Links for Monday, July 27, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING:

More important China news and analysis from around the web:

Japan is becoming increasingly alarmed by China’s “more belligerent policy” towards its neighbors, the New York Times reports. One academic did not mince words:

China’s efforts to dominate the South China Sea, for example, are “one step toward kicking out the Western elements from their sphere of influence, which they have been dreaming of for the past century and a half,” said Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat who is now teaching at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.

“Their nationalistic ambition will not end,” he said. “I am very concerned, and nobody can stop it, as they couldn’t stop us in Manchuria in the 1930s,” Mr. Miyake said, referring to Japan’s invasion of that region of eastern China.

“At that time, the more pressure we had, the more adamant and arrogant and self-assertive we became, because we were too nationalistic and too undemocratic, and that was our destiny,” Mr. Miyake said. “China is following the same path.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to cynically invoke China to argue against antitrust legislation that the U.S. Congress may be considering, Bloomberg reports. “Zuckerberg plans to portray his company as an American success story in a competitive and unpredictable market, now threatened by the rise of Chinese social media apps around the world — and increasingly, at home, with the popularity of TikTok.”

• This isn’t new or unexpected: We wrote in the 2020 Red Paper (available for Access members here):

Mark Zuckerberg has given up on trying to get Facebook into China, according to a speech the CEO gave at Georgetown University in October that spun his platform as a values-driven free speech defender. The next logical step is a (perhaps justified) lobbying campaign against TikTok, the only Chinese-made app that has won a significant following among young Americans.  

“An ideological struggle is under way between Beijing and free societies, and the Trump administration is on the wrong side,” writes Thomas Wright, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, in the Atlantic. Wright explains:

[Secretary of State Mike Pompeo] says the U.S. will organize the free world, while alienating and undermining the free world; he extols democracy, while aiding and abetting its destruction at home; and he praises the Chinese people, while generalizing about the ill intent of Chinese students who want to come to America.

Pompeo is also ultra-loyal to a president who cares not one whit for democracy, dissidents, freedom, or transparency overseas.

Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, also has a response to the recent anti-China polemic of Mike Pompeo: What Mike Pompeo doesn’t understand about China, Richard Nixon and U.S. foreign policy / Washington Post (porous paywall)

Other recently published, worthwhile reads on the state of U.S.-China relations:

• Officials push U.S.-China relations toward point of no return / NYT (porous paywall)
• Democrats are allowing Trump to frame the debate on China / Atlantic
• Once a source of U.S.-China tension, trade emerges as an area of calm / NYT (porous paywall)

IN OTHER NEWS:

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Funding spree
  China’s group buying platform Xingsheng selected nears $800m deal / Deal Street Asia via Caixin
  Tencent-backed Beike files U.S. IPO, aaid to aim for $2 Billion / Bloomberg via Caixin
  China’s Tigermed to raise up to $1.38 billion in Hong Kong listing / Reuters
  Emerging Markets: China draws ETF investors in third week inflows / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Guzzling oil and grinding soybeans
  China imports more oil from Saudi than any other country in June / Reuters
  China’s soybean imports from Brazil rise to record in June / Reuters
• Huawei loses France, opens a lab in Brazil
  France to phase out Huawei gear from its 5G networks: report / TechNode
  Huawei opens 5G lab in Brasília / BNAmericas
• Signals of economic recovery in luxury vehicles, industry profits
  China’s industrial profit growth quickens, signals firming economic recovery / Reuters
  Luxury brands drive China’s car market recovery / Caixin (paywall)
• Chinese apps, and their clones, under scrutiny in India…
  Indian court subpoenas Jack Ma in unfair dismissal case / Caixin (paywall)
  India bans 47 apps cloning restricted Chinese services / TechCrunch
• …as ByteDance considers investing in Indian EdTech
  ByteDance pushes into education sector with talks on investing in Indian Edtech startup / Caixin (paywall)
• The state is hiring
  China expands state jobs for graduates as coronavirus hits private sector / Reuters
• Security scrutiny for DJI
  Popular Chinese-made drone is found to have security weakness / NYT (porous paywall)
• Cinemas running low on films
  Cinemas will run out of films in coming months, industry leader says / Caixin (paywall)
• Cement company’s conglomeration
  New Chinese cement conglomerate solidifies amid acquisition talks / Caixin (paywall)
• China’s music royalty accounting issues
  Music royalties in China: Let those without sin cast the first stone / China Law Blog
• Canadian Solar to list in China
  Canadian Solar plans to list modules business in China / Reuters
• China should slow its stimulus, Beijing researcher says
  China needs to weigh economic ‘consequences’ of coronavirus stimulus, top Beijing researcher says / SCMP

