Links for Tuesday, August 25, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING:

More important China news and analysis from around the web:

China’s richest woman received Cypriot citizenship on October 23, 2018, according to documents leaked to Al Jazeera, which the broadcaster is calling “The Cyprus Papers.” Yáng Huìyán 杨惠妍, who is worth over $28 billion and inherited ownership of the Guangdong property developer Country Garden from her father, could be in danger of losing her Chinese citizenship as a result, because China does not recognize dual citizenships. For more, see the Al Jazeera report and an SCMP article focusing on the China pieces of the revelations:

• Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to ‘politically exposed persons’ / Al Jazeera
• Cyprus Papers: secret migration of China’s rich, led by Asia’s richest woman, revealed in leaked documents / SCMP

New details about the effort to remove Guō Wénguì 郭文贵 from his exiled, tweeting perch in New York were revealed in a lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Sūn Lìjūn 孙力军, China’s then-vice minister of public security, met in a hotel suite in Shenzhen in May 2017 with Elliott Broidy, a venture capitalist and, at the time, national deputy finance chairman of the [Republican National Committee], according to the document. At Mr. Sun’s request, Mr. Broidy agreed to seek to use his influence with the Trump administration to advocate for the removal of Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman living in New York, the document said…

The meeting in Shenzhen was orchestrated by Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman who is the alleged mastermind of a multi-billion dollar fraud at a Malaysian development fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, according to the document, which doesn’t name Mr. Low but provides details that identify him.

The effort to extract Guo did not end in success, though how that played out, the WSJ reported in October 2017, was a “caper worthy of [a] spy thriller.” Guo continues to allege special knowledge of Chinese corruption (while rarely going into much detail) and call for the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party from abroad, often engaging in activism alongside his now-arrested friend Steve Bannon.

IN OTHER NEWS:

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Ant Group prepares for dual listing
  Ant Group files for dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai / Caixin
  “The fintech giant hopes to raise $30 billion.”
  Inside Ant Group’s giant valuation: One billion Alipay users and big profit margins / WSJ (paywall)
  Ant Group loses two key executives as IPO looms, sources say / Caixin (paywall)
  “Yu Shengfa, the company’s vice president and chief risk officer, and Hu Xi, chief technology officer, have both departed.”
  New consumer lending arm gives Ant Group license to lend a lot more / Caixin (paywall)
  Breakingviews – China’s Ant can gobble up $200 bln valuation / Reuters
• $430 million daily deal axed in Australia
  Dairy giant Mengniu quits Australia acquisition after government says it wasn’t in national interest / Caixin (paywall)
• Taobao Taiwan ownership scrutiny
  Taiwan takes swipe at Alibaba’s Taobao over mainland ownership and information security concerns / Caixin
  The investment commission of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said it had discovered “that Taobao Taiwan’s operator, the British-registered Claddagh Venture Investment, was actually controlled by Hangzhou-headquartered Alibaba, thus violating Taiwan’s investment rules which treat investment from foreign countries differently to that from the Chinese mainland.”
• Contec Medical Systems shares rise 3,000%
  Medical-device maker’s stock climbs to astronomic heights in ChiNext debut / Caixin
• Nongfu to IPO in Hong Kong
  Nongfu Seeks $1.1 Billion in Year’s Second Biggest F&B IPO / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Singapore tightens travel restrictions
  Chinese travelers hit by Singapore flight suspensions and new COVID-19 testing rules / SCMP
• Where will the Hong Kong data storage business go?
  What China’s national security law means for Hong Kong’s status as a data storage hub / Rest of World
• Pinduoduo prioritizes growth over profit after stock hit
  In China’s cutthroat ecommerce world, only growth matters / WSJ (paywall)
• TikTok’s explosive growth in the U.S.
  TikTok reveals detailed user numbers for the first time / CNBC
  TikTok says it went from 11 million monthly active users in the U.S. in January 2018 to 100 million today.
• Hefty price tag for other 49% of JPMorgan’s joint venture
  JPMorgan would need to pay $1 billion for full ownership of China mutual fund JV / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Vaccine deployment plans
  China’s Sinovac enters supply deal with Indonesia for COVID-19 vaccine doses / Reuters
  “Sinovac Biotech Ltd said on Tuesday it would help Indonesia’s state-owned drugmaker Bio Farma produce in the country at least 40 million doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine before March 2021.”
• Hebei offers cash rewards for pollution reports
  Smog-prone Chinese province to offer big rewards for pollution whistleblowers / Reuters
• “At least three cities” in Xinjiang locked down, despite zero official COVID-19 cases
  China clamps down on Xinjiang to stop COVID, angering residents / NYT (porous paywall)
  China logs ninth consecutive day with no locally transmitted COVID-19 cases / Reuters
• COVID-19 reinfection in Hong Kong
  Hong Kong reports ‘first case’ of virus reinfection / BBC
• COVID-19 genome sequencer denies political delays in early response
  Zhang Yongzhen speaks out about controversies around his work / TIME

