Links for Monday, August 10, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING:

More important China news and analysis from around the web:

Peter Hessler’s new essay in the New Yorker, titled “How China controlled the coronavirus,” is about much more than just that. Hessler, who is currently teaching English at Sichuan University, does address the intense lockdowns and the way that “very little was left to individual choice or responsibility,” but he focuses his essay on his connections with his students, both those he taught in the 1990s and those he teaches now.

Who will buy TikTok? And will Trump’s extortion work? Related stories to keep an eye on:

• Twitter, TikTok have held preliminary talks about possible combination / WSJ (paywall)
  “Microsoft Corp. has been negotiating for weeks with TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., and is considered the front-runner for any possible deal.”
• Trump wants U.S. to get cut of any TikTok deal. No one knows how that’d work. / NYT (porous paywall)
  “In essence, the president is promising to orchestrate the kind of pay-to-play bounty that the United States prohibits companies from making to governments of other countries under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”
• TikTok waits on British support before confirming plan for London base / SCMP
• TikTok to sue Trump administration on president’s executive order ban / NPR

“As U.S. and Taiwan celebrate a bond, China responds with screaming jets” is how the New York Times summarized the historic visit to Taiwan by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. No new policies were announced on the visit, but as we wrote last week, the new high-level contact between the U.S. and Taiwan could portend a big change in Washington’s Taiwan policy. Also see:

• U.S. health chief praises Taiwan’s COVID-19 success, irks Beijing in rare visit / WSJ (paywall)
• Taiwan says Chinese fighters approached Taiwan, were tracked by missiles / Reuters
• As Azar visits Taiwan, doctor recounts early days of coronavirus / Washington Post (porous paywall)

IN OTHER NEWS:

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• When will people feel safe going to hospitals again?
  Public hospitals restructure as patient visits plunge / Caixin (paywall)
• Most Russia-China trade now avoids USD
  China and Russia ditch dollar in move toward ‘financial alliance’ / Nikkei Asian Review (porous paywall)
• Huawei export controls
  Huawei to stop making flagship chipsets as U.S. pressure bites, Chinese media say / Reuters
  Qualcomm lobbies U.S. to sell chips for Huawei 5G phones / WSJ (paywall)
• ByteDance applies for financial services trademarks
  ByteDance takes step toward entering online stock broking in Hong Kong / Reuters
• Canadian canola being funneled through Europe and the UAE
  ‘Like gold’: Canadian canola prices spike as shippers find back door to China / Reuters
• Solar manufacturing in Zhejiang
  Aiko to build PV cell manufacturing plant in Zhejiang / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Xpeng files to list on NYSE
  Xpeng becomes latest Chinese electric-car maker to seek U.S. IPO / Caixin (paywall)
• Blockchain boom
  More than 10,000 new blockchain companies established in China in 2020 / CoinTelegraph
  China’s national blockchain network launches international website / CoinTelegraph
• Executive changes at Pinduoduo
  Colin Huang exits board of Pinduoduo’s China operating body / TechNode
• Were Apple staff uniforms sourced in Xinjiang?
  Apple imported clothes from Xinjiang firm facing US forced labour sanctions / Guardian
• Phase one trade deal remarkably still on track?
  U.S.-China trade war: Beijing will honour phase one deal by opening financial sector wider, its central bank chief says / SCMP

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Most new COVID-19 cases are imported
  China reports 49 new coronavirus cases in mainland on August 9 / Reuters
  International flights bring rash of new infections to Shanghai / Caixin (paywall)
• HPV vaccination in Inner Mongolia
  Mainland’s first free HPV vaccination program launched in remote northern county / Caixin (paywall)
• Second death from bubonic plague
  City in China’s Inner Mongolia issues warning after bubonic plague patient dies / Reuters
• Peking University team finds long COVID-19 incubation
  14 days not always enough to detect COVID-19, study suggests / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• U.S. officials accuse China of election interference
  China targeting U.S. election infrastructure with cyberattacks, says O’Brien / Reuters
  U.S. counterspy chief warns Russia, China, Iran trying to meddle in 2020 election / Reuters
• Luò Huìníng 骆惠宁 wears sanctions as badge of honor
  Head of China’s Hong Kong liaison office says U.S. sanctions indicate he is doing what he should / Reuters
  More detail on the Liaison Office’s response can be found in a separate Reuters report.
• China sanctions Ted Cruz and others, again
  China imposes sanctions on U.S. lawmakers over Hong Kong / Reuters
  Cotton reacts to Chinese sanctions / Website of Senator Tom Cotton
  “If China thinks my opposition to its communist tyranny to date warrants these sanctions, I have two words for them: just wait.”
  A month ago, in the New York Times: China imposes tit-for-tat sanctions on three American lawmakers.
• Flooding continues
  Almost 4 million Chinese displaced or evacuated from flooding / NPR
• Japan-China relations
  Japan places military on standby for ‘intrusions’ by dozens of Chinese fishing boats in disputed waters / SCMP
  Japan’s Abe skips Yasukuni Shrine visit to avoid ‘upsetting China’ / SCMP
• Law in Hong Kong
  Activists in UK seek private prosecution of British expatriate cops over Hong Kong protest ‘torture’ / Hong Kong Free Press
  China bans flying national flag upside down, changes will apply in Hong Kong / SCMP
• A potential Swiss law affecting Hong Kong
  Will Swiss banks eventually have to leave Hong Kong? / finews.com
  “Swiss voters in November 2020 will have their say on a proposed law to make companies liable for human rights abuses that occur in connection with their activities abroad. This could also apply to the case of Hong Kong.”
• Fireworks regulations
  Shanxi to ban unapproved fireworks from October / Sixth Tone

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Will college students be confined to campuses?
  Excited about returning to college campuses? Not so quick with COVID-19 controls / Caixin
• Tourism returns to Wuhan
  Chinese tourists start to return to Wuhan’s attractions as city tries to get back on its feet after coronavirus / SCMP
• Education equality
  Can lotteries level China’s school admissions playing field? / Sixth Tone