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Wuhan’s “bat woman” demands an apology from Trump
  Trump ‘owes us an apology.’ Chinese scientist at the center of COVID-19 origin theories speaks out / Science
  Donald Trump’s ‘Chinese lab’ theory may be weakened by FDA’s bat coronavirus discovery / SCMP
• Gene editing to cure a blood disorder
  Gene editing used to successfully treat Thalassemia in China / Caixin (paywall)
• Vaccine updates
  Biocad discussing potential COVID-19 vaccine production in China / Reuters
• Plastic straws
  Chinese provinces move to ban plastic straws by year’s end / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Australia condemns Beijing’s SCS claims, as Philippines shies away
  Australia says China’s South China Sea claims are unlawful / Reuters
  Pressure mounts on Australia to participate in US South China Sea navigation operations / Australian ABC
  Philippines’ Duterte says cannot confront China over maritime claims / Reuters
  Duterte seeks Chinese coronavirus vaccine, rules out U.S. bases in Philippines / SCMP
• U.S. navy airplane comes within 100km of Shanghai
  US warplane approaches Shanghai as tensions remain high amid consulate closures / SCMP
• Mysterious seed packets sent to U.S.
  States issue warnings about seed packets from China / NYT (porous paywall)
• The world’s eyes turn to Xinjiang
  John Oliver explains China’s ‘appalling’ treatment of Uyghurs / Guardian
  China & Uyghurs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) / Last Week Tonight on Youtube
  NBA cuts ties with China’s Xinjiang region / AFP via CBS
  The Uyghurs’ suffering deserves targeted solutions, not anti-Chinese posturing / Guardian
  Last week on The China Project: Xinjiang cotton and selfie cameras: U.S. blacklists Chinese companies that use forced Uyghur labor, and Hosting the hostage: Looking beneath China’s policy to infiltrate Uyghur homes.
• DNA harvesting
  China is harvesting the DNA of its people. Is this the future of policing? / NYT (porous paywall)
• Property tycoon Rén Zhìqiáng 任志强 pays the price for his dissent
  Ren Zhiqiang, a Chinese tycoon, denounced Xi Jinping. Now he faces prosecution / NYT (porous paywall)
• A Singaporean political consultant admits to spying on the U.S.
  Singapore man admits being Chinese spy in U.S. / BBC
  Singaporean’s Ph.D adviser says he’s glad ex-student caught for spying / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• China and India’s proxy feud in Bhutan
  China tried to jab India with a new claim on Bhutan. Why it has boomeranged / Hindustan Times
  China’s Bhutan gambit / Diplomat
• Surveillance cameras everywhere
  Surveillance state: 18 of the world’s 20 most monitored cities are in China / SCMP
• Xi addresses businesses
  第一报道 | 从习近平的这些论述中，世界读懂中国经济的韧性与活力 / Xinhua
  Xi to address AIIB annual meeting of board of governors: spokesperson / Xinhua
• Tibet isn’t for Tibetans
  Chinese tourists crowd Lhasa holy sites, Tibetans barred from entry / RFA
• Xi’s rhetorical politics
  Diplomatic moves toward “Xi thought” / China Media Project
• Mass “kidnapping” scam ropes in a few Chinese international students
  Overseas Chinese students targeted in kidnap scam / BBC
• China in the Galapagos
  Ecuador’s authorities spot 260 mainly Chinese vessels near Galapagos / Undercurrent News
• Chinese construction workers abducted in Nigeria
  Gunmen in Nigeria seize 4 Chinese nationals, kill police guard / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Blaming the victims of voyeurs
  Viral video starts discussion on upskirting and ‘safety pants’ / Sixth Tone
• Rap star’s workplace abuse goes viral
  Chinese rapper’s viral post sparks discussion about workplace abuse / Caixin (paywall)
• Mandatory microchipping
  Shenzhen mandates mandatory microchipping for pet dogs / Sixth Tone
• China’s own “NoFap” anti-masturbation movement
  Wiped Out: The young Chinese men trying to quit masturbation / Sixth Tone
• Great Power Politics with Chen Guangzhong
  大国攻略：陈冠中看中国大戏 美中巨变目瞪口呆 / Radio Free Asia
• The milk debate
  Traditional Chinese rice porridge Vs. Western milk diet—What’s better to fight COVID-19? / Caixin