Links for Monday, August 24, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING:

More important China news and analysis from around the web:

Liberation, the publication of a Communist Party in India, has condemned China’s treatment of Uyghurs. Some excerpts from an article titled China’s concentration camps for Uyghurs: In China’s own words:

The Chinese Government’s paper on Uyghurs does exactly the same as what the Indian State does: blame militancy on “outside interference” and “religious extremists”…

the Counterterrorism Law of the People’s Republic of China is like India’s draconian UAPA (or its predecessors POTA and TADA) on steroids: a handy tool which empowers the State to surveil and criminalise the most innocent and ordinary of actions, especially if the said actions are committed by a religious minority or ideological dissenter…

China has been touting its Xinjiang model as a successful model of “counterterrorism” which the world should adopt. Certainly, Narendra Modi and his fascist regime in India, would be happy to adopt China’s Xinjiang model for Kashmir, and for minorities and dissenters in the whole of India, lock, stock, and barrel.

Related:

• China buys Turkey’s silence on Uyghur oppression / The Diplomat (porous paywall)
• The spatial cleansing of Xinjiang: Mazar desecration in context / by Rian Thum in Made in China Journal

Bribery in Los Angeles: Caixin has an in-depth story titled, “How Chinese developers became entangled in LA bribery case”:

Suspended LA Councilman Jose Huizar was charged with accepting at least $1.5 million in illicit financial benefits in what local media called the worst City Hall corruption scandal in almost a century…

Among the multitude of corruption allegations, Huizar was accused of accepting more than $800,000 in benefits from a Chinese property tycoon who allegedly helped Huizar settle a sexual harassment lawsuit, provided him with more than a dozen gambling trips and sponsored his wife’s city council election campaign…

A Caixin investigation found that two Shenzhen-based private companies — Shenzhen New World Group Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Hazens Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. — were the main Chinese companies targeted by U.S. investigators for alleged bribery. Shenzhen New World was founded and controlled by businessman Huáng Wěi 黄伟. Shenzhen Hazens is owned by businessman Yuán Fùér 袁富儿…

Two larger Chinese developers also appeared on a search warrant related to the case — Hong Kong-listed, state-backed Greenland Holdings Corp. Ltd. and privately owned China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. Both companies denied any wrongdoing.

And here’s another tale of dodgy business from Bloomberg involving transfers of property deeds for luxury hotels from the troubled insurance company then known as Anbang to shell companies run by someone known as “Andy Bang.”

The timing of the title transfers in 2018 was hardly coincidental. The Chinese government had declared that Anbang, a multi-billion-dollar holding company, was a fraud, and sentenced its flamboyant founder, Wú Xiǎohuī 吴小晖, to 18 years in prison as it sought a buyer for the hotels. The South Korean asset manager Mirae Global won the competition for the $5.8 billion purchase that included the Essex House on Central Park South and the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay Resort in northern California.

What Mirae didn’t know was that, as the authorities were closing in, Wu used a Delaware law to make an agreement with the shell companies and protect his interests. In other words, the South Koreans promised to buy hotels that Anbang may no longer have owned…

An interesting detail: A former New York Times researcher “who spent three years in a Chinese prison on what were widely viewed as trumped-up fraud charges,” Zhào Yán 赵岩, is an officer of one of the Delaware companies. He “said in a telephone interview that the firms aren’t fraudulent and aren’t working for Wu but for themselves and ‘to defend private property against wrongful taking by the Chinese government.’”

IN OTHER NEWS:

