Links for Thursday, July 23, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Amid pushback, ByteDance strengthens its grasp on foreign markets
  ByteDance seeks new investment opportunities amid global TikTok pushbacks / Caixin (paywall)
  “Fast-rising Chinese tech company ByteDance is seeking more investment opportunities as some foreign governments make life for its primary money-making app TikTok increasingly difficult due to data security concerns.”
  Netflix names TikTok as a major competitor for first time / Caixin
• STAR market is shining bright
  China’s STAR market becomes an IPO bonanza / Caixin (paywall)
  “The STAR Market, which was launched in June last year and started trading the next month, cut red tape and eased restrictions for tech-savvy IPO candidates eyeing fundraising for further expansion. In recent years, China has ramped up efforts to shore up its position in the technology sector across the globe.”
• China and E.U. attempt to salvage failing investment treaty
  China-E.U. investment treaty talks hit crunch time, as Europeans bemoan seven years of ‘promise fatigue’ from Beijing / SCMP

After seven years and more than 30 rounds of talks, China’s Vice-Premier Liú Hè 刘鹤 and the European Commission’s executive vice-president in charge of economic policy Valdis Dombrovskis are expected to speak on the phone next week in a last-ditch effort to salvage an investment treaty, [of] which they cannot even agree [on] the name.

• Fintech firm chooses U.S. over Hong Kong listing
  Fintech firm Lufax targets $3 billion in U.S. IPO / Caixin
  “The company is weighing a U.S. share sale as soon as this year after previously exploring an offering in Hong Kong.”
• ChemChina struggles to dig itself out of debt
  Three years after record-breaking Syngenta acquisition, ChemChina struggling under debt mountain / Caixin (paywall)

When China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina) acquired Switzerland’s Syngenta AG in 2017 for a blockbuster $43 billion, it paid only $5 billion of its own capital, cobbling together loans from banks and other institutions to make up the rest.

Syngenta AG, as the world’s third-largest seed supplier and top pesticides-maker, brought its rich store of seed and agrochemical patents to state-owned ChemChina. Now, with both companies deep in debt, there are concerns the lion’s share of the debt accrued in the acquisition could wind up back on Syngenta’s shoulders.

