Links for Monday, October 5, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

The European Union and the United States could partner to deal with China-related issues, but only if Joe Biden wins the U.S. presidency, reports Stuart Lau of the South China Morning Post. If Trump wins a second term, “the general consensus in the EU is that it should prepare for another four years of anti-European rhetoric from the White House, leaving transatlantic ties in the worst shape since the end of the Cold War.” Lau quotes former diplomats and others to support this conclusion:

• “It will be easier to cooperate with the EU than it has been during the current administration, because no one has wanted to do Donald Trump any favors… We now have a possible moment where the U.S. and EU can actually agree on many issues with regard to trade and China,” said Anthony Gardner, U.S. ambassador to the EU from 2014 to 2017.
• “‘When Pompeo talks about human rights, nobody believes he actually cares about it,’ said David O’Sullivan, who was the EU ambassador to the U.S. until last year, even though these topics — from Uyghur Muslims to Hong Kong — are ‘issues of genuine concern.’”
• “If we have in the future a professional partner in Washington again, then this will enormously facilitate ways in which to deal with the China challenge,” said Volker Stanzel, former German ambassador to China and Japan.

None of this should be surprising. Trump, with his hyperfocus on trade issues and outdated understanding of economics, said last year of the EU: “The barriers they have up are terrible, terrible. In many ways, worse than China.”

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Germany and Greece sour on Huawei
  A Huawei turning point / WSJ (paywall)
  In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal says, “Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet reportedly is preparing legislation that could phase out Huawei as a 5G supplier in Germany. While not an outright ban, the bill would create an approval process that likely would keep the Chinese firm out of German networks. Some of the law’s details may change but Washington appears confident.”
  Greece joins ‘anti-Huawei camp’ as U.S. seals stronger ties / Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)
• TikTok and WeChat updates
  China says U.S. and Indian bans on TikTok, WeChat broke WTO rules / SCMP
  Former Chinese government official ran TikTok’s content policy as app went global / FT (paywall)
  “Cai Zheng, who worked in China’s embassy in Tehran for four years according to a now deleted LinkedIn profile, ran ByteDance’s global content policy team in Beijing until early this year, when the company accelerated a move to let its biggest markets make their own decisions about what videos should be removed.”
  U.S. appeals injunction against WeChat ban / NYT (porous paywall)
  TikTok deal ‘likely to slip past U.S. election’ as Donald Trump battles coronavirus / Bloomberg via SCMP
  WeChat, wild rumors and all, is their lifeline. Washington may end that. / NYT (porous paywall)
  The clock is ticking on the TikTok-ByteDance SEA expansion / The Ken
  “Armed with the most downloaded app in Southeast Asia, localization and monetization strategies, and fintech ambitions, ByteDance wants to crack the region. But it’s already trailing competitors in a crowded space.”
• Third China International Import Expo (CIIE) scheduled for November 5 in Shanghai
  China to hold import expo on schedule, committed to further opening-up / Xinhua
  共赴东方之约 共迎复苏之机——写在第三届进博会倒计时一个月之际 / Xinhua
• PipeChina began operation on October 1
  China’s newly formed oil pipeline operator starts operation / Caixin
• New Zealand dairy giant sells China farms
  New Zealand’s Fonterra to sell China dairy farms for $368 million to focus on home markets / Reuters
  New Zealand’s Fonterra sells money-losing Chinese farms for $370m / Nikkei Asian Review
• Hainan plans airport, highway building spree
  Hainan to build comprehensive transport system by 2025 / Xinhua
  “By 2025, Hainan will have five civilian airports… The plan also targets 40 million passenger trips a year for Hainan’s high-speed railways and 40,000 km of highways in the province.”
• British finance minister calls for “hard-headed” and “transactional” China policy
  UK must be hard-headed in relationship with China – Sunak / Reuters
• Trump approves more mining of rare earth metals
  U.S. steps up efforts to counter China’s dominance of minerals key to electric cars, phones / WSJ (paywall)
  “Last week President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and authorizing the use of the Defense Production Act to speed the development of mines…[analysts] caution it takes around 10 years to set up a mine and that the West also needs to develop the capability to process these resources into the materials used in final products.”
• Enthusiasm for Jifu Medical technology
  Chinese capsule endoscope maker raises dozens of millions of dollars / 36Kr via Nikkei Asian Review

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Still no local transmission of COVID-19
  Mainland China reports 20 new COVID-19 cases, up from 16 a day earlier / Reuters
• Lanzhou compensates some victims of bacterial disease
  Lanzhou brucellosis patients to receive payouts from factory / Sixth Tone
  Related, in Caixin last month: Northwest China’s Lanzhou finally recognizes extent of last year’s brucellosis outbreak.

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Former ambassador to Australia strikes more conciliatory tone
  Top China diplomat urges end to ‘confrontation’ / Australian Financial Review
  Fù Yíng 傅莹, the former Chinese ambassador to Australia (and later ambassador to the U.K.), told the Australian Financial Review: “Both countries need to show their sincerity and courage to get out of the current dilemma.”
  Related, on The China Project: Beijing accuses Canberra of ‘barbaric’ treatment of Chinese citizens, Australian citizen and TV host detained.
• Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 Thought now required learning at some elite colleges
  Xi joins Marx and Mao as required course at China’s top colleges / Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)
  “This looks to be in preparation of next July’s centennial of the formation of the Communist Party of China.”
• Preview of Quad meeting on October 6
  U.S., Australia, India, Japan to discuss China’s growing power / AP
• Majority of Americans don’t buy Trump’s “China plague” excuse for COVID-19 failures
  Americans fault U.S. government over foreign powers for virus crisis / AP
  “Although many see plenty of blame to go around and there’s a wide bipartisan divide over who is responsible, 56% of Americans say the U.S. government has substantial responsibility for the situation. That compares with 47% who place that much blame on the governments of other countries and only 39% who say the same about the World Health Organization.”
• London Muslim community objects to China embassy plans
  Pressure on China’s Royal Mint embassy plans at Tower Hill over plight of its Uyghur Muslims / East London Advertiser
  “Tower Hamlets has the highest proportion of Muslims of any local authority area in Britain, at 38 percent.”
  China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims sparks anger near new embassy site in London / CNN
• The future of Catholicism in Hong Kong
  Cardinal Zen returns to Hong Kong after failing to meet the Pope / HKFP
  Cardinal Joseph Zen [陳日君 Chén Rìjūn] “said he had journeyed to Rome in the hopes of persuading Pope Francis to appoint a new bishop for Hong Kong, who ‘can be trusted by the people’ and not be mired in political considerations related to a desire to appease Beijing.”
• Deadly traffic accident in Jilin Province
  Multi-vehicle crash on northeast Chinese highway kills 18 / AP

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Livestreamers specializing in middle-aged and elderly matchmaking
  Chinese online dating groups help elderly find love and companionship / SCMP
• Looking back at a Republican-era controversy over Forbidden City treasures
  Journey to the south: How China saved its most precious artifacts / Sixth Tone
  “In 1931, as the prospect of a Japanese invasion of China loomed large, the director of the country’s palace museum hatched a controversial plan to spirit its collection to safety.”
• Reopening of temples in Shanghai
  How old beliefs are adapting to China’s ‘new normal’ / Sixth Tone