Links for Tuesday, December 1, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

When Marxism fails, there’s always Schmittism: Chang Che writes in the Atlantic about how the work of the German legal theorist Carl Schmitt — who was a Nazi Party member for three years starting in 1933 — has gained increasing prominence in official thinking in China under Xí Jìnpíng 习近平.

Whereas liberal scholars view the rule of law as the final authority on value conflicts, Schmitt believed that the sovereign should always have the final say. Commitments to the rule for law would only undercut a community’s decision-making power, and “deprive state and politics of their specific meaning.” Such a hamstrung state, according to Schmitt, could not protect its own citizens from external enemies.

The Chinese Communist Party gave a “nod to Schmitt” in a 2014 white paper on Hong Kong, Che writes, as the paper “claims that the preservation of sovereignty — of ‘one country’ — must take precedence over civil liberties — of ‘two systems.’ Using Schmitt’s rationale, [the paper] raises the stakes of inaction in Hong Kong insurmountably high: No longer a liberal transgression, the security law becomes an existential necessity.”

Why is the CCP so smitten with Schmitt? Che continues:

To some degree, it is a matter of convenience. “Schmitt serves certain purposes that Marxism should have done, but can no longer do,” Haig Patapan, a politics professor at Griffith University in Australia who has written on Schmitt’s reception in China, told me. Schmitt gives pro-Beijing scholars an opportunity to anchor the party’s legitimacy on more primal forces — nationalism and external enemies — rather than the timeworn notion of class struggle.

The increased focus on Schmitt is significant, Che concludes, because it “marks a move from what had been an illiberal government in Beijing — one that flouts liberal norms as a matter of convenience — to an anti-liberal government — one that repudiates liberal norms as a matter of principle.”

In other news:

A whistleblower “inside the Chinese healthcare system” gave CNN “117 pages of leaked documents from the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention,” which details some of the challenges and chaos in the early stages of responding to COVID-19.

• The leak confirms that Chinese officials downplayed the severity of the outbreak early on, but does not significantly change what we already knew about government missteps from reporting in the FT, NYT, WSJ, AP, and Washington Post, as well as by Caixin and others.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Fallout of major bond and loan defaults
  State firms jettison bond issuance plans after peer’s shocking default / Caixin (paywall)
  “$15.3 billion of corporate bond issuances were either canceled or delayed nationwide in November, nearly triple the previous month’s figure.”
  China state-owned group caught in default storm owes banks billions / FT (paywall)
  “According to a creditor document viewed by the Financial Times, almost 70 Chinese and foreign banks, as well as trust companies, had 33.5 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) in outstanding lending to Huachen Automotive Group as of last year.”
  Chipmaker Tsinghua Unigroup set to meet bondholders as interest comes due / Caixin (paywall)
  “Company has until Monday to pay 260 million yuan [$40 million] on one bond.”
  Related The China Project reporting: Markets shiver as big Chinese state-owned firms defaulting on their debts.
• New export control laws
  China-U.S. trade war: Beijing escalates tit-for-tat with Washington / BBC
  Export control law to affect rare earths, UAVs / Global Times
  “The government has not elaborated on what specific items or technologies will be restricted.”
  China’s export control law to become ‘key dynamic’ in US relations / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• Furniture chain company raises half a billion
  Alibaba-backed Easyhome finds cash cushion with $546 million placement / Caixin (paywall)
  “Company sold new shares at a 20% discount to group of 23 investors, and will use funds to revamp stores and shore up its capital.”
• Tesla development in China
  China exempts Tesla Model Y from purchase tax / Caixin (paywall)
  LG Chem to double China battery capacity to meet Tesla demand — sources / Reuters
• Hyundai and now Scania — only foreign truck brands made in China
  Swedish truck-maker Scania drives into China with wholly owned venture / Caixin Global
• A nearly bankrupt miner
  China’s Tianqi Lithium narrowly avoids default with last-minute deal / Nikkei (porous paywall)
• New ecommerce plays
  Retail giant Suning.com raises 6 billion yuan for e-commerce spin-off / Caixin (paywall)
• Crypto Ponzi scheme busted
  Chinese cryptocurrency scam ringleaders jailed in $2.25 billion Ponzi scheme involving PlusToken platform / SCMP
• Will the EU shun Chinese 5G suppliers?
  EU diplomat says China favors domestic 5G suppliers / TechNode

