Links for Friday, September 4, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Should the U.S. do away with “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan? A few pieces published this week ignited debate on the subject:

Taiwan needs unambiguous American support / Foreign Affairs
Richard Haass and David Sacks argue, “Ambiguity is unlikely to deter an increasingly assertive China with growing military capabilities. The time has come for the United States to introduce a policy of strategic clarity: one that makes explicit that the United States would respond to any Chinese use of force against Taiwan.”

Don’t rush to fully normalize relations with Taiwan / Newsweek
Jerome Cohen writes that rather than formally recognizing Taiwan (as Gordon “coming collapse of China” Chang argues in a corresponding column), the U.S. should “much wiser to continue the policy of gradually demonstrating increased support for Taiwan’s current status.”

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• How advanced is Wuhan’s troubled semiconductor company, really?
  Wuhan’s troubled $18.5 billion chipmaking project isn’t as special as local officials claimed / Caixin (paywall)
  The Wuhan government has claimed that Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing (HSMC) owns a machine imported from Dutch firm ASML that is “the only device on the mainland capable of making 7-nanometer chips.” However, a source told Caixin that “Shanghai-based contractor Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) owns around 10 of the machines in question.”
• Semiconductor self-sufficiency
  China said to plan broad chip sector support to fight Trump / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China semiconductor threat sparked a $100 billion chip rout / Bloomberg via Yahoo
  “The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 5.7% Thursday, its worst session since mid-June, following news that China is planning a sweeping set of new government policies to develop its domestic semiconductor industry and counter recent Trump administration restrictions.”
• Will Ant prioritize Shanghai or Hong Kong for its IPO?
  Ant Group may sell more shares in Shanghai than Hong Kong in IPO: report / TechNode
  Earlier reports had indicated that Ant would sell more shares in Hong Kong.
  See The China Project: Will Jack Ma’s Ant Group have the biggest IPO ever?
• Did China just launch a winged space vehicle?
  China carries out secretive launch of ‘reusable experimental spacecraft’ / SpaceNews
  China just launched a ‘reusable test spacecraft’ — possibly a spaceplane / The Verge
• Oppo to make 110 million smartphones in second half of 2020
  Oppo boosts smartphone production over 50%, looking to fill Huawei void / Caixin (paywall)
• Juicing the consumer economy
  Xi Jinping calls for freer service trade as China tries to counter decoupling / SCMP
  Related on The China Project: Xi says China must develop domestic market and tech to withstand external shocks.
• Huawei under pressure
  Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei says firm is focused on growing talent as U.S. sanctions bite / Caixin
• 30.7% increase in home sales by top developers in August
  Post-epidemic demand drives China home sales to grow at faster clip / Caixin (paywall)
• Zhejiang incentives partnerships from foreign universities
  Zhejiang reveals how it will spend $731 million earmarked for attracting foreign universities / Caixin (paywall)
• Chinese telecoms in rural American networks
  Rural telecom networks would spend $1.8 billion to remove Huawei, ZTE equipment: FCC / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• American drugmaker pays $180 million for access to Chinese cancer therapy
  AbbVie to develop and sell China-based I-Mab’s cancer drug / Reuters
  AbbVie inks $2.9 billion cancer deal with China’s I-Mab / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Part of the deal is “as much as $1.74 billion in milestone payments based on development, regulatory and sales criteria.”
• Pollution and heat in Hong Kong
  Hong Kong swelters through hottest summer on record, air pollution soars / HKFP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• LA Times reporter harassed, detained, and sent away from Inner Mongolia
  China cracks down on Inner Mongolian minority fighting for its mother tongue / LA Times
  “A Times reporter who visited the Mongol school in Hohhot was surrounded by plainclothes men who put her into a police car. They took her to the back building of a police station, where she was interrogated and separated from her belongings despite identifying herself as an accredited journalist. She was not allowed to call the U.S. Embassy; one officer grabbed her throat with both hands and pushed her into a cell.
  “The reporter was detained for more than four hours. She was then forced to leave the region, with three government officials and a policeman accompanying her to a train and standing at the window until the train left for Beijing.”
  Context on The China Project: Ethnic Mongols protest Beijing’s push for Mandarin-only classes.
• Beijing’s activity in Tibet triggers backlash in India and U.S.
  China planning building spree in Tibet as India tensions rise, sources say / Reuters
  President Xi’s plan for Tibet fuels a pushback and a nudge to India / Hindustan Times
  Chinese officials will be brought to account for rights abuses in Tibet if I’m next US president, says Biden / SCMP
• What you can no longer say in Hong Kong
  U.N. experts decry Hong Kong security law in open letter to China / Reuters
  Security law: Stop ‘meddling’ in Hong Kong affairs, China tells UN experts / HKFP
  As Hong Kong’s academic year begins, it’s unclear what can legally be said in a classroom — and whether student activism is a thing of the past / HKFP
  What you can no longer say in Hong Kong / NYT (porous paywall)
• Yáng Héngjūn 杨恒均 tells family he is refusing to make a false confession
  Australian writer detained in China says will ‘fight to the end’ / Reuters
• Anti-food-waste campaign
  China internet watchdog crackdown online eating shows by closing down 13,600 relevant accounts. / PingWest
• Self-defense law
  China issues first legal guideline on self-defense / Sixth Tone
• Military influence in the Pacific
  Pacific nation of Palau invites U.S. to build a military base to counter China / Guardian
• India-China border standoff and nationalism
  China accuses India of conducting ‘flagrant provocations’ as simmering border standoff heats up / CNN
  Indian social media goes nuts over fake claim of Su-35 shootdown / Foreign Policy (porous paywall)
  Taiwan refutes ‘rumors’ of shooting Chinese Su-35 fighter jet / Asian News International
• U.S.-China decoupling updates
  White House asks U.S. agencies to detail all China-related funding / Reuters
  Trump-Xi rift plays out with some 100 canceled exchanges, talks / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  U.S. and Taiwan to work on reshaping supply chains away from China / FT (paywall)
• Xinjiang and Uyghur updates
  Uyghur Muslim teacher tells of forced sterilization in Xinjiang / Guardian
  Malaysia won’t extradite Uyghurs to China, minister says / Reuters
  Independent tribunal launched to judge claims of mass atrocities crimes in Xinjiang / Radio Free Asia

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Unfortunate linguistic misunderstanding
  USC professor placed on leave after black students complained his pronunciation of a Chinese word affected their mental health / National Review
  Taisu Zhang on Twitter: “Colleagues at USC have confirmed this report. All I can say is, the professor’s pronunciation of the Chinese phrase “neige” [那个 nèige] was accurate, and his use of it as an example of filler language was linguistically appropriate. It’s a very common phrase.”
• Golfing prodigy
  Chinese teenager Yin wins third straight title after turning pro / Reuters
• Stray cats in Shanghai
  Shanghai confronts a furry pest problem: Millions of stray cats / Sixth Tone