Links for Tuesday, September 8, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Sinopharm and Sinovac are barreling ahead with experimental vaccines, even before they complete Phase 3 clinical trials and receive formal approval.

• “Hundreds of thousands of Chinese have been given two experimental Covid-19 vaccines under an emergency scheme without a single case of infection,” the SCMP reports, based on comments from an executive from the China National Biotec Group, also known as Sinopharm.
• “About 90% of Sinovac Biotech Ltd employees and their families have taken an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chinese firm under the country’s emergency use program,” that company’s chief executive said on Sunday, per Reuters. Sinovac later revealed some, but not all, of its data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, but it is still conducting Phase 3 trials.

The two companies literally showed off their vaccines at the China International Fair for Trade in Services on September 6, AFP reports.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports: “In an unusual public letter, [pharmaceutical] companies agreed to submit the vaccines for clearance only when they’re shown to be safe and effective in large clinical studies. The chief executive officers of nine frontrunners in the push for a coronavirus inoculation signed the pledge: AstraZeneca Plc, BioNTech SE, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Moderna Inc., Novavax Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Sanofi.”

Missing from the list: Any Chinese or Russian companies.

Context on The China Project: China has been vaccinating essential workers since July 22.

“Thousands of police officers in riot gear filled the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday,” the New York Times reports, as protesters marked the day that the Legislative Council election would have taken place if Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥 Lín Zhèng Yuè’é) had not delayed it by a year.

Lam’s justification for delaying the election was COVID-19 safety precautions, but that excuse now looks more tenuous than ever: The city reported only six new cases today, the lowest number in two months, per the HKFP.

More reports from Hong Kong:

• ‘Even with handcuffs, I feel at peace’: Pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai says Apple Daily won’t change, but no more protest activism / HKFP
• Hong Kong activist Tam Tak-chi faces sedition charges for uttering protest slogans, hours after leader Carrie Lam’s free speech assurances / HKFP
• Police defend tactics after video of officer tackling 12-year-old Hong Kong girl goes viral / SCMP
• Tom Grundy on Twitter: “The list of ‘illegal’ speech is expanding rapidly daily: Prosecutors gave examples of ‘seditious slogans’ inc. ‘Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times’, ‘5 demands, not one less,’ ‘Disband the police force’ & ‘Death to corrupted police families.’”
• HK suspects arrested in Guangdong to be charged under mainland law: Lam / Global Times

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Chipmaker SMIC denies military links as Washington mulls blacklisting
  Trump administration weighs blacklisting China’s chipmaker SMIC / Reuters
  Shares of mainland’s top chipmaker plunge on U.S. blacklist reports / Caixin
  “In response to the Reuters report, SMIC put out a statement [in Chinese] on the same day, denying links to the Chinese military. The company ‘manufactures semiconductors and provides services solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses…we have no relationship with the Chinese military,’ the statement read.”
  China tech veterans to launch ‘domestic replacement’ fund amid U.S. sanctions / Reuters
  China in response to possible SMIC sanctions says U.S. bullying firms / Reuters
• China’s new data security initiative
  China to launch initiative to set global data-security rules / WSJ (paywall)
  Graham Webster on Twitter: “Sight unseen, hard to guess whether this gets any traction. But this story suggests China proposing a global set of ideas compatible with its system, whereas counterpart U.S. initiative pushes a ‘no China club’ with vague or missing substantive principles.”
  中方提出《全球数据安全倡议》 / 中华人民共和国外交部
  Translation: China proposes ‘global data security initiative’ / New America
  Translation: China’s ‘data security law (draft)’ / New America
  Related, on The China Project: Mike Pompeo proposes American Great Firewall to keep out Chinese technology.
• China says its secretive spacecraft had successful launch and is reusable
  Reusable Chinese spacecraft lands successfully: state media / Reuters
  China’s mystery experimental spacecraft ‘could be part of Shenlong space plane project’ / SCMP
• Nongfu Spring surges 54% on first day of trading
  China’s leading bottled water-maker sparkles in Hong Kong IPO / Caixin (paywall)
  Jump in hottest Hong Kong IPO makes founder China’s second richest / Bloomberg via Yahoo
• Biggest wheat farmers sold 20% less this year as of August 31
  China’s farmers hoard wheat in wager that shortages will push prices even higher / Caixin (paywall)
• GM sold more EVs in China than Tesla in August
  GM venture’s mini car becomes China’s most sold EV, surpassing Tesla’s Model 3 / Reuters
• Beyond Meat ramps up production in China
  Beyond Meat signs deal to open production facility near Shanghai / Reuters
• Private equity controversy around Ant Group
  Private equity firm accused of selling Aant Group stake to chairman’s siblings / Caixin (paywall)
  Ant Group reveals stake owned by Primavera Capital chairman’s siblings / Caixin
  Ant Group’s colony / The Wire China
  “Who will benefit most from” Ant Group’s IPO.  
• ByteDance rewards employees at home, looks to hire influencer manager for Nigeria
  ByteDance to hand out cash bonuses to staff amid U.S. pressure on TikTok / Reuters
  Facing the prospect of getting booted out of the U.S., TikTok looks to expand in Africa / China-Africa Project
• Exports rising
  China says August exports beat expectations, jumping 9.5% from a year ago / CNBC

