Links for Wednesday, August 5, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING:

More important China news and analysis from around the web:

An exhaustive report on Hollywood self-censorship, published by PEN America, will probably become the go-to reference on the subject going forward. Made in Hollywood, Censored by Beijing also contains an interesting section called “The significance of the issue”:

Amongst the Hollywood professionals PEN America spoke with, there were varying opinions on how seriously to take the issue of Chinese censorship as it affects Hollywood. For some professionals, CCP censorship felt like merely one of the many commercial considerations that studios must take into account when developing films. Some suggest that a focus on Chinese censorship is misplaced, influenced by political narratives, anti-Chinese attitudes, and even by moralistic grandstanding…

But others felt very differently. “I don’t think the issue is overhyped at all,” one producer described to PEN America. “It’s hugely concerning. Any time we talk about stories or ideas that touch on an issue for China, it comes up in the conversation. And nobody wants to touch it with a ten-foot pole.” One Hollywood writer put it more succinctly: “This is real. This is affecting not just what Chinese audiences see, but what Americans get to watch.”

PEN America makes two key recommendations for Hollywood studios: that if they adjust scripts or visuals due to Chinese sensitivities, they “do so only for the version of the film made available within mainland China, not for the film’s global release,” and that all studios “commit to publicly sharing information on all censorship requests received by government regulators for their films.” The roles of other institutions and organizations in and around Hollywood are addressed as well.

Two related The China Project articles:

• China and Hollywood: Is the romance over? has more detail on the business side of Hollywood-China connections.
• All the international brands that have apologized to China is our examination of all the known instances of Beijing, or Chinese people, pressuring foreign companies to censor speech.

IN OTHER NEWS:

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• 47 additional Chinese apps banned in India
  Baidu Search, Sina Weibo on ‘secret list’ of Chinese apps banned in India’s latest purge / Caixin
  Related on The China Project: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps.
• State Grid profit plunges 81%
  State Grid’s profit collapses on COVID-19 fallout / Caixin (paywall)
  Related on The China Project: China’s State Grid is a sleeping artificial intelligence giant.
• Domestic chip manufacturing incentives
  Zichen Wang on Twitter: “Chinese govt unveiled Tuesday, Aug 4 a series of policies supporting semiconductor/chip (formally, integrated circuit) industry for all (including private and foreign) companies in China: ZERO corporate income tax for 10 yrs for companies that manufacture less than 28 nm chips”
• A bad year for Hong Kong’s richest real estate family
  Sun Hung Kai’s Kwoks, HK’s richest family, lose $8 billion in year / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Real estate subsidiary starts prototype testing of EVs
  Evergrande Health forges ahead with six new electric vehicles / Caixin
• China-Australia trade
  China’s share of Australian exports hits 48.8%, an all-time high / AFR via Caixin (paywall)
  Australia reports record trade surplus on back of China demand / FT (paywall)
• Service sector expansion tapers off
  Caixin PMI shows China services sector losing momentum / Caixin (paywall)
• Video-game streaming consolidation
  Tencent to consolidate China’s Twitch-like services Douyu and Huya: sources / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• “No strong evidence” of more infectious COVID-19 strains
  No sign of big mutations in coronavirus strains, study finds / SCMP
• BGI Group, the Goliath of genomics research
  COVID opens new doors for China’s gene giant / Reuters
• COVID-19 cases taper down from July spike
  China reports 27 new coronavirus cases in mainland for Aug. 4 / Reuters
• Three-month moratorium on squid fishing in some waters
  China bans squid catch in some overseas waters with overfishing in spotlight / SCMP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Controversies at Australian universities
  China ‘exporting CCP speech controls to Australia’ as second university caught in row / Sydney Morning Herald
  A Chinese student at Charles Darwin University (CDU) objected to an assignment about the “Chinese (Wuhan) COVID-19 virus outbreak” that described a “global pandemic originating in Wuhan, China.” CDU apologized.
  Earlier, in Australia: UNSW faces backlash after deleting Twitter post critical of China’s crackdown in Hong Kong / Guardian
  Related: ‘The fear is real’: Chinese students in Australia dread reprisal from Beijing / Sydney Morning Herald
• Australia foreign influence investigation
  Australian politician’s staffer investigated for advancing China’s interests / Reuters
  Related, on The China Project: Australia investigates politician over Beijing influence allegations.
• U.S.-China tensions
  China’s ambassador to U.S. slams Trump for COVID-19 blame / ABC
  China state media excoriates U.S. ‘wackadoodles’ over journalist visas row / Reuters
• Is Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program purely civilian?
  Saudi Arabia, with China’s help, expands its nuclear program / WSJ (paywall)
• One-year anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir incorporation into India proper
  India’s Article 370 abrogation ‘illegal’, says China / The Hindu
  On The China Project last year: The world’s most dangerous place just got more dangerous.
• The challenges of flood control
  How 2020 exposed the holes in China’s flood controls / Sixth Tone
• Case of wrongful imprisonment resolved
  Jiangxi court overturns 1993 conviction to end China’s longest wrongful imprisonment / Caixin (paywall)
• Building collapse
  Warehouse collapse in Harbin leaves 9 dead / Sixth Tone

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Chinese subtitles for LGBT media
  How a group of volunteers are fighting to make gay cinema available in China / Rest of World
• Chinese students caught in the middle
  Being a Chinese student in the U.S.: ‘Neither the U.S. nor China wants us’ / BBC
• Meituan publicity stunt
  How cute rabbit ears are on the frontline in fight between delivery firms / Caixin
• New female-focused TV show
  China’s new hit drama ‘Nothing But Thirty’ thrives in the “she era” / What’s on Weibo
• Binge eating livestreamers
  Small girl, big stomach: Backstage with a mukbang star / TechNode