Links for Thursday, October 15, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

“‘If I speak out, they will torture my family’: voices of Uyghurs in exile” is the title of a new Economist article (porous paywall):

The Chinese authorities are taking no chances with the Uyghurs… Of the 500 or so Uyghurs in Britain today, only four or five have even a slender public profile. The [surveillance and intimidation] effort trained on a single individual serves a wider purpose. When one Uyghur is threatened, the whole community grows watchful.

See also the cover story of the latest issue of the Economist: The persecution of the Uyghurs is a crime against humanity. Beijing will not be amused.

Household debt is rapidly rising in China: The Wall Street Journal reports:

Among the largest 10 economies in the world, China’s household debt to GDP ratio has risen by far the most rapidly in recent years: It is 31.6 percentage points higher than it was 10 years ago, far above Canada’s second-place 10.1 percentage point increase. U.S. household debt to GDP is down by nearly 20 percentage points, declining from high levels reached shortly after the global financial crisis.

The implication is that “still-rising household debt may continue to drag on consumer spending in the medium to long term, with a greater portion of incomes redirected to interest.” That makes a key economic goal of the government more difficult to reach. See on The China Project: Xi says China must develop domestic market and tech to withstand external shocks.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Consumer Price Index rises 1.7
  China’s inflation hit 19-month low in September as pork prices cool / SCMP
• Dutch semiconductor company defends selling less-advanced tech to China
  Chip equipment giant ASML says some sales to China don’t require U.S. license / Caixin (paywall)
• Taobao Taiwan to cease operations on December 31
  Told to register as a mainland-based company, Taobao Taiwan decides to shut down / Caixin (paywall)
  “‘Alibaba businesses are operating as normal in the Taiwan market, and we will continue to serve local consumers with quality products through our Taobao app,’ a spokesperson for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. told Caixin.”
• Mobile phone manufacturer Oppo aims for 10% to 15% European market share  
  China’s Oppo makes play for European growth as Huawei slips / Nikkei Asian Review via Caixin
• The Sinovation Disrupt Fund
  Kai Fu Lee’s Sinovation Ventures seeks $1 billion for new fund / DealStreetAsia via Caixin (paywall)
• Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble to start within “weeks”
  Singapore, Hong Kong unveil travel bubble that scraps quarantine / Bloomberg via Caixin
• Miniso IPO
  Chinese retailer Miniso raises $608 million in IPO / AP
  On The China Project last week: Muji copycat Miniso to IPO in New York.

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Heads roll after Qingdao COVID-19 outbreak
  Chinese city of Qingdao punishes two officials over coronavirus cluster / Reuters
  “The Chinese city of Qingdao said on Thursday it had suspended its health commission head and sacked a hospital director following an outbreak of coronavirus infections that ended China’s run of about two months without reporting a local case.”
  Related, on The China Project: China to test nine million Qingdao residents after 12 COVID-19 cases detected.
• Sinopharm distributes unapproved vaccine to students
  China drugmaker gives unproven COVID-19 vaccine to students going abroad / WSJ (paywall)
  “China National Biotec Group Co., a division of state-owned Sinopharm that is developing two COVID-19 vaccines, was giving them free to Chinese students planning to study abroad, according to a company website and students who applied for it… The application process on Sinopharm’s website didn’t tell registrants that its vaccines haven’t completed clinical trials, although those who spoke to The Wall Street Journal said they were aware of that when they applied.”
  Chinese company offers coronavirus vaccine to students / AP
• Dozens of students contracted tuberculosis at Jiangsu Normal University
  College tuberculosis outbreak raises questions of potential cover-up / Caixin (paywall)
• COVID-19 test kits in Nevada
  U.S. warned Nevada not to use Chinese COVID tests from UAE / AP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• China defends Tibet labor program
  China defends Tibet labor program, urges against overdoing religion / Reuters
  Che Dhala, chairman of the Tibet region, said there was “no element of coercion” in the labor programs, and added, “As long as they work hard to get rich, listen to the Party, follow the Party, and get down to doing things, their future will be more beautiful.”
  China angered as U.S. names human rights envoy for Tibet / Reuters
  China Focus: In historical feat, Tibet eliminates absolute poverty / Xinhua
  Related, on The China Project: A mass labor program in Tibet appears to follow Xinjiang model.
• Chinese spies in Australia?
  ASIO foils plot to infiltrate Australian government / Sydney Morning Herald
  “The domestic spy agency ASIO has foiled a plot by foreign intelligence operatives to recruit senior government staffers to provide classified information about Australia’s counterespionage activities… While ASIO did not name countries which have been most involved in espionage and foreign interference against Australia, China is believed to be the country Australian security agencies are most concerned about.”
• Zambia debt crisis
  China is now a key player in Zambia’s worsening debt crisis / China-Africa Project
  “We’ll know next week if Zambia is going to be the first African country this year to default on part of its debt, or if it’ll get the repayment reprieve it’s been asking for. It’s clear that the country’s financial fate now largely rests with China.”
  Related op-ed by Simon Wolfe on The China Project: China must save Zambia from imminent default. No one else can.
• India-China border standoff
  India rejects China criticism of development of border area / AP
  China-India relations: Beijing stresses that it does not recognize Ladakh / SCMP
• Hong Kong police continue Jimmy Lai investigation
  Hong Kong police raids outspoken media tycoon’s office / AP
  “Lai’s aide Mark Simon wrote in a post on Twitter that 14 police officers visited Lai’s office and confiscated documents.”
  On The China Project in August: Police arrest media baron Jimmy Lai in a ‘direct assault on Hong Kong’s press freedom.’
• U.S. in the Taiwan Strait
  U.S. destroyer sails through Taiwan Strait, prompting angry riposte from Beijing / AFP via HKFP

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• KFC jumps on the snail noodles bandwagon
  KFC to serve self-heating snail noodle dishes / Radii China
  Related, on The China Project: The pandemic food trend taking China by storm.
• Rediscovered photographs from 1980s Beijing and Datong
  Beijing 1986: Portraits of a forgotten China / FT (paywall)
• Can China stop street con artists?
  China tells ‘porcelain-bumping’ con artists to knock it off / Sixth Tone