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• 23 consecutive days of no local transmission: Official numbers
  China reports 10 new COVID-19 cases for September 7 / Reuters
• WHO takes Chinese feedback on vaccine approval
  WHO says working with China on requirements for COVID vaccine approval / Reuters
• Wuhan’s Huanan seafood market remains closed to the public
  Nothing to see: COVID origins off-limits as China’s Wuhan touts recovery / Reuters

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Crackdown in Inner Mongolia
  China detains 23 in crackdown on Inner Mongolia protests / AP
  China detains hundreds for ‘rumor-mongering’ amid Mongolian schools protests / Radio Free Asia
  Context on The China Project: Ethnic Mongols protest Beijing’s push for Mandarin-only classes.
• Mulan faces boycott over Xinjiang filming
  Disney’s ‘Mulan’ criticized for filming in Xinjiang / NYT (porous paywall)
  Disney remake of Mulan criticized for filming in Xinjiang / Guardian
  Disney’s magical thinking won’t keep politics away from ‘Mulan’ / Nikkei
  ‘Mulan’ has a message: Serve China and forget about the Uyghurs / Foreign Policy (porous paywall)
  Asian activists boycott Disney’s ‘Mulan’ citing China’s nationalist propaganda, censorship and police brutality / Hong Kong Free Press
• U.S. will try to ban all Xinjiang cotton
  U.S. to block cotton, tomato product imports from China’s Xinjiang over forced labor / Reuters
  U.S. may ban cotton From Xinjiang region of China over rights concerns / NYT (porous paywall)
  Related, on The China Project in July: U.S. sanctions the biggest ‘company’ in Xinjiang.
• Ceremony honoring the “heroes” of the “people’s war” on COVID-19
  President Xi stands besides COVID-19 heroes and hails China’s ‘decisive action’ in containing coronavirus / SCMP
  Trumpets and whispers / China Media Project
  China fights against novel coronavirus epidemic / Xinhua
  习近平在全国抗击新冠肺炎疫情表彰大会上发表重要讲话 / Xinhua
  A collection of 19 headlines that Xinhua produced from the same speech Xi Jinping gave at the commemoration ceremony.
• Unusual back-to-back military drills
  China to hold more military drills off northeast, east coasts / Reuters
• Message from Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi
  Indonesia to U.S., China: Don’t trap us in your rivalry / Reuters
• Taiwan calls for alliance of democracies as Czech president rebukes senate speaker
  Eyeing China, Taiwan urges alliance against ‘aggressive actions’ / Reuters
  Czech president tries to tamp down China anger after speaker’s Taiwan trip / Reuters
• Rural transformation: Forced relocation and poverty alleviation
  Countryside fit for a superpower? Inside China’s colossal rural revamp / Guardian
  Related on The China Project: In China’s countryside, housing complexes are built to be torn down.
  Related Sinica Podcast: Poverty eradication by 2020: A reality check.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Big Brother retreats a little
  Suzhou backtracks on ‘civility code’ for monitoring residents / Sixth Tone
  “The eastern Chinese city still plans to roll out a policy — currently in a trial phase — to track people’s daily habits, but an official says there have been ‘slight misunderstandings about the system.’”
• Digital self-help apps
  A wave of therapy apps is shaping how China’s rising middle class see themselves and the world / Rest of World
• Chinese schools abroad
  China’s first international school opens in Dubai / Sixth Tone
• Chinese food in America
  In Louisiana, love for a Chinese restaurant and its magnetic owner / NYT (porous paywall)