded in keeping them tame.”
• An Indonesian murdered at sea?
  Indonesian found in freezer on Chinese fishing vessel / AFP via StraitsTimes
  “The frozen body of an Indonesian man has been found aboard a detained Chinese fishing vessel, authorities said on Thursday (July 9), adding that they suspected foul play in the crew member’s death.”
• Remembering the July 9 crackdown
  Chinese lawyers mark 5th anniversary of July 9 crackdown / Radio Free Asia
  “China’s embattled legal profession on Thursday marked the fifth anniversary of a nationwide crackdown targeting more than 300 law firms, human rights attorneys and associated activists that began with the arrest of lawyers Wáng Yǔ 王宇 and Bāo Lóngjūn 包龙军 and colleagues at the now-shuttered Beijing Fengrui law firm on July 9, 2015.”
  Freed human rights lawyer tries to rebuild his life / DW
  “After spending five years in prison, human rights lawyer Wáng Quánzhāng 王全璋 is trying to get his life back together. Wang was among more than 200 Chinese lawyers and human rights activists detained in a wave of arrests that began on July 9, 2015, and later became known as the ‘709 Crackdown.’”
• Chongqing can’t take scrutiny of its birth data
  China’s Chongqing halts release of monthly birth data due to ‘unfair’ foreign media coverage / SCMP

Chongqing’s data had come under heavy criticism after a sudden spike in new births in June last year, when the municipality reported that 66,862 children had been born.

This figure was close to the total number of births from the previous five months combined, leading population experts to suspect that local officials were manipulating the data to satisfy an official target.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Outrage over dead panda cubs
  Death of giant panda cubs sparks concerns about treatment of ‘national treasure’ / Caixin (paywall)
  “According to a press release, the two cubs died of multiple organ failure on May 11 and May 20 respectively. Outraged panda lovers have accused keepers of withholding the news from the public and prioritizing commercial gain over proper care of the pandas.”
• China and the BLM movement
  Photo essay: Chinese for black lives / CDT
  “Chinese-Americans and Chinese nationals, the younger generation in particular, are showing solidarity with Black Lives Matter.”
• COVID-19 checkpoint stabber executed
  China executes man who killed two people in coronavirus-rage case / SCMP
  “A Chinese man who stabbed to death two people at a coronavirus travel checkpoint in the southwest of the country was executed on Thursday, the Supreme People’s Court said.”