Links for Wednesday, August 12, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING:

More important China news and analysis from around the web:

Does China “seek to conquer the entire world and replace all democracies with Marxist-Leninist dictatorships”? Is Xi Jinping — some analysts in Washington, D.C., ask — the new Stalin?

Xi Jinping is not Stalin, writes Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, in Foreign Affairs this week. He points out three flaws in this strain of Cold War analogy that is increasingly commonly heard:

• “Stalin’s regime was far more totalitarian in its control over every aspect of Soviet citizens’ lives.”
• “Chinese citizens enjoy much greater autonomy over their own economic well-being than Soviet citizens did in the early days of the Cold War.”
• “Xi has yet to instigate a coup, arm insurgents, or invade a democracy and install a communist regime.”

For related arguments from different perspectives, see:

• No ‘Beijing Consensus’: Why the U.S. risks a Pyrrhic victory in confronting China / by Jessica Chen Weiss on The China Project
• China’s plans to win control of the global order / by Tanner Greer in Tablet Magazine

IN OTHER NEWS:

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• TikTok data practices under scrutiny
  BlueLeaks reveals what TikTok shares with U.S. authorities / The Intercept
  TikTok found to have tracked Android users’ MAC addresses until late last year / TechCrunch
  TikTok tracked user data using tactic banned by Google / WSJ (paywall)
  Sheena Greitens on Twitter: “The bigger story here is that TikTok sent the data to ByteDance, which is required under the 2017 National Intelligence Law to provide that data if asked to the Chinese government.”
  Laura Kayali on Twitter: “France’s privacy regulator is investigating TikTok. The probe was triggered by a complaint but is now much broader. It covers: the information of users, how rights are exercised, data flows outside the EU, measures taken for minors.”
• Foxconn decouples its supply chains
  IPhone maker says it will split U.S. and China supply chains / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Related, on The China Project: Apple supplier Foxconn to invest $1 billion in India, another step away from China
• Trade talks upcoming
  China to bring up WeChat, TikTok in next U.S. trade talks / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Few U.S. firms see Trump’s Phase One China trade deal as worth tariff costs, survey shows / Reuters
  U.S.-China trade deal in ‘fine’ shape, White House’s Kudlow says / Reuters
• Banking in the time of U.S.-China sanctions
  China banks move to comply with Trump sanctions on Hong Kong / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  New U.S. sanctions add uncertainty for American banks looking to tap China / CNBC
• India tax crackdown on unspecified Chinese entities
  India raids Chinese entities for money laundering / Reuters
• More drama in the Dangdang dynasty
  Family feud raises big questions over succession in China’s multi-million “family” businesses / Caixin
  On The China Project, in April: Dangdang’s divorce saga continues as co-founder Li Guoqing steals company seals.
• Semiconductor engineers lured across the Taiwan Strait
  China hires over 100 TSMC engineers in push for chip leadership / Nikkei Asian Review (porous paywall)
• $1.58 billion in now-unsellable wild animals
  China’s epidemic-inspired wildlife ban has had big economic costs / Caixin (paywall)
• Battle between Washington’s PCAOB and Beijing’s CSRC
  U.S. financial regulators release report detailing dispute with Chinese counterparts / Caixin (paywall)
• Foxconn Cloud services
  Shanghai-listed Foxconn internet’s cloud service sales up 4% in first half of 2020 / Caixin
• 41.8% of tablets sold in China are iPads
  Apple edges Huawei out of no. 1 in quarterly tablet shipments / Caixin
• Banco Delta Asia SARL is now sanction-free, after 13 years
  Macao bank finally freed from U.S. sanctions over North Korea money laundering / Caixin (paywall)
• Europeans welcome in China again
  China reopens borders, visa channels to 36 European countries / China Briefing

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• The quest for a vaccine
  China’s military takes centre stage in COVID-19 vaccine race / FT (paywall)
• Recurring COVID-19 infections
  Coronavirus reappears in Chinese woman more than five months after she recovered from initial infection / SCMP
• HIV treatment
  China approves HIV drug capable of preventing 99% of infections / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Venezuela-China relations
  How Venezuela lost three oil supertankers to its Chinese partner / Reuters
  Venezuela wins grace period on China oil-for-loan deals, sources say / Reuters
• Pompeo says China challenge “not Cold War 2.0,” but “much more difficult”
  Economic clout makes China tougher challenge for U.S. than Soviet Union was — Pompeo / Reuters
• Hong Kong is still protesting
  Hongkongers gather at shopping malls in protest for press freedom / HKFP
  Agnes Chow: the Hong Kong activist who gave up UK citizenship to fight for democracy / Guardian
  Joshua Wong: Hong Kong still has many ways to resist / NYT (porous paywall)
• Cyberattacks go both ways
  More than half of foreign cyberattacks against China in 2019 originated in the U.S., China report says / SCMP
• Forced confessions
  Chinese police have filmed dozens of forced confessions, often after torture: Report / Radio Free Asia
• New Zealand reviews its China links
  Report explores New Zealand’s trade exposure to China / New Zealand China Council
• Flooding continues
  Beijing on flood alert as rains hamper China’s economic recovery / FT (paywall)
• International Youth Day remarks by Xi — top state media headline
  深切的勉励 殷切的期望 习近平这样寄语各国青年 / Xinhua

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Basketball
  Beaten, battered Jeremy Lin demands more protection in China basketball / AFP via Yahoo
• Travel destinations
  Jiankou: China’s remote and dangerous Great Wall / BBC
  Panjin: Dramatic aerial photos showcase China’s wild ‘crimson beach’ / CNN