Links for Thursday, October 29, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Steve Bannon’s billionaire funder Guō Wénguì 郭文贵 “claims to be a foe of the Chinese Communist Party, but his targets are fellow exiles,” writes Nick Aspinwall in Foreign Policy (porous paywall):

A prominent Chinese dissident pulls his children from school and flees his Texas home. A California-based democracy activist faces days of threats and harassment from protesters gathered in his driveway. Both were targets on a hit list of dissidents released last month by the exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, who has claimed without evidence they are spies from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“Let’s eliminate traitors in the world,” a cigar-wielding Guo told his followers in a video posted online last month. “Let’s get started, let’s finish with these traitors first.”

…The actions of Guo and his followers have drawn the attention of the FBI, rebukes from Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and a flurry of suspicion as to what the billionaire real estate magnate is actually up to.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Huawei smartphone business to be spared from U.S. crackdown?
  U.S. allows sales of chips to Huawei’s non-5G businesses / FT (paywall)
  Sony receives U.S. license to supply Huawei with key image sensors / Nikkei Asia
  Related The China Project coverage: Huawei is now cut off from advanced semiconductors. What happens next?
• Hangzhou “will consider restricting” facial recognition
  East China internet hub mulls ban on facial recognition in residential areas / Caixin (paywall)
• Hong Kong–owned companies might get legal incentive to expand mainland operations
  Hong Kong Firms Operating in South China May Have Choice of Jurisdiction in Disputes / Caixin (paywall)
• Volkswagen sales grow in China
  Volkswagen returns to profit on Chinese recovery / FT (paywall)
  “The company’s sales in western Europe grew by more than 10 per cent in September compared with the same month last year, and by almost 1 per cent in China, its largest market.”
• Faulty ZTE batteries in Weltmeister Motors electric cars
  Tencent-backed electric-vehicle maker recalls 1,200 cars after three catch fire / Caixin (paywall)
• Patriotic spending expected for Singles’ Day
  Alibaba’s Singles Day 2020: Chinese to shun U.S. brands: AlixPartners / CNBC
  “Sixty-six percent of Chinese consumers say they’ll be shopping for domestic brands over foreign labels during the shopping event, which is held on Nov. 11 each year.”
• $1.6 billion high-speed rail contract in Thailand
  Thailand and China sign delayed deal on Belt and Road rail line / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• ByteDance expands into edtech
  TikTok owner ByteDance launches education technology brand Dali for China / Reuters
• Curbing yuan appreciation
  Chinese banks seen swapping dollars for yuan in forwards to curb gains — traders / Reuters
• Singapore to allow China visitors
  Singapore to lift border curbs for China visitors from November 6 / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Profits at oil firms
  PetroChina third quarter profit surges on recovering oil prices, pipeline spin-off / Reuters
  China’s Sinopec flips to quarterly profit on robust refining business / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Carbon sink analysis finds that some Chinese forests are greener than previously estimated
  Climate change: China’s forest carbon uptake ‘underestimated’ / BBC
• Taiwan remains COVID-free
  Taiwan marks 200 days without domestic COVID-19 infection / AP

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Zambia debt relief
  Zambia Secures China Debt Reprieve Ahead of Bondholder Vote / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  China Development Bank “agreed to defer interest due Oct. 25 for six months, and to reschedule the principal due by the same date over the life of the facility, Zambia’s Finance Ministry said in a statement. The southern African nation has until a Nov. 13 vote to convince holders of its $3 billion in Eurobonds to accept a six-month interest-payment holiday.”
• Garment factory linked to Xinjiang outbreak was part of “industry-based poverty alleviation”
  New COVID-19 outbreak in Xinjiang traced to garment factory / Caixin (paywall)
  “A new cluster of COVID-19 cases spreading in the remote prefecture of Kashgar in far western China was linked to a garment factory designated to lift villagers out of poverty.”
  Large COVID outbreak in China linked to Xinjiang forced labour / Guardian
  The factory “was built in 2018 as part of government ‘poverty alleviation’ efforts, a campaign that researchers and rights advocates describe as coercive.”
  Related The China Project coverage: China reports over 100 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases linked to Xinjiang garment factory.
• U.S. Ambassador-at-Large on Women’s Issues makes remarks on Xinjiang
  U.S. official says UN has ‘lack of curiosity’ on Xinjiang / AP
• Pompeo in Indonesia
  Pompeo urges Indonesia to focus on China’s treatment of Uyghurs / Reuters
  Pompeo to find ‘new ways’ to cooperate with Indonesia in South China Sea / Reuters
• U.S.-China military talks held; maritime security talks to follow
  Chinese, U.S. military chiefs hold crisis communication, says China defense ministry / Reuters
  U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper “said the United States ‘has no intention of creating a military crisis with the Chinese,’” according to a Chinese defense ministry spokesperson.
• Biden delays taking a position on lifting tariffs
  Biden, if elected, would consult allies on future of U.S. tariffs on China – advisers / Reuters
• U.S. status of National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification
  U.S. designates Chinese body a foreign mission, quits local cooperation agreement / Reuters
• WTO chief selection process: U.S. rejects Nigerian-born economist in favor of South Korean trade minister
  U.S. blocks African candidate for WTO chief with eye on China / Nikkei Asia
• Military airpower
  China’s J-20 stealth fighter shown in training dogfight on state television / SCMP
• South China Sea claims by the Philippines
  Philippines building up fleet in South China Sea to counter Chinese / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Philippines paves way to ending oil exploration row with China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Should a famous singer repay his father’s debts?
  A pop star, his deadbeat dad, and a fierce online debate / Sixth Tone
  “Zhōu Zhènnán 周震南 is famous for being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But it turns out his parents are actually blacklisted debtors.”
• Most Chinese students avoided travel to U.S. so far this year
  Chinese students are steering clear of the U.S. / Quartz
  “Overall visits to the U.S. from people on student visas fell by 61% in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Commerce… The biggest drop from any country came from China, with student visa visits falling by almost 70%.”
• Obituary of San Francisco restaurant pioneer
  Cecilia Chiang, who brought authentic Chinese food to America, dies at 100 / NYT (porous paywall)
  Chiang’s restaurant, called the Mandarin, “became a shrine for such food-world luminaries as James Beard, Marion Cunningham and Alice Waters, who said that Ms. Chiang had done for Chinese cuisine what Julia Child had done for the cooking of France.”