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Preventing future flood damage
  After devastating summer floods, China to pump 100 billion yuan into reservoir / Caixin (paywall)
• Debate over mass testing in Hong Kong
  Carrie Lam says mass testing of Hong Kong ‘not feasible’ / Caixin (paywall)
  “City leader’s comments came after prominent epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said mass testing was necessary.”
• Early circulation of COVID in the U.S.?
  American study finds signs of coronavirus in U.S. before China outbreak / SCMP
  “Scientists from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that tests of blood samples taken in the United States from December 13 last year revealed evidence of antibodies for the Covid-19 virus, known as Sars-Cov-2.”
  COVID-19 likely in U.S. in mid-December 2019, CDC scientists report / WSJ (paywall)
  “The findings significantly strengthen evidence suggesting the virus was spreading around the world well before public health authorities and researchers became aware, upending initial thinking about how early and quickly it emerged.”
  Trevor Bedford on Twitter: “I don’t think that this study by Basavaraju et al from @CDCgov can be taken as evidence that #COVID19 was circulating in the U.S. in December 2019. 1/10”
• Hypersonic jets and missiles?
  Chinese team test jet engine ‘able to reach anywhere on Earth within 2 hours’ / SCMP (porous paywall)
  Australia and U.S. to take on China and Russia in game-changing hypersonic missiles / SCMP (porous paywall)
• HIV among the elderly
  More elderly Chinese are contracting HIV, says WHO / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Woke American companies not so woke about forced Uyghur labor in supply chains
  Nike and Coca-Cola lobby against Xinjiang forced labor bill / NYT (porous paywall)
  “Lobbyists have fought to water down some of its provisions, arguing that while they strongly condemn forced labor and current atrocities in Xinjiang, the act’s ambitious requirements could wreak havoc on supply chains that are deeply embedded in China.”
  Ana Swanson on Twitter: “I feel like how you characterize Apple’s lobbying depends to some degree on perspective. Some sources told me they viewed Apple’s requests as reasonable or constructive, and that many are aimed at making the bill more specific to ensure suppliers could comply.”
• Destruction of Uyghur culture
  Authorities remove statue of Uyghur medicine ‘pioneer’ from Xinjiang hospital / RFA
  Where is Uyghur folklore expert Rahile Dawut? / Diplomat
• Beijing dismisses Australian criticism of Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚 tweet
  Remarks by the Chinese Embassy’s spokesperson / Chinese Embassy in Australia
  France and New Zealand join Australia’s criticism of Chinese government tweet / Guardian
  Turnbull tells business to tone it down on China / Australian Financial Review
  Twitter rejects call to remove Chinese official’s fake Australian troops tweet / AFP via HKFP
  Read The China Project’s summary of Zhao’s latest Twitter trolling here.
• Why Australia looks weaker after Morrison’s outrage
  Australia sounds the alarm on China, then runs for shelter / NYT (porous paywall)
  “When Australia’s leader demanded an apology for a tweet by a Chinese official, his response reflected the insecurities facing many countries in dealing with China.”
• Anti-corruption campaign takes down tiger in Xinjiang
  Party watchdog busts top provincial official for ‘superstitious activities’ and corruption / Caixin (paywall)
  “The downfall of Rèn Huá 任华, the former vice chairwoman of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, marks the first time a female ‘tiger,’ or high-ranking official, has been ousted on corruption charges since the last Communist Party national congress in 2017.”
• Did China vaccinate Kim Jong-un?
  China gave COVID-19 vaccine candidate to North Korea’s Kim: U.S. analyst / Reuters
  “China has provided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family with an experimental coronavirus vaccine, a U.S. analyst said on Tuesday, citing two unidentified Japanese intelligence sources.”
• India-China border tensions
  China and Pakistan sign military deal amid tensions with India / The Hindu
  India plans dam on Brahmaputra to offset Chinese construction upstream / Reuters
• Hong Kong’s shrinking civil society
  Agnes Chow, revered in Japan as the ‘goddess of democracy,’ faces prison in Hong Kong / Washington Post
  i-Cable’s China reporters resign in protest after 40 colleagues sacked / HKFP
• Trumpism and Hong Kong activists
  Opinion: It’s time for Hong Kong to reckon with its far-right / Lausan
• U.S. blacklists
  Trump to add China’s SMIC and CNOOC to defense blacklist — sources / Reuters
  U.S. blacklists Chinese defense firm for sales to Venezuela / WSJ (paywall)
• Fallout from factory blast
  53 jailed for last year’s deadly factory explosion in Jiangsu / Sixth Tone

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Sexual harassment allegations of state TV intern Xiánzǐ 弦子
  China #MeToo case heads to court after 2-year delay / AP
  Context on The China Project: Zhu Jun sues woman who brought sexual harassment allegations against him.
• Exhibition on gender violence at Beijing France Cultural Centre
  Sexual harassment victims in China given a voice by exhibition that plays audio of their stories / SCMP
• Feminine wiles and expensive gifts
  Get-picked-up artist for women shut down over ‘immoral’ teachings / Sixth Tone
  Líng Tóngtóng 灵彤彤 “prides herself on instructing women how to use their feminine wiles to win expensive gifts from male suitors, but her agency has been dogged by allegations of fraud and complaints from unsatisfied customers.”
• Chinese-American history and heritage
  The country’s oldest Chinatown is fighting for its life in San Francisco / Washington Post