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Washington and Beijing have trade deal check-in, but mum on details
  U.S., China reaffirm commitment to Phase 1 trade deal in phone call / Reuters
  American and Chinese officials take pulse on trade deal, six months in / NYT (porous paywall)
  Statement on call between the United States and China / United States Trade Representative
  “Both sides see progress and are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure the success of the agreement.”
  Chinese, U.S. chief trade negotiators hold phone talks / Xinhua
  “The two sides conducted a constructive dialogue on such issues as strengthening bilateral coordination of macroeconomic policies and the implementation of the China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement.”
  Simon Rabinovitch on Twitter: “Looking at the China section of Donald Trump’s point-form agenda for a second term, it is striking how relatively minimalist this vision of decoupling is. Focus almost entirely on manufacturing; nothing about finance or technology.”
• China warns against Cold War; People’s Daily devotes three pages to Pompeo
  With no military alliances, China is no U.S.S.R., former Chinese envoy in U.S. says / Caixin
  Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi says must avoid a new Cold War / Reuters
  China keen to work with ‘US states, local councils, businesses’ despite Washington’s hostility, Xi Jinping says / SCMP
  Pompeo’s remarks on CPC full of Cold-War mentality, zero-sum game mindset: spokesperson / Xinhua
  蓬佩奥涉华演讲的满嘴谎言与事实真相 / People’s Daily
  In a 33,000-character screed (over 20,000 words in English, if you translated it), the People’s Daily sets out to thoroughly rebut 26 separate points from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s July 23 remarks on “Communist China and the Free World’s Future.” The article takes up three full pages of the print edition of today’s People’s Daily, starting on page 10.
• Militaries on edge
  Chinese military: Rocket Force drills prepare for possible US nuclear weapons attack / SCMP
  Chinese military lodges ‘stern representation’ over U.S. spy plane encroachment / Reuters
  China’s navy drills in 4 regions show ability to counter US, observers say / SCMP
  The Pentagon is prepared for China / WSJ (paywall)
  Mark Esper, the U.S. defense secretary, writes, “Nations valuing freedom, human rights and the rule of law must stand together to counter the coercive role of the PLA in the Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive attempts to undermine the sovereignty of nations.”
• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
  Chinese diplomat elected member of int’l tribunal for law of the sea / Xinhua
  Bonnie Glaser on Twitter: “The US should sign and ratify UNCLOS. The costs of not doing so are increasing.”
  Gady Epstein on Twitter: “Need to be vigilant about PRC sway over int’l orgs but: 1) PRC has always had someone on this 21-judge panel 2) a different court ruled against China in the law of sea case in 2016, unaffected by PRC having an ITLOS judge 3) US isn’t on panel because it hasn’t ratified UNCLOS”
  Earlier this month, on CNBC: U.S. is against China seeking a seat in tribunal that settles maritime dispute.
• Hong Kong updates
  Profs and loss – China is killing academic freedom in Hong Kong / The Economist (porous paywall)
  “A couple of months ago academics would have been desperate to have their names appear in The Economist, laughs a professor at one of Hong Kong’s foremost universities, as she talks during an encrypted phone call. Now she, like every professor from the territory’s universities interviewed for this article, will speak only on condition of anonymity.”
  With hacks and cameras, Beijing’s electronic dragnet closes on Hong Kong / NYT (porous paywall)
• Switzerland helping China recover fugitives?
  Swiss explore renewal of ‘secret deal’ with China / Swiss Info
  Gady Epstein on Twitter: “This smells like Operation Fox Hunt, a global purported anti-corruption sweep. Switzerland makes secret deal with China in 2015, CN authorities enter in 2016 and secure deportations of 13 people including 4 asylum seekers. Wonder how many other countries granted similar access”
• What are Wang Yi’s goals in Europe?
  China starts European diplomatic blitz to counter U.S. influence / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  ‘Damage control’ at heart of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s mission to Europe / SCMP
• Texas A&M professor charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and false statements
  Professor, NASA researcher accused of concealing China ties / AP
• A series of killings in South Africa
  Chinese embassy issues warning after seven nationals killed in South Africa in less than two months / Caixin
• Mongolian-language education to end?
  China ‘will end’ Mongolian-language education starting this semester: Reports / Radio Free Asia
• Interview with Yang Bin, who sheltered Xu Zhiyong
  ‘A darkness worse than the virus’: Why a Chinese former prosecutor chose to harbor a dissident / SCMP

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• The Eight Hundred criticized for glorifying KMT leadership in Battle of Shanghai
  War film or farce? Blockbuster triggers debate over historical accuracy / Caixin
• The excesses of Chinese drinking culture
  Bank worker slapped, insulted for not drinking with colleagues / Sixth Tone
  For refusing a drink with the boss, he was slapped in the face / NYT (porous paywall)
• “Immovable cultural relics” and how to preserve them
  Temples for the masses: The Chinese ‘adopting’ local monuments / Sixth Tone
• Anti-food-waste campaign
  Parents slammed for making 3-year-old overeat in online videos / Sixth Tone
  Tianjin restaurant introduces “meal boxes for women” / What’s on Weibo