Links for Friday, December 4, 2020

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Pudao: New fintech venture backed by tech giants
  China approves country’s second personal credit agency, JD.com, Xiaomi take stakes / Reuters via CNA
  China’s central bank on Friday granted approval for the setup of a personal credit agency, Pudao Credit Rating, which will be jointly owned by the Beijing government, subsidiaries of ecommerce giant JD.com and Xiaomi Corp, and facial recognition start-up Megvii Technology.
• Squeeze on meat imports
  Virus fears and port congestion to slash China’s meat imports / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Meat imports might “plunge as much as 30% next year.”
• Is the gloss off livestreaming ecommerce as regulators step in?
  New rules derail mega livestreaming ecommerce deal / Caixin

Shanghai-listed cable maker Sunway has decided to halt its previously planned purchase of a significant stake in Chengdu Xingkong Yewang Technology…

The plans are believed to have changed after November 23, when China’s National Radio and Television Administration issued new rules that require livestreaming platforms to cap the tips that users can give to their favorite livestreamers and require age and real identity verification of livestreamers and those who patronize them.

• China’s number two mobile video app to IPO
  IPO-bound TikTok rival Kuaishou continues to play second fiddle / Caixin (paywall)
  “Kuaishou reported 320 million DAUs in the first half of the year, while ByteDance’s Douyin said it had almost double that — 600 million — in August… Caixin has learned Kuaishou hopes to raise $5 billion in its IPO, valuing the firm at between $40 billion and $50 billion.”  
• Alibaba buys another online video company
  Alibaba takes bite of Mango Excellent Media with $947 million stake purchase / Caixin (paywall)
  “Alibaba counts the Youku online video service among its major assets, while Mango Excellent Media owns the similarly popular Mango TV.”
• Mercedes-Benz trucks, made in China
  Daimler, Beiqi Foton to start making heavy-duty trucks in China / Yicai
  A joint-venture factory near Beijing will produce Mercedes Benz–branded heavy-duty vehicles. China sold over 1.22 million heavy-duty trucks in the first three quarters of 2020.
• U.S. cloud computing export ban?
  Commerce mulls blocking cloud firms from countries like China / Axios
  “A proposed executive order aimed at keeping American cloud computing companies out of certain foreign countries is being circulated within the Trump administration and to tech industry players.”
• Fallout of Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act
  More U.S.-listed Chinese firms seen seeking backup listings as new audit law looms / Reuters
  Background on The China Project: Trump expected to sign bill that could end in delisting of Alibaba and others.
• Quantum computing breakthrough?
  Chinese scientists claim breakthrough in quantum computing race / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Chinese scientists claim to have built a quantum computer that is able to perform certain computations nearly 100 trillion times faster than the world’s most advanced supercomputer.”
• Facebook has really given up on entering China
  Facebook’s Clegg says Biden, allies must unite against China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• The next COVID?
  Wuhan virologist says more bat coronaviruses capable of crossing over / Guardian
• Questions about COVID-19 vaccine from  Sinovac
  China coronavirus vaccine race is muddied by history of bribes at Sinovac / Washington Post 
  “[Some medical experts say that extra scrutiny of Sinovac’s drug claims is justified, given its record of moral flexibility.”
• Video from the Moon
  China Moon mission: Watch Chang’e-5 launch from the lunar surface / NYT (porous paywall)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Hong Kong: Demand for U.K. passports spikes
  UK passports for Hong Kong residents: Applications surge, who is eligible? / Bloomberg
  “Some 216,398 Hong Kong residents received British National (Overseas) passports during the first 10 months of the year, higher than any annual figure stretching back to 1997.”
• Denmark’s turn for a tongue-lashing over Hong Kong exile
  Beijing slams ‘criminal-shielding’ Danish politicians for supporting former Hong Kong lawmaker’s exile bid / SCMP (porous paywall)
  “Beijing has accused Danish politicians of harboring criminals and meddling in China’s domestic affairs by supporting the exile-seeking former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Ted Hui [許智峯 Xǔ Zhìfēng Heoi2 Zi3 Fung1], a day after he revealed his plan to resettle in Britain.”
• Wolf diplomacy on Twitter
  GOP senator gets into nasty Twitter spat with Chinese journalist / The Hill
  China tweet that enraged Australia propelled by ‘unusual’ accounts, say experts / Reuters
• Mr. Gan and the drug cartel
  Burner phones and banking apps: Meet the Chinese ‘brokers’ laundering Mexican drug money / Reuters
  “Virtually unheard of a decade ago, these Chinese players are moving vast sums quickly and quietly, authorities said. Their expertise: routing cartel drug profits from the United States to China then on to Mexico with a few clicks of a burner phone and Chinese banking apps — and without the bulky cash ever crossing borders.”
• U.S. anxiety about China
  Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat to freedom since World War Two / Reuters
  Top general: U.S. losing time to deter China / Axios 
• Cài Xiá 蔡霞 on leaving the CCP
  An insider breaks with the Chinese Communist Party / Foreign Affairs (porous paywall)  
  Classmates at China’s Central Party School once called her “Old Mrs. Marx.” Now she’s in exile in the United States, and has been stripped of her Party membership.
• Chinese wife disqualifies Norwegian from leading world’s largest sovereign wealth fund
  Norway’s central bank deputy governor Jon Nicolaisen resigns over China ties / FT (paywall)
  “The Norwegian Civil Security Clearance Authority informs me that the reason that I will not receive a renewed security clearance is that my wife is a Chinese citizen and resides in China, where I support her financially,” Jon Nicolaisen said.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Luxury brands, art, and holy sites in Tibet
  Our sacred land, their rubbish dump / High Peaks Pure Earth
  A critique by Tibetan poet Woeser of art installations by Zhāng Huán 张洹, sponsored by Dior, LV, and other international brands, that took place a few months ago near Mount Kailash — which is sacred to Buddhists and Hindus.