Links for Wednesday, September 30, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Could China’s official vaccine rollout start in October? While hundreds of thousands of people have already been vaccinated outside of clinical trials in China, alarming many health experts, a more official rollout could begin in the next month.

Hé Yìwǔ 何亦武, the chief innovation officer at the University of Hong Kong, tells Peter Hessler of the New Yorker that he “expects that China National Biotec Group, or C.N.B.G., a Beijing-based pharmaceutical company that is the country’s largest vaccine manufacturer, will announce some level of approval for a coronavirus vaccine in October.”

More vaccine-related news:

• China greenlights another COVID-19 vaccine for human testing / WSJ (paywall)
  “Chinese drugmaker Shenzhen Kangtai will test its vaccine on people after showing it protected mice and monkeys from coronavirus.”
• China to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the world at reasonable price: spokesperson / Xinhua
• Why China’s bet on ‘analogue’ COVID-19 vaccines could pay off / SCMP

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• EU-China business tensions
  Beijing’s EU envoy criticises unfriendly business environment for Chinese companies / SCMP
  EU leaders will call for rebalancing relationship with China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Behind China’s decade of European deals, state investors evade notice / WSJ (paywall)
  “Of 650 Chinese investments in Europe since 2010, roughly 40% have high or moderate involvement by state-owned or state-controlled companies, including some in advanced technologies, according to new research by Dutch consulting firm Datenna BV.”
• Managing financial risk
  China to set new rules to keep ‘too big to fail’ banks from bringing down financial system / Caixin (paywall)
• Alibaba’s future “main business” to be profitable soon
  Alibaba expects cloud business to turn profitable for the first time within the next few months / CNBC
• Evergrande updates
  China Evergrande reaches debt deal to relieve deadline pressure / Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)
  China Evergrande rises 17.9% after deal with Hengda investors, unit applies listing / Reuters
  China evaluates ways to contain Evergrande financial risks / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Golden Week: How much economic activity will take place?
  China’s cities gain from pandemic travel bans during Golden Week / Quartz
  Macau’s Golden Week gambling surge in question with Chinese staying home / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Ahead of National Day, Didi braces for impact / Sixth Tone
• BeiDou-enabled technology
  As it pushes homegrown satellite navigation system, government also starts pushing products / Caixin (paywall)
• Baidu interests in online tutoring and smart devices
  Baidu-backed online tutor Zuoyebang seeks new funding at $10 billion valuation: sources / Reuters
  Baidu fundraising puts $3 billion value on smart device business / Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Merkel praises Xi’s carbon neutral pledge as “very ambitious”
  Germany welcomes China climate goals, wants more EU action / AP
• Uneven progress on air pollution
  China’s air quality gains ain’t what they used to be, report shows / Caixin (paywall)
• UN biodiversity summit in New York
  All eyes on China: what to look out for at the UN biodiversity summit / Guardian
  Xi Focus: Xi calls for enhancing biodiversity conservation, global environmental governance / Xinhua
  习近平在联合国生物多样性峰会上发表重要讲话 / Xinhua

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• U.S., Japan, Australia, and India foreign ministers to meet on October 6
  Pompeo to make Japan trip for Indo-Pacific ‘Quad’ meeting in show of unity to China / Bloomberg via SCMP
• Beijing declares mission accomplished in Hong Kong, but resistance continues
  Beijing’s Liaison Office chief Luo Huining says security legislation ended unrest in Hong Kong / HKFP
  Hong Kong gov’t warns workers not to join banned National Day demo, says 46 civil servants arrested for ‘illegal activities’ / HKFP
  Organiser of banned Oct. 1 demo urges Hongkongers to wear black, as Beijing claims ‘terrorist attacks’ planned / HKFP
• Trump refuses to accept responsibility for mishandling COVID-19, blames China instead
  Presidential debate: Donald Trump blames ‘China plague’ for U.S. economic woes / SCMP
• Mike Pompeo in Rome
  Pompeo delivers warning to Italy over China’s economic influence, 5G / Reuters
  Pompeo, in Rome, pushes criticism of religious freedom in China / Reuters
  Pompeo urges Vatican to condemn human rights abuses in China / AP
• Xinjiang and Uyghurs
  Uyghurs could be allowed to seek genocide ruling against China in UK / Guardian
  German chancellor accuses Beijing of ‘cruel treatment’ of minorities / AFP
  “She did not name the minorities bearing the brunt of poor treatment but activists have accused China over the mass internment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.”
  Editorial: China’s Xi is doubling down on genocide / Washington Post
  Related, on The China Project: China’s Xinjiang policy is ‘completely correct,’ Xi Jinping says.
• Taiwan criticizes performers for marking China’s National Day
  Taiwan threatens to punish singers Angela Chang and Ouyang Nana for taking part in mainland Chinese celebration / SCMP
  Taiwanese celebrities who bow to China: A tempest in a teapot / Taiwan Sentinel
• 17-year-old climate activist briefly detained in Shanghai
  Greta Thunberg criticises China after climate striker Ou Hongyi held over protest / SCMP
• Taiwan updates
  U.S., Taiwan to team up on infrastructure in pushback against China / Reuters
  Beijing blocking Wikipedia from United Nations intellectual property agency over Taiwan is resistance against ‘Western values’, analysts say / SCMP
  Taiwan defence chief says no signs China is preparing for war / Reuters
  How Taiwan’s digital minister went from hacking to helping build a digital democracy / Rest of World

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Warning to adventurous tourists
  China clamps down on climbing ‘wild Great Wall’ / BBC
• Profile of an Australian-Chinese writer and social activist
  NüProfile: Jinghua Qian on why “China-watching” is problematic, inclusion and un-belonging in Australia / NüVoices
• PhD program reform
  China improves supervisor reassignment for doctoral candidates / Sixth Tone