Links for Friday, October 16, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

The U.S. hard-line turn toward China this year is the subject of a Wall Street Journal article today, which suggests that “three big changes account for the administration’s shift”:

• After a limited trade deal with Beijing was secured in January, Mr. Trump’s political calculations changed and he now sees a tougher China policy as good for his reelection campaign.

• Different and harder-line China advisers to the president came to prominence this year after the coronavirus pandemic emerged out of China.

• The Chinese government’s assertive actions in Hong Kong and elsewhere incensed administration officials and Congress.

Administration officials said there wasn’t any single event or meeting that saw Trump decide to approve so many anti-China actions this year, but one official did tell the WSJ that “Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian’s tweet in March of an unsubstantiated theory that U.S. soldiers may have brought the coronavirus to China enraged Trump more than anything else.”

More good reads on U.S.-China relations this week:

• Beijing believes Trump is accelerating American decline / Foreign Policy
  Rush Doshi argues, “While Chinese leaders may wish for a reprieve from President Donald Trump’s recent aggressiveness, they also believe that he has weakened American power and accelerated American decline. It is this latter judgement that is more consequential, encouraging Beijing to challenge Washington not only in Asia but globally, too.”
• How to avoid a war between America and China / Foreign Affairs
  Julian Gewirtz writes, “What many Americans see as disruptive effects attributable only to Trump’s presidency are, to China’s current rulers, a profound vindication of their darkest earlier assessments.”

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Brazil considers banning Huawei
  Brazil’s president weighs Huawei ban from 5G network, cabinet member says / Bloomberg via Caixin
• European Competitive Telecommunications Association warns against telecom bans
  Europe telecoms lobby group ‘denounces’ bans on Chinese vendors / Reuters
• Squeezing Australian industry
  Australian cotton the latest casualty in trade tensions with China / Australian ABC
  China’s economic squeeze on Australia extends to cotton / WSJ (paywall)
  “China buys around 65% of Australia’s cotton crop, according to industry figures, a trade worth some $600 million a year.”
  Canberra ‘keeping the door open’ as questions swirl over coal import ban / SCMP
  “Canberra has used a less antagonistic tone with Beijing over a new ban on Australian coal, former diplomats and China watchers say.”
• Ford reports fast sales
  Ford’s third-quarter China sales rise 25% year-on-year to 164,352 vehicles / Reuters
• Hong Kong–involved banks in the Trump administration crosshairs
  China threatens countermeasures for U.S. sanctions warning to banks over Hong Kong / Reuters
  “The U.S. State Department on Wednesday warned international financial institutions doing business with individuals deemed responsible for China’s crackdown in Hong Kong that they could soon face tough sanctions.”
• TikTok court case
  TikTok asks judge to halt November ban in US, citing ‘irreparable harm’ / SCMP
  TikTok rivals seek to exploit U.S. action, lawyers say in court filings / WSJ
  Walmart CEO says TikTok deal would help make social media more shoppable / CNBC
• EU tariffs on Chinese aluminum extrusions
  EU imposes tariffs on aluminium products from China / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Qingdao COVID-19 outbreak details
  Qingdao COVID-19 flare-up stems from failed hospital disinfection measure / Caixin (paywall)
  “The Qingdao municipal government said at a press conference Friday that investigations into the latest Covid-19 outbreak in the port city in Shandong province have found that the source of the flare-up was two infected port workers who contaminated a CT scan room at a local hospital shared with public ward patients, which subsequently caused a cluster infection inside the hospital.”
  City in China tests 10 million people after 13 COVID-19 cases are found / NPR
  “In the past five days, health authorities say they conducted more than 10 million coronavirus tests of all Qingdao residents, all of which came back negative.”
• University of Hong Kong scientists identify drug that could help treat COVID-19
  Off-the-shelf ulcer drug could help ease COVID-19, research shows / Caixin (paywall)
• Cost of one of China’s COVID-19 vaccines
  Sinovac coronavirus vaccine offered by Chinese city for emergency use costs $60 / Reuters

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Restrictions on the Hajj
  Beijing bans personal pilgrimages to Mecca for Chinese Muslims / SCMP
  Compare with a Global Times report from 2017: Chinese government goes to great lengths to help Muslims go on the Hajj.
• EU cancels November meeting on China policy
  Merkel: EU summit on China called off as virus resurges / AP
• The “clean plate” campaign continues
  Xi’s ‘clean plate’ campaign spurs legislation to outlaw wasting food / Caixin (paywall)
  “The National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the top decision-making body of China’s national legislature, has been debating a draft bill — tentatively titled Anti-Food Waste Law ― during a legislative session this week in Beijing.”
• Baloch separatist groups attack in Gwadar, Pakistan
  Pakistani militants opposing Belt and Road kill 14 security men / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• Human rights activism around the Beijing 2022 Olympics
  More questions on human rights for Beijing Winter Olympics / AP
  “The [World Uyghur Congress] and other human-rights groups sent an open letter a month ago to IOC President Thomas Bach, asking that the games be removed from China. In reply, the IOC arranged an on-line meeting last week that included groups representing Tibet, Hong Kong and others.”
  Last month on The China Project: Human rights groups protest Beijing 2022 Olympics over oppression of Uyghurs and Hongkongers.
• Southeast Asia diplomacy and messaging
  With eye on China, Japan’s Suga seeks tighter ties with Vietnam, Indonesia / Reuters
  As Thailand’s pro-democracy protesters rally, Wang Yi opens China’s arms to Prayuth’s embattled government / SCMP
  How China’s infodemic spreads to Taiwan and Southeast Asia / Doublethink Lab
  “Taiwan serves as one of the critical nodes in disseminating COVID-19 disinformation from China to Southeast Asia.”
• U.S. concern over medical data privacy
  Trump administration blocked Chinese acquisition of fertility clinic over medical data concerns / CNBC
• South China Sea
  Philippines lifts ban on South China Sea energy exploration / AP
  Philippines says it will defend oil search in disputed seas / AP
• Hong Kong updates
  In Hong Kong, Communist Party officials stride out of the shadows / NYT (porous paywall)
  Arrest warrants issued for fugitive Hong Kong activists Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung over banned Tiananmen vigil / HKFP
  Taipei restaurant supporting Hong Kong protesters trashed / HKFP

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Domestic violence accusations against Olympic sprinter Zhāng Péiméng 张培萌
  Chinese Olympic athlete accused of domestic abuse / Sixth Tone
• Cultural Revolution drama finally gets approval
  Cut by a minute, Zhang Yimou film ‘One Second’ secures China release / Sixth Tone
  “Regulators have finally approved the renowned director’s long-delayed Cultural Revolution drama, which is said to be 60 seconds shorter than when it was abruptly withdrawn from last year’s Berlin International Film Festival.”
• New book about how technology is transforming rural China
  The untold technological revolution sweeping through rural China / NYT (porous paywall)
  A review of Blockchain Chicken Farm, by Xiaowei Wang.
• Wuhan farmer who kept food prices down recognized by UN
  U.N. recognizes hero who fought high food prices at ground zero of the pandemic / Caixin