Links for Monday, September 28, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Hikvision boxed out in Brazil: The Chinese surveillance technology company has lost a legal battle with Brazillian SOE Infraero to participate in a bidding process for a project at Congonhas Airport, the second-busiest airport in the country. Instead, a “Bosch / Genetec / Dell solution” is being installed. The research consultancy IPVM has a write-up on the case, with this conclusion:

PRC government entities only have a 41% interest in Hikvision, thus Infraero’s statement confirms that Hikvision was unwilling, or unable to produce the required declaration guaranteeing the confidentiality of data recorded by its cameras…

Despite having a production center in Manaus and courting local politicians, Hikvision continues to have challenges competing at the highest, enterprise level of Brazilian video surveillance.

Similar to the U.S. NDAA, in Brazil, as is the case in Chile, cybersecurity and perceived vulnerabilities with Hikvision’s technology dissuade would-be end-users from deploying the PRC-controlled manufacturer’s solutions.

While Hikvision has benefited immensely from its PRC government ownership, it is also increasingly facing challenges, viewed not as a private-sector security manufacturer, but as an arm of the PRC government.

Vaccine emergency authorization: “China’s rush has bewildered global experts,” Sui-Lee Wee writes at the New York Times.

No other country has injected people with unproven vaccines outside the usual drug trial process to such a huge scale…

The unproven vaccines could have harmful side effects…

The wide use of vaccines also raises issues of consent, especially for employees of Chinese vaccine makers and state-owned companies who might feel pressure to roll up their sleeves. The companies have asked people taking the vaccines to sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing them from talking about it to the news media.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, at least 350,000 people have been vaccinated in China outside of clinical trials.

Related stories:

• High hopes, sober assessments: China’s COVID-19 vaccines discussed / What’s on Weibo
• China has been vaccinating essential workers since July 22 / The China Project

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Microcredit companies scale back loans as they wait for interpretation of August 20 ruling
  Top court’s interest-rate ruling sends shockwaves through financial sector / Caixin (paywall)
  “The ruling was well intentioned, aimed at lowering borrowing costs especially for small businesses who struggle to get financing…But it has left many grey areas that have triggered concern in the industry, such as whether banks and microcredit lenders are covered, whether the ruling is retroactive, and even whether the formula used to determine the ceiling is appropriate.”
  Related, in Reuters: China to tighten supervision of country’s booming online insurance business.
• Has Evergrande started to get a handle on its debt?
  China Evergrande shares jump on debt reduction progress / Reuters
  Property developer China Evergrande erases market losses / WSJ (paywall)
  Related, on The China Project: Is indebted real estate developer Evergrande Group seeking government support?
• Economic plateau?
  China’s rebound lost momentum in September, early data show / Bloomberg via Caixin
  “The aggregate index combining eight indicators tracked by Bloomberg this month slipped into contraction, compared to accelerated expansion in August.”
  China’s factory activity likely grew at slightly faster pace in September: Reuters poll / Reuters
  Sick of staying home: China expects a Golden Week tourism rebound / Reuters
  China’s leaders to endorse lower 2021-2025 growth target at key meeting: sources / Reuters
  Crowds at the Beijing Auto Show signal China’s spenders are back / NYT (porous paywall)
  Related, on The China Project: Chinese economy sees ‘robust rebound’.
• U.S. companies challenge “unbounded and unlimited trade war”
  Some 3,500 U.S. companies sue over Trump-imposed Chinese tariffs / Reuters
• Electric vehicles
  Volkswagen, Chinese ventures to invest 15 billion euros in electric vehicles / Reuters
  China’s biggest automaker SAIC to have nearly 100 new EV models by 2025 / Reuters
  Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng receives investment to build production base in Guangzhou / Caixin
• China Investment Corp (CIC) reports 17.4% net return
  China sovereign wealth fund bounced back with second-best ever performance in 2019 / Caixin (paywall)
• XtalPi raises $320 million
  Firm that hunts for drugs with AI and quantum physics sets funding record / Caixin (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Beijing city government promises to protect health whistleblowers
  Beijing unveils new protections for health emergency whistleblowers / Reuters
  “Workers could in urgent situations skip the chain of command and report health risks directly to the local government, [the Beijing city government] said, and as long as their intent was not ‘malicious’, they would not face punishment if information turned out to be false.”
• One case of bubonic plague in Yunnan
  Bubonic plague strikes in remote southwest China / Caixin (paywall)
• Fear of frozen food from foreign countries
  Beijing asks frozen food importers to shun countries with severe coronavirus / Reuters
• Satellite launches
  Secretive Chinese launch sends two remote sensing satellites into orbit / SpaceNews

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Fifth plenum to be held October 26–29
  China’s Communist Party to hold key meeting in late October / Reuters
  CPC leadership meets to discuss document for review at 5th plenum of 19th CPC Central Committee / Xinhua
  中共中央政治局召开会议 习近平主持 / Xinhua
  The China Project translation of part of one sentence from the Chinese report: “In the face of the tangled and complicated international situation and the formidable and arduous tasks of domestic reform, development, and stability, especially in the face of the severe impact of COVID-19, the Party central committee — with comrade Xi Jinping at its core — will calmly take stock of the situation, unite and lead the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country to forge ahead, pioneer and innovate, work hard to promote the Party and the country’s various undertakings, and make decisive achievements in the building of a well-off society in all respects and in fighting poverty.”
• Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟 case continues in Vancouver
  Case to extradite Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to U.S. resumes / Guardian
  Huawei CFO case back in Canadian court on Monday / AP
  U.S. misled Canadian court about its case against Meng Wanzhou so badly she must be freed, say her lawyers / SCMP
• Second month in a row with concurrent military exercises
  China holds simultaneous military drills in four seas, again / Reuters
  Chinese military holds drills near Paracel Islands for a third time this year / SCMP
• Global mayors alliance reverts to using “Chinese Taipei” for Taiwan city names after EU pressure
  With EU help, Taiwan gets rare win in China naming dispute / Reuters
  “Over the weekend, Taiwan officials expressed anger after the Brussels-based Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy began listing on its website its six Taiwan member cities as belonging to China…The European Union ‘helped us in this effort’, [Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph] Wu told parliament, without giving details.”
• China-Cuba diplomacy
  Xi eyes permanent friendship with Cuba / Xinhua
  习近平同古巴领导人就中古建交60周年互致贺电 / Xinhua
• Vatican navigates U.S.-China divide
  Pope cancels Pompeo meeting as China bishops deal up for renewal / SCMP
  “The Holy See told U.S. diplomats that the Pope’s planned meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had to be cancelled because it might be seen as a sign of support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign…But Pompeo’s criticism of the Vatican’s continued talks with Beijing might have also been a factor.”
• Investigation after coal mine incident in Chongqing
  Coal mine incident leaves 16 dead / Caixin
• American voters care more about pandemic than China
  Battleground voters not buying Trump’s tough talk on China, new poll shows / NBC News

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Gaming: Month-long League of Legends tournament kicks off
  How Shanghai summoned the world’s esports athletes amid COVID-19 / Sixth Tone
• Profile of folk rock band Wu Tiao Ren
  The band that rocked China’s internet / Sixth Tone
• The soft electronic music of Wáng Xīxī 王西西
  West by west / Neocha