Links for Tuesday, August 11, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Lài Xiǎomín 赖小民 accused of taking $258 million in bribes
  Disgraced financial bigshot accused of taking more bribes than anyone else in China / Caixin (paywall)
• Mulan coming to Chinese cinemas “soon”
  Disney’s ‘Mulan’ confirms China theatrical release / Variety
• China Literature in crisis
  Tencent-backed China Literature posts massive loss, citing ‘structural issues’ / Caixin (paywall)
  Related, on The China Project in May: Internet writers protest what they call unfair contracts with Tencent company.
  Related, on Yicai in June: China Literature issues new contracts; writers get copyright guarantee.
• Hong Kong goods to be labeled by U.S. as “Made in China” after September 25
  U.S. to label Hong Kong goods as ‘Made in China’ in blow to city / Bloomberg via Al Jazeera
• Xiaomi holds lead over Samsung in Indian market
  Xiaomi still top dog in Indian smartphone market despite tensions / Caixin
• Is Tencent’s recruitment spree just a “large-scale purge” of older workers?
  Tencent – fighting youth unemployment or enemy of older workers? / Caixin
• Tencent Music partnership
  Tencent Music to establish joint venture with Universal Music / Caixin
• Illegal mining in Qinghai Province
  Coal boss held over charges of 14 years of illegal mining / Caixin (paywall)
• CPI up 2.7% from last year
  China’s consumer inflation edges up amid faster-rising food prices / Caixin (paywall)
• Car sales up
  China car recovery gathers pace with july sales rising 8.5% / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Macau tourism plans
  China reinstates tourist visas to Macau from September 23 in boon for casinos / Reuters
• Government campaign against food waste
  China’s Xi says nation needs to put an end to soaring food waste / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Xinjiang continues to report local COVID-19 transmission
  Mainland China reports 44 new coronavirus cases on August 10 / Reuters
  “The National Health Commission said in a statement 31 of the new infections were imported cases, and the balance 13 were locally transmitted cases reported from Xinjiang region.”
• Mexico-China cooperation on vaccine trials
  Mexico to conduct late-stage trials for China, US COVID-19 vaccines / Reuters
• WHO looks for where
  WHO will start its investigation into coronavirus origins in Wuhan but says case zero may be elsewhere / SCMP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• NPC Standing Committee makes “decision” to approve yearlong election delay…
  China’s top legislature adopts decision for 6th HKSAR LegCo to continue performing duties / Xinhua
  In Chinese here.
  Related, on The China Project: Hong Kong postpones Legislative Council election, citing COVID-19.
• …but allows four pro-democracy lawmakers to remain in office until then
  China refrains from ousting Hong Kong lawmakers / NYT (porous paywall)
• Agnes Chow and Jimmy Lai arrests, and other Hong Kong updates
  Japan’s #FreeAgnes campaign shows support for detained Hong Kong activist / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Agnes Chow: The former Hong Kong teen activist China wants to silence / HKFP
  National security law: Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai freed as activist Agnes Chow calls her arrest ‘political persecution and suppression’ / SCMP
  National security law: Northern Ireland says Chinese diplomats distorted leader’s remarks / SCMP
  Yesterday on The China Project: Police arrest media baron Jimmy Lai in a ‘direct assault on Hong Kong’s press freedom’
• No resolution in sight for India-China standoff
  China-India border talks stall, sparking calls for Modi to get tough on Beijing / SCMP
  See also, in Reuters: Standoff with China will be long, India warns in pulled statement.
• Medal of the Republic awarded to Zhōng Nánshān 钟南山
  ‘SARS hero’ given top award as COVID-19 dominates China’s civilian honours / SCMP
  Zhong was the only nominee.
  Xi signs order awarding four persons for outstanding contribution in COVID-19 fight / Xinhua
  Related, on The China Project: Zhong Nanshan, the doctor who led China through COVID-19 and SARS.
• The National Museum of China’s “Unity of Strength” exhibition
  China promotes its ‘heroic’ battle against coronavirus in new exhibition / AFP via SCMP
• Japan continues streak of Chinese-speaking ambassadors
  Japan taps ‘China school’ again for new ambassador / Nikkei Asian Review (porous paywall)
  “Hideo Tarumi will succeed current Ambassador Yutaka Yokoi as early as this year, following official approval by the Japanese cabinet.”
• Influence operations in Canada
  The shady history of a phone number used to set up a sham protest / CBC
  Are Canada’s local politicians a target for Beijing’s global PR machine? / The Star
• South China Sea updates
  South China Sea: Chinese military told not to fire first shot in stand-off with US forces / SCMP
  Japan signs deal to provide Vietnam with six patrol ships amid South China Sea tensions / SCMP
  South China Sea: Philippine navy chief warns of Chinese ‘provocation’ / SCMP
• Taiwan
  Taiwan foreign minister warns China trying to turn island into ‘next Hong Kong’ / AFP via HKFP
  Chinese man swims seven hours to Taiwan’s Kinmen for freedom / Taiwan News
  Wu welcomes arrival of envoy from Somaliland / Taipei Times
• U.S.-China atrocious graphic design Twitter battle
  Ambassade de Chine en France on Twitter: “It’s not CLEAN. It’s CLEANSING.”
  Upping the ante from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s much-mocked tweet announcing the “five cleans,” the Chinese foreign ministry apparatus is promoting a similarly confusing and badly-designed graphic about American spying.
• Xinjiang updates
  Pro-Beijing influencers and their rose-tinted view of life in Xinjiang / Coda Story
  Cardinals call for end to crimes against China’s Uyghurs / The Tablet
• Chinese influence in Africa
  China dominates bid for Africa’s largest dam in new pact / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China: The hot button domestic political issue in African countries / China Africa Project
• Dual citizenship
  Anti-corruption watchdog to crack down on illegal dual citizens / Sixth Tone
• Censorship of “silly beer names”
  Krish Raghav on Twitter: “In the last month, the Chinese social media accounts of our brewery in Beijing have been suspended 5 times. FIVE TIMES, because our silly beer names and descriptions accidentally veered into “sensitive” phrases. Examples below, and how they’ve made us *excellent* self-censors.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Short poem about losing cross-border connection
  “Small Talk” by Johnson Cheu / Rattle: Poetry
  Related, on The China Project: After TikTok, Trump moves to attack WeChat. What’s next?
• LGBT art in Shanghai
  At pride exhibit, Shanghai’s LGBT artists vie to be seen, not silenced / Sixth Tone
• The strange services economy
  From lovers to duck demons, unusual virtual services are booming on the Chinese internet / Radii China