• U.S.’s ineffective reshoring efforts
  The pandemic isn’t bringing back factory jobs, at least not yet / NYT (porous paywall)
  “President Trump and his advisers have seized on the disruptions to make a familiar case to manufacturers: Come back home.”
• New data security regulations
  China to crack down on handling of data under new law / Nikkei Asian Review
  “Businesses, including foreign ones, that collect and use data in ways that ‘harm national security or the public interest’ would face hefty fines under new legislation drafted by Beijing amid its escalating tech clash with Washington.”
• China’s economy still growing
  China’s economy will now grow 2.5% this year, UBS says / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Financial industry — almost all foreign ownership limits removed
  China scraps almost all foreign ownership limits for financial sector / Nikkei Asian Review
  “China has scrapped foreign ownership limits in almost all areas of its $45 trillion financial sector, taking the country a step closer to its long-promised ‘big bang’ reforms, but experts warn that steep obstacles still remain for foreign players hoping to crack the world’s No. 2 economy.”
• Grocery delivery boom
  Missfresh racks up $495 million in funding as China’s e-grocery booms / TechCrunch
  Despite older Chinese worrying about “buying perishable food items without scrutinizing them in person…venture investors are bullish on the future of online grocery.”
• Chinese drone maker could be a national security threat
  Popular Chinese-made drone is found to have security weakness / NYT (porous paywall)
  “Cybersecurity researchers revealed on Thursday a newfound vulnerability in an app that controls the world’s most popular consumer drones [made by DJI], threatening to intensify the growing tensions between China and the United States.”
• Kuaishou and Douyin: More than short video
  Kuaishou livestream DAUs reach 170 million, 70% growth within half year / Pandaily
  Michael Norris on Twitter: “Kuaishou H1 2020 report is fascinating. If there’s anything you should take away from it, it’s this: simply labelling Kuaishou (and Douyin, for that matter) “short video” platforms sells them short (pun intended).”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• China fuels the dirty side of Vietnam’s energy industry
  Will Vietnam’s new energy policy mark a turning point for coal? / China Dialogue
  “However, electricity from fossil fuels still accounts for 62% of Vietnam’s total installed power capacity… Under the government’s current power development plan, released in 2016, this is expected to drop to 53% by 2030. But the finance and construction of new power plants is nevertheless ongoing, much of it with the support of major Chinese banks and companies.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Beijing is angry with the U.K. again
  Beijing vows retaliation after U.K. announces ‘bespoke’ immigration route for Hongkongers / HKFP
  “The UK home secretary Priti Patel announced on Wednesday that British National (Overseas) (BNO) citizens would be able to apply for five years’ leave or two consecutive 30-month periods. The new visa, valid for up to five years, grants passport holders the right of abode, work or study and provides a pathway to obtaining full British citizenship.”
  Dominic Raab slashes aid payments to China / Telegraph
  “Dominic Raab has ordered aid payments to China to be slashed after it emerged Britain gave £71 million ($90 million) of taxpayers’ money to the Far East superpower in a single year.”
  China appears to demote Premier League football broadcasts / Guardian
  China mulls not recognizing British National Overseas passports as travel documents / Xinhua
• Xinjiang internment camps
  Chinese ambassador to Ireland: Videos of Uyghur Muslims in camps are ‘fabricated’ / Irish Times
  This contradicts the Global Times, which says the video is real but shows an ordinary prisoner transfer.
  ‘Virtually entire’ fashion industry complicit in Uyghur forced labor, say rights groups / Guardian
  “Human rights coalition says cotton produced in camps in Xinjiang region finds its way into one in five cotton products worldwide.”
  NBA cuts ties with China’s Xinjiang region over its treatment of minorities / CBS
• Xi tours the PLA aviation university
  Xi inspects PLA aviation university ahead of Army Day / Xinhua
  The Chinese version is a top story on central state media today. Photos of Xi sitting (rather awkwardly) in a helicopter are circulating on social media.
• Wolf warrior diplomacy
  Chinese netizens rebrand Xi Jinping’s international relations strategy as ‘wolf warrior’ style diplomacy / Global Voices
  Xi’s own campaign to stay in power pits China against the world / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 is similarly preparing for China’s own leadership contest in 2022, when a once-in-five-year gathering is expected to take place to pick the Communist Party’s top leaders and set policy priorities. While the country’s 1.4 billion citizens don’t get a vote, public sentiment still matters when it comes to how much support Xi can muster from senior party leaders for his indefinite rule.”
• Taiwan faces increased Chinese aggression
  Chinese military threat on the rise: foreign minister / Taipei Times
  “China is stepping up its military preparedness to overtake Taiwan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (Wú Zhāoxiè 吴钊燮) said yesterday, following a spike of Chinese drills near the nation.”
  Taiwan cites rising military threat from China / Washington Post (paywall)
• Africa’s looming debt crisis
  Africa will be the next debt explosion after coronavirus / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “The IMF says more than a third of African countries are approaching or already experiencing ‘debt distress’ after a slowdown in commodity prices in 2014. Today, fallout from the pandemic makes the easy money of a few years ago an unbearable burden as the outbreak threatens to overwhelm hospitals already stretched thin by illnesses such as malaria and tuberculosis.”
  Chinese credit fuels debt crisis in Africa / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• China’s floods will rage on
  China set to face more heavy rain, floods, meteorological office says / SCMP

• Torrential downpours and hurricane-force winds forecast across large parts of the country.
• Water levels of 93 rivers still above warning levels, government says.

• Plane catches fire at Pudong airport
  Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane catches fire at Shanghai airport, no casualties / Reuters
  “An Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 777 cargo plane caught fire while loading cargo at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Wednesday, the airline said, adding that fire has been contained and none of the crew or ground staff were harmed.”
• Fear in Hong Kong
  A Cultural Revolution 2.0 is sweeping through Hong Kong’s offices and schools / Quartz
  “Less than a month after Beijing enacted a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, an intense fear is reverberating across the city’s workplaces over worries that every word and act may be scrutinized for being anti-government and anti-China.”
• Is China manipulating the WHO inquiry?
  China uses WHO inquiry to tout coronavirus response / NYT (porous paywall)
  “The global health agency sent two experts to China, but it is unclear how much access they are getting. They must first complete a two-week quarantine.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• BBC blows it on a fried rice recipe
  BBC Food’s fried rice recipe horrifies Asian netizens when cook washes undercooked rice under tap / YouTube
  Uncle Roger DISGUSTED by this egg fried rice video / YouTube
• From ancient mass grave to tourist trap
  Mass grave from ancient battle earmarked for Shanxi cultural park / Sixth Tone
  “Remnants of a mass grave from some 2,200 years ago discovered in the northern Shanxi province will become part of a local government’s plan to develop the area into a cultural tourist site.”