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Zuckerberg campaign against TikTok
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stoked Washington’s fears about TikTok / WSJ (paywall)
  Last October, “Zuckerberg told Georgetown students that TikTok doesn’t share Facebook’s commitment to freedom of expression, and represents a risk to American values and technological supremacy…That was a message Mr. Zuckerberg hammered behind the scenes in meetings with officials and lawmakers during the October trip and a separate visit to Washington weeks earlier, according to people familiar with the matter.”
  TikTok sues Trump administration / NYT (porous paywall)
• Chinese wine, and sour grapes from Australia?
  China’s grapes of wrath: the wineries defying an industry downturn / Australian Financial Review
  “China claims Australian wine imports have devastated local winemakers, but the boutique industry is thriving, winning international awards and introducing modern techniques.”
• BlackRock wealth management venture approved
  With BlackRock Venture’s approval, more foreign firms get a shot at managing Chinese people’s money / Caixin (paywall)
  China approves BlackRock, Temasek and CCB joint wealth venture / Reuters
• ChiNext technology stocks soar
  In China, newly-listed ChiNext shares surge in historic reform / Reuters
  Shenzhen’s ChiNext challenges Shanghai, adds fuel to ‘technology war’ with U.S / Reuters
  18 Chinese tech stocks soar 200% as a major market relaxes its IPO rules / CNN
• Xpeng IPO on NYSE
  Supercharged investor interest drives Chinese Tesla challenger toward $1.27 Billion U.S. IPO / Caixin (paywall)
• “We basically have no clients”: Suzhou bridal goods retailer
  Coronavirus dampens celebrations in China’s wedding gown city / Reuters
• Shifting supply chains
  Foxconn, other Asian firms consider Mexico factories as China risks grow / Reuters
• Flood disruptions
  China’s busiest coal railway line suffers second derailment in seven days / Caixin
  China’s flooding slams rare earth, fertilizer and other industries / Nikkei Asian Review (porous paywall)
• PBoC downplays scope of digital yuan tests
  China’s digital yuan trials reportedly limited to small retail transactions / Cointelegraph
  Earlier, in the SCMP: China’s sovereign digital currency plan becomes a hot guessing game amid leaks and expectations.
  Earlier on The China Project: Beijing pushes digital currency amid fears of a dollar planet.
• Putting together the pieces of Pinduoduo’s strategy
  Pinduoduo’s latest aim: Sell $145 billion of farm produce in 2025 / TechCrunch
  Explaining Pinduoduo, and whether the model can work in Southeast Asia / Tech in Asia
  Pinduoduo pledges focus on necessities, shares fall 12% on Q2 miss / TechNode
• Economic strategy
  PBOC’s Yi urges China banks to support smaller companies / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Chinese premier says economy can grow in 2020 if jobs target met / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China to use Yangtze River Delta development to showcase ‘dual circulation’ economic strategy / SCMP
  China’s economy is bouncing back — and gaining ground on the U.S. / WSJ (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Lengthening streak of no local transmission (officially)
  China reports 16 new COVID-19 cases, eighth day without local infections / Reuters
  Xinjiang residents protest online against virus lockdown / AFP via Yahoo
  David Paulk on Twitter: “It’s so difficult to get a clear idea of the severity of Xinjiang’s coronavirus outbreak and how it’s being handled, but these details, many of them taken from Chinese social media, paint a pretty grim picture”
  Laurie Chen on Twitter: “A viral video shot on Saturday shows Urumqi high-rise residents screaming through their windows in frustration and despair. The Xinjiang region has been under strict lockdown for over a month — the harshest anti-virus measures in China — despite over a week of no new cases.”
• Contaminated water in Anhui Province
  Contaminated water sickens nearly 500 in China / AFP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Trump to highlight China at Republican National Convention?
  Trump cites school choice, China as second-term priorities / Politico
  Trump says could ‘decouple’ and not do business with China / Reuters
  Trump: If Biden is elected, ‘China will own our country’ / Fox News
  Related, in the New York Times last October: What we know about Hunter Biden’s business in China.
• No slowdown on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
  China, Pakistan agree to push on with rail and power projects / SCMP
• How China handles foreign Muslim journalists in Xinjiang
  How China uses Muslim press trips to counter claims of Uyghur abuse / Guardian
  “Interviews with three Muslim journalists who took part in the tours have revealed they were provided with interpreters, given access to high-ranking officials and monitored during most of their interactions.”
• India-China border standoff
  India rejects China’s suggestion of ‘equidistant disengagement’ from Finger area in Ladakh / Times of India
  Related on The China Project: India and China hope to resolve border standoff in ‘expeditious manner,’ but dig in for extended conflict.
• Three Gorges Dam water level begins to recede
  Gallery: Swollen Three Gorges Dam gets relief after water reaches record highs / Caixin
  Related on The China Project: After weeks of flooding, China’s Leshan Giant Buddha gets its toes wet for the first time since 1949.
• Regional diplomacy
  South Korea, China hold highest-level talks since COVID-19 outbreak / Reuters
  Mekong countries vow to boost Lancang-Mekong cooperation with China / Xinhua
• Social media surveillance
  Hackers leak alleged internal files of Chinese social media monitoring firms / VICE
• South China Sea updates
  China meets with Asean diplomats to propose resuming South China Sea talks / SCMP
  China urges Vietnam to build on past agreements in South China Sea / SCMP
  Philippine defence secretary says Beijing’s ‘historical rights don’t exist’ / SCMP
  China urges Philippines to halt ‘illegal provocations’ at sea / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Chinese power projection capabilities in the South China Sea / Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
• Hong Kong updates
  Concern groups urge Hong Kong Education Bureau to stop textbook ‘censorship’ / HKFP
  Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong reveals fears of arrest / HKFP
  Australia offers new visa arrangement for Hongkongers, paving way for permanent residency / HKFP
• Xu Zhangrun at Harvard
  Chinese Communist Party critic Xu Zhangrun offered Harvard University research post / SCMP
  Professor Xu Zhangrun’s letter to the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University / China Heritage
• Documentary on Wuhan in early days of epidemic
  From Ai Weiwei, a portrait of Wuhan’s draconian COVID lockdown / NYT (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Return to normalcy across almost all of China
  In China, where the coronavirus pandemic began, life is starting to look normal / NYT (porous paywall)
• High school graduate in Guangdong lies about being accepted to Tsinghua University
  Fake Admission Letter Places Counterfeit Industry Under Scrutiny / Caixin
• The wax statue business of Shanghai Maiyi Arts
  In China, a Trump wax statue maker laments virus impact / Reuters
  “Although Trump is the company’s best-selling model in the United States, in China, the top seller is something closer to home: a replica of a security guard, asleep and slumped in a chair, brings in the most orders.”